Can't use any Restore Points

[John Ditchfield]

Still trying to resolve a problem with a friends computer using Windows
XP home, in that whenever the machine is switched on, it automatically
dials her ISP. All my efforts to stop this have failed, so I decided to
go back, in turn, to the various Restore Points which seemed available,
in the hope that I would find one where the computer did not
automatically dial up.

However, when I tried to use any of the restore points, a message was
displayed to the effect that the computer had not been restored. No
matter which restore point I used, the same message was displayed.

I would appreciate help or advice on this problem.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi John

One or more of the System Restore files could have been corrupted - try
turning SR off/on - but I'm afraid that you will lose any existing
checkpoints:

Right click My Computer, select Properties and then the System Restore tab.
Enable 'Turn off System Restore on all drives' and reboot your PC. After
that 1st reboot go back into SR and disable 'Turn off System Restore on all
drives' and reboot your PC again. After that 2nd reboot you should have one
new SR checkpoint.

 

[XPUSER]

Still trying to resolve a problem with a friends computer using Windows
XP home, in that whenever the machine is switched on, it automatically
dials her ISP. All my efforts to stop this have failed, so I decided to
go back, in turn, to the various Restore Points which seemed available,
in the hope that I would find one where the computer did not
automatically dial up.

However, when I tried to use any of the restore points, a message was
displayed to the effect that the computer had not been restored. No
matter which restore point I used, the same message was displayed.

I would appreciate help or advice on this problem.

==================================================================
The Restore Points are corrupt. This probably points to RAM
problems but could also point to a hard drive problem in that perhaps
the C:\System Volume Information resides on a damaged portion
of the hard drive.

The issue of automatically dialing the ISP when the desktop is loaded
is quite possibly due to Spywares on the system.

You could go through this list of known spywares:

http://www.spywareguide.com/product_list_full.php

then check in Add or Remove programs for any of them and try to uninstall any that you find -

Note that you should have System Configuration Utility (MSCONFIG) in Normal Startup prior
to uninstalling any program and also that many of these spyware programs require that you
be connected to the Internet before uninstalling them. Also quite often these damned pieces
of junk will not uninstall and even if they do, you still should scan the system with an Anti
Spyware program. The ones that I use (there are others):

http://www.lavasoft.de/ms/index.htm

http://www.safer-networking.org/microsoft.en.html

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html



Also might want to look at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827315

Also, sometimes after removing these Spyware programs, they leave the Winsock keys damaged
and then you can no longer browse the Internet. If that happens, then use the following article:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811259

========================================================================

 

[John Ditchfield]

================================

The Restore Points are corrupt. This probably points to RAM
problems but could also point to a hard drive problem in that
perhaps
the C:\System Volume Information resides on a damaged portion
of the hard drive.
 
The issue of automatically dialing the ISP when the desktop is
loaded
is quite possibly due to Spywares on the system.

Many thanks for your and Will Denny's comments and advice.

I will follow your suggestions and see if I get anywhere.

One thing I find strange is that all the Restore Points, going back to
February are unusable, is it possible that something could corrupt all
the Restore Points, no matter how old?