system restore fails periodically

[Broooz]

Please do you know why system restore would fail periodically. I cannot
tell how often it happens because I don't use SR very often. But every time
I decide it would be easier to use it than trying other methods, I get a
message saying SR unable to restore to the selected point, try another.
Others don't seem to work either later or earlier.

I am using XP SP3, I virus check regularly. I have checked in event viewer
for any relevant errors but cant find any. However I suppose any relevant
error might be at the time the restore point became corrupted (if that is
the problem) and I cant see that far back.

I have since deleted all the restore points and tested SR now and it all
works but I think that the next time I need it, I wont be able to use it
again. This has happened before.

Thanks

--

 

[db]

well, in my opinion it seems that
you are having troubles other than
system restore.

have you tried to analyze system
performance in safe mode?

you can also do a sr in safe mode
as well, that is if you have any
restore points.

sometimes the system restore
calendar is not up to date and

sometimes the antivirus may
prevent system restore point to
be initiated since the a.v.'s are
protecting the system from
modifications.

--
db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- @Hotmail.com
- nntp Postologist
~ "share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Broooz]

well, in my opinion it seems that
you are having troubles other than
system restore.

have you tried to analyze system
performance in safe mode?

you can also do a sr in safe mode
as well, that is if you have any
restore points.

sometimes the system restore
calendar is not up to date and

sometimes the antivirus may
prevent system restore point to
be initiated since the a.v.'s are
protecting the system from
modifications.

Thanks DatabaseBen

What other problems are you thinking of? The last time I tried to use SR
was when I inadvertently upgraded a video driver on windows update and could
no longer get the required resolution. I couldn't remember how I had solved
it before so I thought SR was the easiest option but it didn't work.

I hadn't thought about my virus checker stopping it - I am using ESet - but
if it is that, it is not doing it consistently. However if I need to use SR
again, I will try your suggestion of safe mode.

Thanks

 

[SC Tom]

Thanks DatabaseBen

What other problems are you thinking of? The last time I tried to use SR
was when I inadvertently upgraded a video driver on windows update and
could no longer get the required resolution. I couldn't remember how I
had solved it before so I thought SR was the easiest option but it didn't
work.

I hadn't thought about my virus checker stopping it - I am using ESet -
but if it is that, it is not doing it consistently. However if I need to
use SR again, I will try your suggestion of safe mode.

Thanks

One of the biggest offenders that I've seen in preventing SR from working is
a 3rd party firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Symantec. I run ZASS myself which
includes the firewall and antivirus/antimalware. Since having problems
having SR complete successfully while running ZASS, I found the easiest way
for me is to boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Once there, type in
c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press enter. The SR GUI will come
up, allowing you to pick the date you want to restore back to. I am yet to
have it fail doing it this way. Restore points can't be created from here,
but that's not what I'm trying to do anyhow.

HTH,
SC Tom

 

[Jim]

Please do you know why system restore would fail periodically. I cannot
tell how often it happens because I don't use SR very often. But every time
I decide it would be easier to use it than trying other methods, I get a
message saying SR unable to restore to the selected point, try another.
Others don't seem to work either later or earlier.

I am using XP SP3, I virus check regularly. I have checked in event viewer
for any relevant errors but cant find any. However I suppose any relevant
error might be at the time the restore point became corrupted (if that is
the problem) and I cant see that far back.

I have since deleted all the restore points and tested SR now and it all
works but I think that the next time I need it, I wont be able to use it
again. This has happened before.

Thanks

Not to start a flame war : I use ERUNT system which does a restore
point every day .

 

[SC Tom]

Not to start a flame war : I use ERUNT system which does a restore
point every day .

I do too, but ERUNT is just a registry backup. It will not revert system
files back to what they were 3 or 4 days ago like SR does. I may be overly
cautious, but I use ERUNT, SR, and make an image of my HDD regularly.
Hopefully, I'll be able to recover from just about anything that way. I know
the imaging has saved my butt on 2 different machines when the HDD's
crashed. (One gave me warnings for a while that I stupidly ignored; the
other crashed with no warning 15 minutes after booting up one morning.)

