System Restore Problem

[JimC]

XP Pro System Restore stopped working about two weeks ago.

I have carefully followed ALL the advice in the MS KB to no avail.

When I turn SR on, the feedback is always OK (monitoring all drives), but no
automatic points are created and manual efforts result in "SR is not able to
create a restore point. Restart your computer and run SR again."

Also, I never get "suspended" status on any drive.

Because SR off/on has been performed, I currently have no restore points and
cannot create any.

None of the MS KB fixes have worked.

However, I do have an SR anomaly not covered in the KB. On my external NTFS
Drive H, the System Volume Information folder is "hsd" but is "access
denied" after normal, safe, safe-cmd/prmpt, and recovery console startups
while the very same "hsd" folders on all other harddrives are accessible.

Chkdsk on Drive H revealed no problems... I even did a sector scan.

What might cause this system folder to be "access denied" to an XP
administrator?

Why would this cause SR to abort even after disabling SR on Drive H?

 

[David Candy]

I don't know what hsd is. But admins have no reason (no person has) to enter the System Volume Information folder as the only thing one can do there is break SR. It's SR's folder not yours. If MS had put everything in a database rather than a file system noone would expect to access the data in the database (like thumbnails are).

However admins can give themselves permission to access the folder in the normal way.

 

[S.Sengupta]

If you have original XP CD then you may try:-
Insert the Windows XP CD:-

Start > Run > Type the following command and press Enter
"rundll32.exe advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\Inf\sr.inf" >ok


Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302796
System Restore "Restore Points" Are Missing or Deleted


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;301224
System Restore Tool Displays a Blank Calendar in Windows XP


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313853


regards,
ssg MS-MVP

 

[JimC]

By "hsd" I meant attributes hidden, system, and directory and did give
myself permission to access such folders, which is how I discovered that the
one on Drive H somehow differs from the same folders on other drives.

"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
I don't know what hsd is. But admins have no reason (no person has) to enter
the System Volume Information folder as the only thing one can do there is
break SR. It's SR's folder not yours. If MS had put everything in a database
rather than a file system noone would expect to access the data in the
database (like thumbnails are).

However admins can give themselves permission to access the folder in the
normal way.

 

[JimC]

I did run an install (sr.inf) from Winnt\Inf, which completed successfully,
including satisfying requests for SP2 files from Winnt\Service
Packfiles\i386.

No change in behavior resulted.

Was this equivalent to your suggestion?

--JimC

 

[Alex Nichol]

By "hsd" I meant attributes hidden, system, and directory and did give
myself permission to access such folders, which is how I discovered that the
one on Drive H somehow differs from the same folders on other drives.

To get at SVI you need to do the setting in Folder Options - View to
*not* hide protected mode files. You can then, after disabling SR,
delete *all* the material in it: the only action that can make sense.

 

[JimC]

Understood... my point was that on Drive H only, SVI remained access-denied
while SVI folders on other drives were accessible. When selected in
Internet Explorer's tree pane, SVI on H instantly provoked an access-denied
notification while on other drives, the contents of SVI are displayed in the
files pane.

I thought this drive H anomaly might be the cause for System Restore not
working.

Jim

 

[Alex Nichol]

Understood... my point was that on Drive H only, SVI remained access-denied
while SVI folders on other drives were accessible. When selected in
Internet Explorer's tree pane, SVI on H instantly provoked an access-denied
notification while on other drives, the contents of SVI are displayed in the
files pane.

I thought this drive H anomaly might be the cause for System Restore not
working.

Unlikely. But on an NTFS drive you may need to take steps to gain
Ownership of the folder before you can access it