Daily System Restore Scheduling Problem

[Scottz]

Newbie to WinXP Media Edition. Previously used win98-SE.

I turned off 'daily system restore' in the task scheduler the other day
to see if it would speed up my boot time. Made no difference!

This morning, went back to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks to
undo change. Thought I sucessfully added System Restore.job, schedule:
Run at system startup, w default settings, 'Enable tab' ticked.

Just turned on the computer(~4 hrs later) & checked Scheduled Task List &
found problem. System Restore Status: Could not start!

went to eventvwr.msc. Found no messages in Application & System folders
to explain problem.

Do I have to set the Task for "daily" rather than "at System Start" to
get it to work the way it was??

This 'System Restore' method seems to be very fragile. Win98 scanreg
saved my butt a few times in Win98!

Any help appreciated, Scotty

 

[Ted Zieglar]

No need for Task Scheduler. By default, System Restore creates a new restore
point every 24 hours of calendar time or every 24 hours your computer is
turned on, in addition to other occasions. For more information open the
Help and Support Center and see this article: Understanding System Restore.

Would you like to backup your computer with Windows Backup or a third-party
back program?
"Back up your computer files"
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/backupfiles.mspx

 

[Scottz]

The problem is the System Restore Status: the scheduler says "COULD NOT
start"! Looks like System Restore tried to start but couldn't. That's
what scares me.

checked the 'system restore tab' from 'control panel'
C: status = 'monitoring', settings= max, 12% (13 Gb)


Used Usoft Backup Wizard to make a 'System State.bkf' backup! last week.
Isn't that good enough?

Thanx, Scotty

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Scotty,

Are you using a script to schedule System Restore snapshot creation? If not,
what command-line are you using in Task Scheduler. FYI, Task Scheduler log
file (Click "Advanced" menu, select "View Log") contains all the info why a
job failed to start.

In the meantime, see the following page to create a script which can run
from Startup group.

How to automatically create a System Restore point upon the first boot up of
the day?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/createrp.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


The problem is the System Restore Status: the scheduler says "COULD NOT
start"! Looks like System Restore tried to start but couldn't. That's
what scares me.

checked the 'system restore tab' from 'control panel'
C: status = 'monitoring', settings= max, 12% (13 Gb)


Used Usoft Backup Wizard to make a 'System State.bkf' backup! last week.
Isn't that good enough?

Thanx, Scotty

 

[Scottz]

12 Jun- used Start Control Panel Scheduled tasks to start task
manager & then manually added task. This is what is in the event log.

"System Restore.job" (rstrui.exe) 6/13/2006 3:28:04 PM ** ERROR **
The attempt to retrieve account information for the specified task
failed; therefore, the task did not run. Either an error occurred, or no
account information existed for the task. The specific error is:
0x8004130f: No account information could be found in the Task
Scheduler security database for the task indicated.

Noticed my Restore Points were missing about 5 days ago. Your Restore
List script, restore_list.vbs, uncovered problem. All restore points were
being wiped out each day with no warning messages!! probably because it
occurred at power down.

finially found cause this morning by un-installing and carefully re-
installing Cenatek Ramdisk, default 40mb, plain vanilla default config.

w Ramdisk installed [eventvwr.msc] clearly logs these daily event(s):

@ computer turnoff.
"The System Restore service has been suspended because there is not
enough disk space available on the drive \\?\Volume{637ab3c0-fb98-11da-
95de-001320e028b4}\. System Restore will automatically resume service
once at least 200 MB of free disk space is available on the system
drive".

@ startup, next day
"The System Restore service has resumed monitoring due to space freed on
the system drive."

w Cenatek Ramdisk un-installed everything seems to works fine.
support@cenatek has still not responsed to my e-mails.

thanx for help & great script restore_list.vbs, Scotty

 

[Scottz]

PS

The real tragedy here is that there were no error messages for all these
failures except in the event logs.

Is there something to set in order to get error message reported on the
monitor or desktop so they can be addressed immediately? or are they being
stopped by the popup blocker??

thanx, Scotty

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Try deleting the job and create a new one. If that does not help, see the
note here, from JohnB [MSFT]
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/90be33d3c3a54321

Also note that the executable "rstrui.exe" simply launches the SR user
interface, and does not create an automatic restore point.

BTW, thanks for the great note about the other problem (with Cenatek
Ramdisk).