SC Tom

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Not to start a flame war : I use ERUNT system which does a restore
point every day .

No flames from me either, but I'd like to make three points:

1. Erunt is a very good program. I use it too, and also make a
registry backup with it every day.

2. Note that in the sentence above, I said "registry backup," not
"restore point." Erunt simply backs up the registry and that's
similar, but considerably less than what System Restore does. A
Restore Point is more than just a registry backup.

3. I highly recommend doing both.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I do too, but ERUNT is just a registry backup. It will not revert system
files back to what they were 3 or 4 days ago like SR does. I may be overly
cautious, but I use ERUNT, SR, and make an image of my HDD regularly.
Hopefully, I'll be able to recover from just about anything that way. I
know
the imaging has saved my butt on 2 different machines when the HDD's
crashed. (One gave me warnings for a while that I stupidly ignored; the
other crashed with no warning 15 minutes after booting up one morning.)

SC Tom

Agreed, having all three backup tools works out the best depending on the
situation.

Just out of curiosity, how old were the drives, and what were the warnings
you got before it died?

And for the one that died afer 15 minutes, did you possibly try out putting
it in the refrig (that some say may work to temporarily resurrect it), or
wasn't it even worth bothering with, since you had a backup anyways?

 

[Bill in Co.]

No flames from me either, but I'd like to make three points:

1. Erunt is a very good program. I use it too, and also make a
registry backup with it every day.

And I might add it nicely does it automatically (or manually, when you
want). With the automatic option on, the default is a new one each day, for
5 days worth. This is similar in behavior to Win98 and its scanreg, where
you could use scanreg /restore to restore one of the 5 automatic daily
registry backups, if needed. Can be handy to have those, on occasion.

2. Note that in the sentence above, I said "registry backup," not
"restore point." Erunt simply backs up the registry and that's
similar, but considerably less than what System Restore does. A
Restore Point is more than just a registry backup.

3. I highly recommend doing both.

Or best is have all three (add to these two an image backup of your system).
Each tool has its place, depending on the situation.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

And I might add it nicely does it automatically (or manually, when you
want). With the automatic option on, the default is a new one each day, for
5 days worth. This is similar in behavior to Win98 and its scanreg, where
you could use scanreg /restore to restore one of the 5 automatic daily
registry backups, if needed. Can be handy to have those, on occasion.


Or best is have all three (add to these two an image backup of your system).
Each tool has its place, depending on the situation.

I certainly agree that everyone should back up, whether image or any
other kind, but to me, that's not number 3, but another subject
entirely.

On the other hand, I certainly don't object to your adding the point.

 

[SC Tom]

Agreed, having all three backup tools works out the best depending on the
situation.

Just out of curiosity, how old were the drives, and what were the warnings
you got before it died?

And for the one that died afer 15 minutes, did you possibly try out
putting it in the refrig (that some say may work to temporarily resurrect
it), or wasn't it even worth bothering with, since you had a backup
anyways?

The one that died after 15 minutes was in my notebook, and I don't know if
the 'book got banged or something the night before, but when I booted up the
next day, it came up fine, but as soon as I started working with it, it
"crunched" a few times, then Vista locked up. Not having any recourse except
to power it down, I did so, only to have it not do anything on reboot. I
tried a few things like booting to my UBCD and trying chkdsk and the Seagate
disk checking utility, and it confirmed the drive was toast. I had a 2 day
old image, so I went to Best Buy, bought a drive, and 45 minutes after
installing it, I was up and running again.

The other drive was in my desktop, and would give me a read error every now
and then, but not often. Since I seemed to be out of the house more than in,
I wasn't using the desktop as much as my notebook, so I kinda GAF'd them
off. Then one day while working on the desktop, the errors started coming
more frequently. Then the death rattle started and I knew I couldn't put it
off any longer. I bit the bullet, bought a new drive, and restored an older
image to it ( about 2 weeks old). I tried making an image of the failing
drive first, but it was too far gone. Since I had been working mostly on the
notebook, I really didn't lose much by using an older image.

I've heard of the fridge method, but have never tried it myself.

