[Anamacha]

hey there ... I have an XP system running SP3. Previously in this thread we sorted out a problem; it turned out that rolling back my ATI video drivers to Catalyst version 9.3 restored my system stability.

Well, most of it. I observed that my system would still crash, only once every 4-5 days, instead of 4-5 times a day. I'd like the crashes to go away entirely, of course, but as this is an old system I'll take what I can get.

Yesterday, though, my system crashed three times in the same day -- same sort of noise on crash, same system lockup, the only thing that will help me recover from it is removing power.

Since this (re)started recently, I tried to do a System Restore. When I did, I was informed that my system could not be restored. I can't remember the exact verbiage, but I tried two different days and got the same error message for both.

So ... WHY might my system tell me that it cannot be restored?

thanks for the help (again)

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<bump> ... gist of it is "why does System Restore report that it can't restore anything?"

[Anamacha]

<bump> ... gist of it is "why does System Restore report that it can't restore anything?"

[SpywareDr]

Troubleshooting steps for issues when you try to use the System Restore tool in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302796

System Restore "restore points" are missing or deleted
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301224

[mtiggs]

if you right click on my computer and click manage, go to disk management and see if you have a hidden partition, (usually 15 gigs or less) if you do, that is what has everything needed to restore your computer to factory default. you just have to boot off that drive. if you install boot-us http://www.boot-us.com/download.htm you can select what drive to boot from and select it. then restart your computer and select that 15 gig drive it will then factory restore your computer.

[Anamacha]

thanks for your replies.

I do not have a hidden system partition (of any size).

I had done the things in the Microsoft article already, all except the one at the bottom: booting into safe mode and restoring from there.

THAT didn't work. STILL.

I just noticed that there are some updates available for my computer. It seems pointless to install them and then just roll them back with the use of the System Restore tool, but since the article mentions making sure your computer is fully up to date, then that's what I'm doing now.

Oh, and the error messages I found in Event Viewer after I tried restoring ... not that helpful. See:

A restoration to "Software Distribution Service 3.0" restore point failed.  No changes have been made to the system.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Searching for "srservice" at the link above gives me another helpful page:
http://www.microsoft...rvice&LCID=1033

Microsoft: not for the faint of heart.

Edited by Anamacha, 04 November 2010 - 07:21 PM.

[Anamacha]

okay, running all those system updates and then running system restore: absolutely no effect. I still can't restore.

When I restored from safe mode, it said something about my external drive not being connected, and thus it couldn't proceed. Or something like that. When back in regular mode, though, I checked my drives and they are both being monitored by SR, everything looked good on that front.

Any other ideas?

[123Runner]

Generally when you can't restore the computer the restore points are corrupted or there is not enough free space on the computer.
We should also see if we can figure out why it is crashing.

There are a couple things that can be tried. The first is below. The 2nd would be to turn off system restore (since it does not work) and then turn it back on. This will clear all the restore points and allow a fresh start.

If you have Windows XP CD...

1. Boot from the CD.
2. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Select the repair or recover option by pressing R:



3. You'll find yourself at this screen:



4. Once you are at the Recovery Console you will be given at least one choice of Windows installations. Normally the choice you want is the number 1 choice. Click the number 1 key at the "top" of the keyboard and click enter.

NOTE: at this point your numbers to the right of your keyboard are turned off. If you insist on using these keys for your numbers remember to hit the Numbers Lock key before clicking a number over there or your computer will automatically reboot and you will have to wait through the previous steps to get back to the console.

5. You will be given a message asking for the administrator password. Unless someone or something has messed with your computer there is no password so you just click the Enter key.

6. This will bring you to a prompt that says:

C:\WINDOWS>

7. Type:

cd \

Press Enter

Note: between "cd" and "\" there should be a "blank space" otherwise the command won't work

8. The prompt should now say:

C:\>

9. Type:

cd system~1\_resto~1

Press Enter.