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


12 Jun- used Start Control Panel Scheduled tasks to start task
manager & then manually added task. This is what is in the event log.

"System Restore.job" (rstrui.exe) 6/13/2006 3:28:04 PM ** ERROR **
The attempt to retrieve account information for the specified task
failed; therefore, the task did not run. Either an error occurred, or no
account information existed for the task. The specific error is:
0x8004130f: No account information could be found in the Task
Scheduler security database for the task indicated.

Noticed my Restore Points were missing about 5 days ago. Your Restore
List script, restore_list.vbs, uncovered problem. All restore points were
being wiped out each day with no warning messages!! probably because it
occurred at power down.

finially found cause this morning by un-installing and carefully re-
installing Cenatek Ramdisk, default 40mb, plain vanilla default config.

w Ramdisk installed [eventvwr.msc] clearly logs these daily event(s):

@ computer turnoff.
"The System Restore service has been suspended because there is not
enough disk space available on the drive \\?\Volume{637ab3c0-fb98-11da-
95de-001320e028b4}\. System Restore will automatically resume service
once at least 200 MB of free disk space is available on the system
drive".

@ startup, next day
"The System Restore service has resumed monitoring due to space freed on
the system drive."

w Cenatek Ramdisk un-installed everything seems to works fine.
support@cenatek has still not responsed to my e-mails.

thanx for help & great script restore_list.vbs, Scotty

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

There won't be any error message dialogs, Scotty. Everything would be
recorded in the Task Scheduler log and/or the Event logs.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


PS

The real tragedy here is that there were no error messages for all these
failures except in the event logs.

Is there something to set in order to get error message reported on the
monitor or desktop so they can be addressed immediately? or are they being
stopped by the popup blocker??

thanx, Scotty

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Scottz,

Looking at the Cenatek RAMDisk XP/2000 User's Manual, I found this.

System Restore: IMPORTANT! Windows system restore will shut down if
you use a small RAMDisk! It appears that since the disk is too small to
include System restore information, Windows promptly stops creating
system restore points, period. FIX: You have to go into your system
restore settings and disable system restore on the RAMDisk.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Thanks for that bit of insight, Bert. Certainly worth adding it in your FAQ.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi Scottz,

Looking at the Cenatek RAMDisk XP/2000 User's Manual, I found this.

System Restore: IMPORTANT! Windows system restore will shut down if
you use a small RAMDisk! It appears that since the disk is too small to
include System restore information, Windows promptly stops creating
system restore points, period. FIX: You have to go into your system
restore settings and disable system restore on the RAMDisk.

 

[Scottz]

downloaded ramdiskXP ver 2.0 and the license file for it.

Read the manual MANY times. One of the 1st things tried was to switch
config to Cenatek's default settings, 40mb, FAT16, no image save/restore
.. still wipes system restore points!

Yes manual says to disable monitoring of ramdisk. BUT, ramdisk not listed
in System Restore settings! Can't disable something not listed?

Is there some other way to disable ramdisk other than Start Accessaries
Sys Tools Sys Restore?

ramdisk is only listed in diskmgmt.msc

e-mails & phone calls to Cenatek go unanswered!

Scotty

 

[Bert Kinney]

Done. Added a note to 'missing restore point' and 'auto create fails'.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Scotty,

downloaded ramdiskXP ver 2.0 and the license file for it.

Read the manual MANY times. One of the 1st things tried was to switch
config to Cenatek's default settings, 40mb, FAT16, no image
save/restore . still wipes system restore points!

Yes manual says to disable monitoring of ramdisk. BUT, ramdisk not
listed in System Restore settings! Can't disable something not listed?

Is there some other way to disable ramdisk other than Start
Accessaries Sys Tools Sys Restore?

Not that I know of. It must be a hidden partition. And if so System
Restore should not see it.
Another possibility is that the drivetable.txt that hold the drive
letter list was not updated during the creation of the ramdisk. Ramesh
has a solution (1) for this type problem.

Drive letter missing in System Restore settings page?
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/srdrives.htm

ramdisk is only listed in diskmgmt.msc

e-mails & phone calls to Cenatek go unanswered!

Doesn't sound like the company really cares.

Now the question arises, should ramdisk be installed on the system? I
have not seen a reputable report that any of these memory management
tools produce the desired effect. The following article best describes
how to manage virtual memory.

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.phpVirtual Memory in Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php