Can't get to System Restore

[Larry]

HI. I screwed something up tonite. Almost every icon I click on opens an
app, MyDefrag. This happened after I tried to change properties of a
MyDefrag shortcut. I figured the easiest way to fix it would be to do a
System Restore, but when I go to Control Panel and click on System, it opens
MyDefrag. What other ways are there to get to System Restore? Is there a way
to get to System Restore via Start > Run? How else? Command Prompt? Any
suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Larry

 

[Shenan Stanley]

HI. I screwed something up tonite. Almost every icon I click on
opens an app, MyDefrag. This happened after I tried to change
properties of a MyDefrag shortcut. I figured the easiest way to fix
it would be to do a System Restore, but when I go to Control Panel
and click on System, it opens MyDefrag. What other ways are there
to get to System Restore? Is there a way to get to System Restore
via Start > Run? How else? Command Prompt? Any suggestions would be
appreciated. Thanks.

Boot into safe mode - when asked whether to continue in safe mode or use
system restore...

well, you can put that together I think. ;-)

 

[John John - MVP]

In the Start Menu Run box enter:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

John

 

[Larry]

Thanks John. I tried it because it looked easy, but when I hit OK in the run
box, it too opened up MyDefrag. So I guess I'll try Shenan's suggestion of
booting into safe mode, though I'm a little leery of shutting down. Should I
be?
Larry

 

[Larry]

Thanks Shenan. How do I boot into safe mode? With my computer acting so
strangely I feel somewhat reluctant to shut down for fear I won't be able to
get it going again. Are those fears unfounded? Thanks for your prompt
response.
Larry

 

[Daave]

HI. I screwed something up tonite. Almost every icon I click on opens
an app, MyDefrag. This happened after I tried to change properties of
a MyDefrag shortcut. I figured the easiest way to fix it would be to
do a System Restore, but when I go to Control Panel and click on
System, it opens MyDefrag. What other ways are there to get to System
Restore? Is there a way to get to System Restore via Start > Run? How
else? Command Prompt? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=xp+"system+restore"+"command+prompt"&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

First hit:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Good luck. Please let us know if this works.

 

[Bill in Co.]

First just try a complete reboot and see if that clears it (that has
happened before). IF that doesn't work, try rebooting into Safe Mode, as
suggested, and doing it down there.

 

[Elmo]

HI. I screwed something up tonite. Almost every icon I click on opens an
app, MyDefrag. This happened after I tried to change properties of a
MyDefrag shortcut. I figured the easiest way to fix it would be to do a
System Restore, but when I go to Control Panel and click on System, it opens
MyDefrag. What other ways are there to get to System Restore? Is there a way
to get to System Restore via Start > Run? How else? Command Prompt? Any
suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Larry

If you can get to this site, try the .lnk and .exe fixes. You can view
the zipped .reg files and use regedit to modify the entries, if regedit
will open, but the .reg files contain quite a few entries.

Fix File Associations.
http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

 

[Larry]

Thanks for your timely replies Shenan, John, Daave, Bill in Co. and Elmo. As
it turned out, I was about ready to shut down and open in Safe Mode to get
to System restore, but about that time my wife walked in and wanted to use
the computer. As soon as she logged on to her user ID, I realized her user
ID wasn't having the same problems as mine, so after she got done, I did a
System Restore from her user ID and now my user ID seems to be back working
properly again. Again, I really appreciate all the prompt response I got
when I was feeling really lost. Thanks.
Larry

Thanks Shenan. How do I boot into safe mode? With my computer acting so
strangely I feel somewhat reluctant to shut down for fear I won't be able
to get it going again. Are those fears unfounded? Thanks for your prompt
response.
Larry

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Are you running WinXP, WinXP SP1, WinXP SP2 or WinXP SP3?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?

Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this
machine (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?

 

[Bill Sharpe]

Thanks for your timely replies Shenan, John, Daave, Bill in Co. and Elmo. As
it turned out, I was about ready to shut down and open in Safe Mode to get
to System restore, but about that time my wife walked in and wanted to use
the computer. As soon as she logged on to her user ID, I realized her user
ID wasn't having the same problems as mine, so after she got done, I did a
System Restore from her user ID and now my user ID seems to be back working
properly again. Again, I really appreciate all the prompt response I got
when I was feeling really lost. Thanks.
Larry

Give your wife a big kiss!

Bill

 

[John Doue]

Give your wife a big kiss!

Bill

Yes, she deserves it. The one thing I would like to know is, how could
this have happened?

It is too easy to jump at the conclusion there is a virus on a system to
explain any unusual problem like yours. Of course, there always is a
chance of infection, but in your situation, the problem was obviously
(in view of your discovery) closely linked to your personal settings.

You would have been stuck if there had been only one user on your
machine, so it would still be very interesting to try and guess what
happened.