Note: If it gives an error "Access Denied" while accessing the folder, follow the method below

Type: cd \

Press Enter

Type: cd windows\system32\config

Press Enter

Type: ren system system.bak

Press Enter

(note the spaces between ren and system, and then between system and system.bak)

Type: exit

Press Enter

now the computer should restart, then follow steps 1-6

10. Type:

dir

Press Enter

NOTE: When you hit enter it will list all the restore points folders like "rp1", "rp2" we have to see the last restore point to copy the file from a recent backup. If the restore points have more than one page then you have keep on hitting the key to view the last restore point folder.

NOTE: It is a good rule of thumb to choose the files from the restore point folder which the second to the last one.

11. Type:

cd rp{with the second to the last restore point number }

Press Enter

Example: cd rp9. if rp10 is the last restore point

12. Type:

cd snapshot

Press Enter.

NOTICE: Now the command prompt will look like this:

c:\system~1\resto~1\rp9\snapshot

Note : restore point 9 assumed for clarity of the content.


13. Type:

copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

Press Enter

14. Type:

Exit

Press Enter.

Final note : If the above procedure won't solve the problem, repeat all steps, but in step 13 type:

copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software

Alternatively, select different restore point.



If you don't have Windows CD...

Download Windows Recovery Console: http://www.thecomput...om/files/rc.iso
Download, and install free Imgburn: http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download
Using Imgburn, burn rc.iso to a CD.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

Follow steps 3 - 14.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[Anamacha]

Generally when you can't restore the computer the restore points are corrupted or there is not enough free space on the computer.
We should also see if we can figure out why it is crashing.

There are a couple things that can be tried. The first is below. The 2nd would be to turn off system restore (since it does not work) and then turn it back on. This will clear all the restore points and allow a fresh start.

I'll have my wife print these instructions so I can try them out. I am not keen on removing all the System Restore points as there's a good one in there somewhere ... my system is b0rked at the moment (see that other thread for crash info) and it was a little less so earlier on. So.

Thanks mate. I'll have a go at that procedure.

[123Runner]

We are still dealing with the problem you have in This Post
I suggest that we work on that 1st. It could clear up everything.
Also, working on 2 issues in 2 separate posts can be counter productive and could create further harm.

[Anamacha]

We are still dealing with the problem you have in This Post
I suggest that we work on that 1st. It could clear up everything.
Also, working on 2 issues in 2 separate posts can be counter productive and could create further harm.

I get what you're saying. I was thinking that being able to restore my system to a more stable time would help. My reasoning is that in that other post, we rolled back my video drivers to ATI Catalyst 9.3, and that dramatically improved my machine's stability. It crashed once in four days, and I think I can live with that. However, during the course of normal operations, it started crashing again and again, just like it was doing before the rollback.

My thought was that restoring my system to a time in between the driver rollback and the time it started crashing again would help. Make sense?

The problem we were working on in that other thread seems to be persisting, though. Whatever it was appears to not have been the video drivers, but rather was only greatly exaggerated by the drivers.

What are your thoughts on this?

[SpywareDr]

... and ignore what should obviously be ignored(?).

[Anamacha]

... and ignore what should obviously be ignored(?).

what? I don't understand.

[SpywareDr]

The response I responded to (in several messages) has magically disappeared.

(Thanks Mods/Admins).

[happyrock]

try a different restore point and if it is unsuccessful you will have to turn of restore to clear out all the old bad restore points...then turn it on again and manually create a new restore point...
restore points are linked ..so if one is bad ..they are ALL bad...
a better way is to use ERUNT...get it here...they have a good description of it there...

[Anamacha]

try a different restore point and if it is unsuccessful you will have to turn of restore to clear out all the old bad restore points...then turn it on again and manually create a new restore point...
restore points are linked ..so if one is bad ..they are ALL bad...
a better way is to use ERUNT...get it here...they have a good description of it there...

if one is bad they are all bad? How does that work?

And SpywareDr, what happened? Feel free to PM me.