System Restore unable to restore

[Roger R]

My Win XP system is working fine, however whenever I try to do a System
Restore it fails and I don't know why.

In the distant past I have successfully run System Restore and returned the
machine to an earlier time, so I am reasonably confident with its operation.

When System Restore is opened the calender box shows each possible restore
point date in bold. Selecting one of these, the dialogue box reports a
valid system check point for that day. Proceeding with a selected date the
system shuts down, restarts, fully loads then announces the system cannot be
restored to the selected date and that no changes have been made. No reason
is given. The system then operates as normal.

Can it be that my operation of the application CCleaner is clearing some of
the necessary data. Some selectable options are:
Memory Dumps, Windows Log Files, DNS Cache, User Assist History, IIS Log
Files.

Please advise.

 

[db]

it could be a anti virus
program that is preventing
changes to the system.

however, one wonders
what other problems you
are experiencing that you
find a need to restore your
pc back to a functional time.

but something to keep in
mind is that if you are
experiencing the affects
of malware,

then the malware may have
been saved in the restore
point(s),

thus you may be inadvertently
reinstalling malware when you
execute a restore point.

in any case, you might try
executing a restore point
via safe mode.
--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen

 

[Peter Foldes]

Norton installed by any chance ???

 

[SC Tom]

My Win XP system is working fine, however whenever I try to do a System
Restore it fails and I don't know why.

In the distant past I have successfully run System Restore and returned
the
machine to an earlier time, so I am reasonably confident with its
operation.

When System Restore is opened the calender box shows each possible restore
point date in bold. Selecting one of these, the dialogue box reports a
valid system check point for that day. Proceeding with a selected date
the
system shuts down, restarts, fully loads then announces the system cannot
be
restored to the selected date and that no changes have been made. No
reason
is given. The system then operates as normal.

Can it be that my operation of the application CCleaner is clearing some
of
the necessary data. Some selectable options are:
Memory Dumps, Windows Log Files, DNS Cache, User Assist History, IIS Log
Files.

Please advise.

As others have stated, it may be the result of a virus or a 3rd-party
firewall/antivirus program that's running. One way I've found that works
well is to run system restore in safe mode with command prompt. Here's what
you need to do to run it:

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

 

[Roger R]

Norton installed by any chance ???

No.

Roger R

 

[Jose]

My Win XP system is working fine, however whenever I try to do a System
Restore it fails and I don't know why.

In the distant past I have successfully run System Restore and returned the
machine to an earlier time, so I am reasonably confident with its operation.

When System Restore is opened the calender box shows each possible restore
point date in bold.   Selecting one of these, the dialogue  box reports a
valid system check point for that day.   Proceeding with a selected date the
system shuts down, restarts, fully loads then announces the system cannotbe
restored to the selected date and that no changes have been made.  No reason
is given.  The system then operates as normal.

Can it be that my operation of the application CCleaner is clearing some of
the necessary data.   Some selectable options are:
Memory Dumps, Windows Log Files, DNS Cache, User Assist History, IIS Log
Files.

Please advise.

If Symantec/Norton are installed, there can be an issue which was
hinted at by Peter and db, but there are no ideas to go along with the
hint. This will generate needless additional message cycles before
you get to a solution.

What if you do have Norton - what does it mean and what do you do?
What if you don't?

If you have Norton installed, here is what Symantec recommends since
they are well enough aware of it to write a whole page about it:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2005113009323013

If Norton is not your problem, even Microsoft hints to attempt SR in
Safe Mode if the restoration is incomplete - as SC Tom indicates.
That may be quicker than trying to figure out what the problem really
is and fixing it.

Since SR is a popular target for malware and you may have some
condition that you think warrants a System Restore in the first place
instead of fixing the problem, you should run some reputable scanning
programs:

Perform some scans for malicious software first, then fix any
remaining issues:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

Failing those possibilities, exactly what are you seeing for messages
indicating it did not work and why do you think it is necessary (after
the scans above).

 

[Roger R]

As others have stated, it may be the result of a virus or a 3rd-party
firewall/antivirus program that's running. One way I've found that works
well is to run system restore in safe mode with command prompt. Here's
what you need to do to run it:

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

As you say, my anti virus program is the likely cause of the problem, but as
I won't be ditching it, your suggestion to run system restore from the
command prompt, together with the link to instructions, is most helpful.

Thanks.