 

[Larry]

Hi John. You're right, no infection.
You asked "The one thing I would like to know is, how could this have
happened?"
Well, the behavior started right after I uninstalled MyDefrag v.4.2.6, and
downloaded and installed v.4.2.7. Now, at that point I think everything was
still OK. I wanted to run the new version, so I went to my start menu and
clicked on the icon for MyDefrag. From here on, my memory of exactly what I
did gets a little bit fuzzy. At any rate, I think I checked the properties
for the MyDefrag icon, and it was still targeting v.4.2.6, which I had
already uninstalled. Or maybe when I clicked on the icon, it brought up an
Open With window. At any rate, I definitely remember associating something
with MyDefrag.exe, and I think that was when everything went to hell. It
seemed like anything I tried to open opened MyDefrag instead. After the
fact, I've realized that apparently I somehow corrupted the .exe file
association. Elmo had sent me a link to Doug Knox's website which has XP
File Association fixes. That probably would have fixed my problem, but I
didn't yet realize that. I was just so sure that what I wanted to do was to
do a System Restore that I wasn't into other alternatives. I was just about
ready to try the Safe Mode approach to System Restore when my wife needed to
use the computer. I told her I had screwed the computer, but she was welcome
to see if she could access anything. By this time, I had realized that it
was only .exe's that were opening MyDefrag, and I thought maybe she could do
what she wanted without clicking on an .exe. Well, I realized when she got
on her userid, she could open .exe's with no problem, so as soon as she was
done, I ran %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe in the start run box,
like John John had told me earlier. System Restore came up, I restored to
the previous restore point, went back to me userid, and everything was good
again.
That's about the best I can reconstruct the situation. In retrospect, it
seems like it was awfully easy to mess up the computer. Nothing gave me a
red flag, or warned me I was about to do something dumb. I'm still really
not exactly sure what it was that I did. I was just trying to answer the
computer's question of what did I want to open MyDefrag with, and I said
MyDefrag. All's well that ends well. Right?
Larry

 

[John Doue]

Hi John. You're right, no infection.
You asked "The one thing I would like to know is, how could this have
happened?"
Well, the behavior started right after I uninstalled MyDefrag v.4.2.6, and
downloaded and installed v.4.2.7. Now, at that point I think everything was
still OK. I wanted to run the new version, so I went to my start menu and
clicked on the icon for MyDefrag. From here on, my memory of exactly what I
did gets a little bit fuzzy. At any rate, I think I checked the properties
for the MyDefrag icon, and it was still targeting v.4.2.6, which I had
already uninstalled. Or maybe when I clicked on the icon, it brought up an
Open With window. At any rate, I definitely remember associating something
with MyDefrag.exe, and I think that was when everything went to hell. It
seemed like anything I tried to open opened MyDefrag instead. After the
fact, I've realized that apparently I somehow corrupted the .exe file
association. Elmo had sent me a link to Doug Knox's website which has XP
File Association fixes. That probably would have fixed my problem, but I
didn't yet realize that. I was just so sure that what I wanted to do was to
do a System Restore that I wasn't into other alternatives. I was just about
ready to try the Safe Mode approach to System Restore when my wife needed to
use the computer. I told her I had screwed the computer, but she was welcome
to see if she could access anything. By this time, I had realized that it
was only .exe's that were opening MyDefrag, and I thought maybe she could do
what she wanted without clicking on an .exe. Well, I realized when she got
on her userid, she could open .exe's with no problem, so as soon as she was
done, I ran %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe in the start run box,
like John John had told me earlier. System Restore came up, I restored to
the previous restore point, went back to me userid, and everything was good
again.
That's about the best I can reconstruct the situation. In retrospect, it
seems like it was awfully easy to mess up the computer. Nothing gave me a
red flag, or warned me I was about to do something dumb. I'm still really
not exactly sure what it was that I did. I was just trying to answer the
computer's question of what did I want to open MyDefrag with, and I said
MyDefrag. All's well that ends well. Right?
Larry

Thanks Larry for trying to reconstruct the events.

Well, sometimes it can be easy to do a lot of damage, apparently, but
often, the fix is simple ... once you've found it.

I guess you rediscovered the interest of backups and realized that
System Restore is not a magical wand.

Personally, I almost never use System Restore. I use a Registry and Data
program which saved my day more than once and fully deserves its name of
"Lifesaver". This program which is no longer updated by his author is
not difficult to use automates the backup of both registry and the
personal data you chose. It can run automatically on bootup.
http://www.lifesaverbackup.com/

Of course, restoring the registry is not a panacea but most often its
gets you back on your feet quickly.

Ideally, it would be nice to also have a back of the whole Documents and
Settings Folder, but it might not be realistic. Making once in a while
an Image of your drive C is probably a better solution.

Best regards