Windows restore does not work at all

[John]

I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I always get a
message '... cannot be restored to' ... followed by the restore point name.

John

 

[Stefan Patric]

On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:21:01 -0800, John wrote:

> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I always get a
> message '... cannot be restored to' ... followed by the restore point
> name.
>
> John

Turn off any anti-virus/malware programs, particularly if it's Norton's,
a known problem, before trying restore.


Stef

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)? Were any of these applications running
in the background when you installed ___?

Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
computer (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?

John wrote:
> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I always get a
> message '... cannot be restored to' ... followed by the restore point
> name.
>
> John

 

[HeyBub]

John wrote:
> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I always get a
> message '... cannot be restored to' ... followed by the restore point
> name.
>
> John

Delete all restore points. Then start over. Sometimes a bad restore point
file can bother all the rest.

 

[Bert Hyman]

In news:87FE0476-5611-49DD-A58E-DC73E34D5B23@microsoft.com
=?Utf-8?B?Sm9obg==?= <John@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I always get a
> message '... cannot be restored to' ... followed by the restore point
> name.

Have you tried to run the restore in safe mode?

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com

 

[thanatoid]

=?Utf-8?B?Sm9obg==?= <John@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
in news:87FE0476-5611-49DD-A58E-DC73E34D5B23@microsoft.com:

> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I
> always get a message '... cannot be restored to' ...
> followed by the restore point name.
>
> John

Turn off system restore and forget about it.

Even if it worked well (and I see complaints CONSTANTLY), it
does not restore EVERYTHING. Microsoft (who know better than
ANYONE, of course) has decided what is important to you and what
isn't. That's why apps like Acronis True Image were created.
Depending on what your drive make is, you MAY be able to get a
free version of Acronis from you drive manuf's website.



--
There are only two classifications of disk drives: Broken drives
and those that will break later.
- Chuck Armstrong (This one I think, http://www.cleanreg.com/,
not the ball player. But who knows. I can't remember where I got
the quote. But it's true.)

 

[Bill in Co.]

thanatoid wrote:
> =?Utf-8?B?Sm9obg==?= <John@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> in news:87FE0476-5611-49DD-A58E-DC73E34D5B23@microsoft.com:
>
>> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I
>> always get a message '... cannot be restored to' ...
>> followed by the restore point name.
>>
>> John
>
> Turn off system restore and forget about it.

Bad idea. It's a decent tool, and can come in handy, when used
judiciously, and costs you nothing.

> Even if it worked well (and I see complaints CONSTANTLY),

Well, in point of fact, it works well in certain situations (especially if
you know what you're expecting, and not overdoing it).

> it does not restore EVERYTHING. Microsoft (who know better than

The only thing that does is an image or clone backup. But sometimes you
don't want everything to be restored, hence the need for ERUNT, for example.

> ANYONE, of course) has decided what is important to you and what
> isn't. That's why apps like Acronis True Image were created.
> Depending on what your drive make is, you MAY be able to get a
> free version of Acronis from you drive manuf's website.

 

[John Hacker]

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:%23zqTobMmKHA.2188@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> Bad idea. It's a decent tool, and can come in handy, when used
> judiciously, and costs you nothing.

When did you last use judiciously this facility. the cost of having it on
is the extra DISK space it occupies and anti-rus programs needs extra time
to scan that folder.

I have switched it off completely and have I have not missed it yet.

..

 

[Bill in Co.]

John Hacker wrote:
> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:%23zqTobMmKHA.2188@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>
>> Bad idea. It's a decent tool, and can come in handy, when used
>> judiciously, and costs you nothing.
>
> When did you last use judiciously this facility. the cost of having it on
> is the extra DISK space it occupies and anti-rus programs needs extra time
> to scan that folder.
>
> I have switched it off completely and have I have not missed it yet.

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was doing some tests.

More often, I fall back to my system image backup or use ERUNT, however, but
there have been some occasions when it has come in handy.

I like having all 3 tools in my tool belt (ERUNT, System Restore, and image
backup), and have used each as appropriate on various occasions.

And for MOST people, System Restore is their only fallback, since few have a
good backup system in place (image or clone), so for them, it can be a real
savior. So advising them to disable it is really bad advice.

The amount of disk space System Restore uses is not all that excessive
(typically about 60 MB per restore point), and setting aside just 1 or 2 GB
for a couple of weeks of restore points is prudent, I think, unless you
solely want to rely on image or clone backups (but for some software testing
purposes also, I have found System Restore and ERUNT really handy and quick,
to have at my fingertips).

 

[Twayne]

In news:Xns9D04CBF0AB167thanexit@188.40.43.245,
thanatoid <waiting@the.exit.invalid> typed:
> =?Utf-8?B?Sm9obg==?= <John@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> in news:87FE0476-5611-49DD-A58E-DC73E34D5B23@microsoft.com:
>
>> I fix a restore point but when I try to restore from it I
>> always get a message '... cannot be restored to' ...
>> followed by the restore point name.
>>
>> John
>
> Turn off system restore and forget about it.
>
> Even if it worked well (and I see complaints CONSTANTLY), it
> does not restore EVERYTHING. Microsoft (who know better than
> ANYONE, of course) has decided what is important to you and what
> isn't. That's why apps like Acronis True Image were created.
> Depending on what your drive make is, you MAY be able to get a
> free version of Acronis from you drive manuf's website.

<sigh> if you bothered to READ, the XP System Restore does exactly what it
says it will do: It restores system files. It's useful, handy and a quick
way to get going again when something glitches, especially like a failed
install, malware, corruption, etc.. It is not for data backup and doesn't
claim to be. It's handy to have and even magnitudes faster than restoring
from an image or whatever other method you might use.
Especially if one doesn't have a backup that can backup the OS using
Shadow Copy etc., it shouldn't be turned off.
Almost all problems encountered with losing restore points from system
restore are the result of malware or user error or inattention to problems
that are spreading on the PC. And we all know those things can screw a lot
more than restore points.
In a way, MS DID decide what's good for you: They DID give you a fast way
to recover your registry settings, which is really all system restore points
consist of. There is only one reason to turn it off that I'm aware of, and
that would be if you were to run Norton's GoBack; the restore points become
moot at that point.

HTH,

Twayne