Roger R

 

[Roger R]

My Win XP system is working fine, however whenever I try to do a System

Restore it fails and I don't know why.

Thanks to all who replied.

The view here is that an anti virus programe is the most likely cause of the
problem.

I don't have Norton, but do have AVG Free v9.

I checked out the AVG user forum where others have the same issue.

A forum contributor is unable to complete a System Restore with AVG
installed.
http://forums.avg.com/ww-en/avg-free-forum?sec=thread&act=show&id=69653

The official response in the thread from AVG:
"There is no known issue with the System Restore function when AVG is
installed.
08-03-10
jirka82
Manager at AVG"

So who is right ?

And just to repeat, there are no problems with my Win XP pro Sp3, but System
Restore is something I want to be able to use when needed, as it surely will
be one day.

Roger R

 

[Daave]

Thanks to all who replied.

The view here is that an anti virus programe is the most likely cause
of the problem.

I don't have Norton, but do have AVG Free v9.

I checked out the AVG user forum where others have the same issue.

A forum contributor is unable to complete a System Restore with AVG
installed.
http://forums.avg.com/ww-en/avg-free-forum?sec=thread&act=show&id=69653

The official response in the thread from AVG:
"There is no known issue with the System Restore function when AVG
is installed.
08-03-10
jirka82
Manager at AVG"

So who is right ?

Stated another way:

Is this causation or coincidence?

As I understand it, there is yet any evidence to indicate causation.
There is probably another reason. (I did say "probably." Sure, we might
eventually learn that the latest version of AVG or a specific update is
problematic.) Perhaps your system once had Norton (or McAfee), which was
never *completely* removed. Or maybe ZoneAlarm is installed. For further
information, see this page:

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

And just to repeat, there are no problems with my Win XP pro Sp3, but
System Restore is something I want to be able to use when needed, as
it surely will be one day.

The good news is that you now know how to run it in Safe Mode.

System Restore can be useful, but there may come a time when it will be
totally useless (because of malware run amok). In that kind of
situation, restoring an image (from a pre-malware point in time!) of
your hard drive (created by a program like Acronis True Image or
DriveImageXML) is the preferred -- and perhaps only -- solution.

 

[SC Tom]

As you say, my anti virus program is the likely cause of the problem, but
as I won't be ditching it, your suggestion to run system restore from the
command prompt, together with the link to instructions, is most helpful.

Thanks.

Roger R

You're welcome.
No, I wouldn't ditch your AV program either, but restoring by this method
bypasses it during the restore and doesn't connect to the internet or a
local network. Then, upon reboot, the AV program starts again as normal.

 

[Jose]

Thanks to all who replied.

The view here is that an anti virus programe is the most likely cause of the
problem.

I don't have Norton, but do have AVG Free v9.

I checked out the AVG user forum where others have the same issue.

A forum contributor is unable to complete a System Restore with AVG
installed.http://forums.avg.com/ww-en/avg-free-forum?sec=thread&act=show&id=69653

The official response in the thread from AVG:
    "There is no known issue with the System Restore function when AVG is
    installed.
    08-03-10
    jirka82
    Manager at AVG"

So who is right ?

And just to repeat, there are no problems with my Win XP pro Sp3, but System
Restore is something I want to be able to use when needed, as it surely will
be one day.

Roger R

I would not say that is the view here. Those comments are from
experience.

AVG says "no known issue"? They did not say there is no issue and
what they mean they have not seen any issue with SR on the systems in
their lab they use for testing. It is a good safe response when there
"might" be a problem. The chances of their test environment being
identical to a troubled system are probably not favorable.

You say there are no problems with your Win XP pro Sp3 - would it be
better to say there are no known problems?

I think since even MS hints in their own documentation that Safe Mode
might be the ticket for SR not working in the manner you describe,
they must know something about it not working in Regular mode and they
don't know why either or it is too complicated.

SR is a popular target for malware and it could be broken in many ways
that have not been tested yet. I would sure not rely on SR for
anything - ever. If you are suspicious of it in any way, shape or
form and want to rely on it or it only works reliably in Safe Mode,
just reinstall SR - that always fixes it for me when I can get my
hands on a system like that.

I quit trying to figure it out and (and don't care if the known/
obvious things like Norton don't work), but I know how to fix it every
time.

 

[Roy Colson]

Had the same problem. I found that I could restore in the safe mode. Are you
using Zone Alarm I once read that may be the cause.