System Restore error

[TV-Engineer]

Attempted to set a system restore point before installing a new program and
received the following error:
"System Restore is not able to create a restore point. Please restart the
computer, and then run System Restore again."
Tried restarting and received the same error.
Windows XP Pro, SP2 with all updates.
Where do I go from here?

TIA
Eric

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Have a look at the information in this link:
http://bertk.mvps.org/

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[TV-Engineer]

Thank you, but this does not help - Windows is running OK, I just can not
create a system restore point.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Is System Restore monitoring removable drives? System Restore should be set
only to monitor the drive / partition containing the Windows operating
system
usually drive C.

How much free disk space is there on the drive / partition where the restore
point
is to be created? Restore points are usually large files so lack of
sufficient disk
space can prevent their creation.

Do you have any Symantec ( Norton ) utilities installed. Go Back will
interfere with
System Restore.

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure that
you can see all files. Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View,
Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and
folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is
unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item. You should
also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions for known file types"
is not checked. Next in Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is selected
and then select View, Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total
Size, and Free Space.

You still will not see the System Volume Information folder.
How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

To increase you free space on your drive select Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and
remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be quite
large.

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore on
your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right
click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore.
Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the
slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get
to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Eric,

Try running System Restore from Safe Mode.
Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start
your computer in Safe Mode.

Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that
has administrator credentials.
In Safe Mode type or paste the following command in the Start - Run box then
press Enter.

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Let's also take a look at Event Viewer for any System Restore logs that may have
been created recently that may help us diagnose the problem.

Go to Start - Run and type eventvwr.msc and press enter.
Click on System in the left pane.
Click the gray title “Source” at the top of the source name column in the right
pane to sort by source name, look for "sr" and "srservice".
Double click on each of these events, then click on the button below the two
arrows in the upper right corner. This will copy the event information to the
clipboard. Paste the information for each of the two event here. There’s no need
to post duplicate Event ID’s.

How do I use the Event Viewer to search for System Restore logs?
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/source.html

Here are some more links for troubleshooting System Restore.

You Cannot Create a Restore Point with a HighPoint Driver Installed
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=322246&sd=RMVP

System Restore Failures to restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

System Restore fails to create an automatic restore point:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html

Disappearing Restore Points:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/missingrps.html

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

Thank you, but this does not help - Windows is running OK, I just can not
create a system restore point.

snip

You can fiddle around and follow the suggestions from Bert Kinney et al and
eventually you will likely get System Restore (SR) to function again, until
the next time it fails. SR seems to fail for many reasons none of which
appear to be known to the extent you can avoid them. In short the program
is unreliable.
If you wish to continue using this program you should also install ERUNT
(freeware) that will backup the Registry and is totally reliable. Further,
the backups made by ERUNT are not incremental, unlike SR, so one defective
backup will not corrupt all others.