System Restore Won't Open

B

Bob Brannon

Hello,

I am using XP Home SP2. For some reason when I try to run system restore it
will not open. Can anyone help me with this?

I should also say I was doing something with protected storage because of
some problems with Autocomplete in IE 6. This was at the suggestion of an
MS-MVP in that group. Could that have had some effect on
this issue?

Regards,
Bob Brannon
 
B

Bert Kinney

Hi Bob,

View the event logs to investigate System Restore service errors. To
do this, follow these steps:
Go to Start - Run and type eventvwr.msc and press enter.
Click the Source tab to sort by name, and then look for "sr" or
"srservice." Double-click each of these services. Post the Source and
EventID of any of these errors.

Reinstall System Restore.
The following file is located in a hidden folder. To view hidden files
follow these steps:
Open Control Panel - Folder Options - View tab, select "Show hidden
files and folders" and un-check "Hide extensions for known file
types", click OK.
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the windows\inf folder. Find
the sr.inf file, right click on it and select Install. Test SR.
 
B

Bob Brannon

Hello Bert,

OK, I looked for "sr" or "srservices" in event viewer under Applications,
Security and System. The only place it showed up was one entry from 2/19/05
that was information only saying that it ran successfully.

So, I checked to see if SR was set up to run automatically under Services
and it is. So then I tried to reinstall using your instructions. I got a
"Files Needed" message back saying "The file "sr.sys" on Win XP Home Ed.
Serv. Pack 2 CD is needed". I did not get SP2 with a CD, I downloaded it.
The message also says to type the path where the file is located and the
location defaults to C:WINDOWS\INF\i386. That directory does not exist on
my computer. There was an sr.sys in C:\i386 but dated 8/2001, so I looked
for a newer one and found it in the C:WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ folder dated
8/2004, and used that one. But then I got a "Copy Error" message that setup
cannot copy the file srclient.dll and to ensure the location below
(C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\i386) is correct or use the SP2 CD. So I
looked for the latest date for this file and found it in
C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386, among other places and used that location.
Then it wanted srframe.mmf from my original XP CD, but I found it in C:\I386
and used that since it had the same date and size as on the CD. Then I was
prompted to restart the computer, so I did.

Then I started SR and it opened but without ANY Restore points other than
one it had just created. So, I two questions:

1) Does that mean I lost all my restore points I was trying to access in the
first place? I wanted to access these to start over with a process to take
care of my passwords in Internet Explorer 6.

2) Why would there have been a problem with SR starting in the first place?
Could it have been related to dealing with protected storage as I mentioned
earlier? That is the only thing out of the ordinary that I was doing before
losing SR.

Thanks,
Bob


Hi Bob,

View the event logs to investigate System Restore service errors. To
do this, follow these steps:
Go to Start - Run and type eventvwr.msc and press enter.
Click the Source tab to sort by name, and then look for "sr" or
"srservice." Double-click each of these services. Post the Source and
EventID of any of these errors.

Reinstall System Restore.
The following file is located in a hidden folder. To view hidden files
follow these steps:
Open Control Panel - Folder Options - View tab, select "Show hidden
files and folders" and un-check "Hide extensions for known file
types", click OK.
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the windows\inf folder. Find
the sr.inf file, right click on it and select Install. Test SR.
 
B

Bert Kinney

Bob said:
Hello Bert,

OK, I looked for "sr" or "srservices" in event viewer
under Applications, Security and System. The only place
it showed up was one entry from 2/19/05 that was
information only saying that it ran successfully.

So, I checked to see if SR was set up to run
automatically under Services and it is. So then I tried
to reinstall using your instructions. I got a "Files
Needed" message back saying "The file "sr.sys" on Win XP
Home Ed. Serv. Pack 2 CD is needed". I did not get SP2
with a CD, I downloaded it. The message also says to type
the path where the file is located and the location
defaults to C:WINDOWS\INF\i386. That directory does not
exist on my computer. There was an sr.sys in C:\i386 but
dated 8/2001, so I looked for a newer one and found it in
the C:WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ folder dated 8/2004, and
used that one. But then I got a "Copy Error" message
that setup cannot copy the file srclient.dll and to
ensure the location below
(C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\i386) is correct or use the
SP2 CD. So I looked for the latest date for this file
and found it in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386, among
other places and used that location. Then it wanted
srframe.mmf from my original XP CD, but I found it in
C:\I386 and used that since it had the same date and size
as on the CD. Then I was prompted to restart the
computer, so I did.