SC Tom

 

[SC Tom]

The one that died after 15 minutes was in my notebook, and I don't know if
the 'book got banged or something the night before, but when I booted up
the next day, it came up fine, but as soon as I started working with it,
it "crunched" a few times, then Vista locked up. Not having any recourse
except to power it down, I did so, only to have it not do anything on
reboot. I tried a few things like booting to my UBCD and trying chkdsk and
the Seagate disk checking utility, and it confirmed the drive was toast. I
had a 2 day old image, so I went to Best Buy, bought a drive, and 45
minutes after installing it, I was up and running again.

The other drive was in my desktop, and would give me a read error every
now and then, but not often. Since I seemed to be out of the house more
than in, I wasn't using the desktop as much as my notebook, so I kinda
GAF'd them off. Then one day while working on the desktop, the errors
started coming more frequently. Then the death rattle started and I knew I
couldn't put it off any longer. I bit the bullet, bought a new drive, and
restored an older image to it ( about 2 weeks old). I tried making an
image of the failing drive first, but it was too far gone. Since I had
been working mostly on the notebook, I really didn't lose much by using an
older image.

I've heard of the fridge method, but have never tried it myself.

SC Tom

Oh, and, the notebook drive was less than 3 months old, and the desktop
drive was at least 4 years old.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Oh, and, the notebook drive was less than 3 months old, and the desktop
drive was at least 4 years old.

Probably the notebook drive did accidentally get banged then, and the other
one that lasted 4 years may be par for the course.

I don't know what the typical life expectancy of a standard HD is, but I've
heard it's normally only a few years, from what some in here have indicated.
It would be interesting to know if anyone has one that has lasted 10 years
or more. Of course by that time, maybe most have moved on to a new
computer, so that's why we don't hear much about it.

 

[Jose]

Agreed, having all three backup tools works out the best depending on the
situation.  

Just out of curiosity, how old were the drives, and what were the warnings
you got before it died?

And for the one that died afer 15 minutes, did you possibly try out putting
it in the refrig (that some say may work to temporarily resurrect it), or
wasn't it even worth bothering with, since you had a backup anyways?

Refrigerator method added as #53 to my "likely suggestions" list right
under:

Most likely to suggest putting a USB memory device in a plastic bag in
the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Thanks!

 

[SC Tom]

Probably the notebook drive did accidentally get banged then, and the
other one that lasted 4 years may be par for the course.

I don't know what the typical life expectancy of a standard HD is, but
I've heard it's normally only a few years, from what some in here have
indicated. It would be interesting to know if anyone has one that has
lasted 10 years or more. Of course by that time, maybe most have moved
on to a new computer, so that's why we don't hear much about it.

I would guess 5 or 6 years would be somewhat of a norm for the average home
user.
I had a SCSI drive (actually 2- it was a RAID setup) in an old NT server at
work that was turned on and running for 9 years without losing power and
never had a disk error. I was muchly impressed! It would have been on a lot
longer than that if we hadn't gone to a new CAD system that needed a newer
OS, and the blueprint viewer and plotter setup finally got upgraded, too.
After it was no longer needed, it was relegated to a dark corner in the
server room with the power removed. Two years later, it was dragged out and
turned on ( one of the bosses thought there might be a file on it that had
never been backed up. Yeah, right!). It fired right up, but one of the
drives had a squeal that soon went away when it locked up. The other drive
ran for a couple of days before it was turned off forever and shipped to our
main office for destruction. It was a Compaq server with, I think, Maxtor
SCSI's.

SC Tom

 

[Broooz]

One of the biggest offenders that I've seen in preventing SR from working
is a 3rd party firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Symantec. I run ZASS myself
which includes the firewall and antivirus/antimalware. Since having
problems having SR complete successfully while running ZASS, I found the
easiest way for me is to boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Once
there, type in c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press enter. The
SR GUI will come up, allowing you to pick the date you want to restore
back to. I am yet to have it fail doing it this way. Restore points can't
be created from here, but that's not what I'm trying to do anyhow.

Thanks - I will try that next time. Much appreciated.