Then I started SR and it opened but without ANY Restore
points other than one it had just created. So, I two
questions:

1) Does that mean I lost all my restore points I was
trying to access in the first place? I wanted to access
these to start over with a process to take care of my
passwords in Internet Explorer 6.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is an unfortunate side effect of reinstalling System
Restore.
But sinse SR was not working correctly anyway it could not have been
used to restore anything.
2) Why would there have been a problem with SR starting
in the first place? Could it have been related to dealing
with protected storage as I mentioned earlier? That is
the only thing out of the ordinary that I was doing
before losing SR.
Click to expand...

Corrupt SR application file, in this case.
I am not sure what you mean by "Protected Storage"!
 
B

Bob Brannon

What I mean by protected storage is referenced in these suggestions
(specifically the MS article referenced) given to me by an MS-MVP in the IE
6 newsgroup:

Close IE/OE.
Control panel -> Internet Options -> Content -> Autocomplete: *first* Clear
Forms and *after* Clear Passwords.
Restart IE.
See also: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=251787

By the way I have responded to the IE newsgroup about the pstores.exe file
referenced in the above article not being on my computer and what problems
does that present given all the changes I made based on the article?

Bob




Bob said:
Hello Bert,

OK, I looked for "sr" or "srservices" in event viewer
under Applications, Security and System. The only place
it showed up was one entry from 2/19/05 that was
information only saying that it ran successfully.

So, I checked to see if SR was set up to run
automatically under Services and it is. So then I tried
to reinstall using your instructions. I got a "Files
Needed" message back saying "The file "sr.sys" on Win XP
Home Ed. Serv. Pack 2 CD is needed". I did not get SP2
with a CD, I downloaded it. The message also says to type
the path where the file is located and the location
defaults to C:WINDOWS\INF\i386. That directory does not
exist on my computer. There was an sr.sys in C:\i386 but
dated 8/2001, so I looked for a newer one and found it in
the C:WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ folder dated 8/2004, and
used that one. But then I got a "Copy Error" message
that setup cannot copy the file srclient.dll and to
ensure the location below
(C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\i386) is correct or use the
SP2 CD. So I looked for the latest date for this file
and found it in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386, among
other places and used that location. Then it wanted
srframe.mmf from my original XP CD, but I found it in
C:\I386 and used that since it had the same date and size
as on the CD. Then I was prompted to restart the
computer, so I did.

Then I started SR and it opened but without ANY Restore
points other than one it had just created. So, I two
questions:

1) Does that mean I lost all my restore points I was
trying to access in the first place? I wanted to access
these to start over with a process to take care of my
passwords in Internet Explorer 6.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is an unfortunate side effect of reinstalling System
Restore.
But sinse SR was not working correctly anyway it could not have been
used to restore anything.
2) Why would there have been a problem with SR starting
in the first place? Could it have been related to dealing
with protected storage as I mentioned earlier? That is
the only thing out of the ordinary that I was doing
before losing SR.
Click to expand...

Corrupt SR application file, in this case.
I am not sure what you mean by "Protected Storage"!
 
B

Bert Kinney

Hi Bob,

I don't see how this could damage System Restore.

And for Pstores.exe, I don't have it on my system either.
 
B

Bob Brannon

Thanks for your help. Any idea how I can get in touch with:

Vincenzo Di Russo
Microsoft® MVP - Windows - Internet Explorer/OE

I haven't heard back from him about my complications with tying his
suggestions.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I don't see how this could damage System Restore.

And for Pstores.exe, I don't have it on my system either.
 

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