Restore points
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From: Jan on 3 Mar 2010 03:38 I have Windows XP Home SP3 on my 6 year old computer that has been working quite well todate. I discovered today that my System Restore program does not seem to work correctly. When I set my own restore point it works OK but the restore points it automatically creates itself every day do not work. What could be wrong with this and how can this be rectified.
From: Jose on 3 Mar 2010 08:25 On Mar 3, 3:38 am, "Jan" <J...(a)Jan.com> wrote: > I have Windows XP Home SP3 on my 6 year old computer that has been working > quite well todate. I discovered today that my System Restore program does > not seem to work correctly. When I set my own restore point it works OK but > the restore points it automatically creates itself every day do not work. > What could be wrong with this and how can this be rectified. Does not work correctly mean you looked in the RP calendar and see some days where there is no RP or checkpoint? XP would like to create an automatic RP every 24 hours, but it may not for lots of reasons. You could go days and days without one but that does not mean there is a problem. The usual culprit is that the system is not idle long enough for a RP to be made. You could have some background processes running (scans, defrags, email, RSS feeds, scheduled tasks, etc.) that keep the system busy and reset that idle timer. Making a RP by hand, some program updates, a program installation, etc. that creates a RP also resets the 24 hour "I need to make a restore point" clock. For me, I turn my system on, do what I gotta do and turn it off or keep doing things all day long and there is hardly ever enough idle time to create a automatic RP. For my system, I need to be idle for 20 minutes but that hardly ever happens to me. Any CPU activity that consume 10% CPU time will reset the idle timer. So you need to be sure your system is really idle. I can go days without an automatic checkpoint if I keep doing things - browsing Internet, email, reading silly forums like this, etc. If I let my system just sit turned on and idle long enough and no RP has been made in the last 24 hours (by any method) and XP thinks it is time, a checkpoint will always be made. Works every time. If not, my system would need repair. Of course, the automatic method must work or you have an issue. Make sure there has been no RP in the last 24 hours, close down all your applications, browser, email, etc and let the system sit for an hour. The system will create a checkpoint automatically if it thinks it is time to do so and the system is idle (this may not be what you think though). If not, you need to be able to explain why not, or fix it.
From: glee on 3 Mar 2010 10:19 "Jan" <Jan(a)Jan.com> wrote in message news:usR9J0quKHA.5936(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >I have Windows XP Home SP3 on my 6 year old computer that has been >working quite well todate. I discovered today that my System Restore >program does not seem to work correctly. When I set my own restore >point it works OK but the restore points it automatically creates >itself every day do not work. What could be wrong with this and how can >this be rectified. You don't state what you mean by they "do not work". Are you getting an error message? Are there restore points in the calendar in System Restore, and they fail with an error message when you try to restore? There are a few reasons why a restore point would fail, and some of those failures can be due to programs installed on the computer (such as Norton Anti-Virus). A common cause for corrupted restore points is that the default setting in Windows for the percentage of drive space used by System Restore is far too high for modern hard drive sizes. The first article linked below explains how to adjust this. These articles should help you troubleshoot the cause yourself: How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold restore points: http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html Here are some troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to restore: http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html "Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored . . . " http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html Troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to create an automatic restore point: http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html Tips on keeping System Restore healthy: http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html -- Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009 A+ http://dts-l.net/
From: Jan on 3 Mar 2010 21:27 The auto restore points are created in the calendar every day however after the restoration I get a message that it was not succesful. My manual restore points work OK. I don't have Norton. Thank you Jose and Glee for your replies. I will now work through the various options and see how it goes. "glee" <glee29(a)spamindspring.com> wrote in message news:eonUCUuuKHA.3536(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > "Jan" <Jan(a)Jan.com> wrote in message > news:usR9J0quKHA.5936(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >>I have Windows XP Home SP3 on my 6 year old computer that has been working >>quite well todate. I discovered today that my System Restore program does >>not seem to work correctly. When I set my own restore point it works OK >>but the restore points it automatically creates itself every day do not >>work. What could be wrong with this and how can this be rectified. > > You don't state what you mean by they "do not work". Are you getting an > error message? Are there restore points in the calendar in System > Restore, and they fail with an error message when you try to restore? > > There are a few reasons why a restore point would fail, and some of those > failures can be due to programs installed on the computer (such as Norton > Anti-Virus). > > A common cause for corrupted restore points is that the default setting in > Windows for the percentage of drive space used by System Restore is far > too high for modern hard drive sizes. The first article linked below > explains how to adjust this. > > These articles should help you troubleshoot the cause yourself: > > How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold > restore points: > http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html > > Here are some troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to > restore: > http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html > > "Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored . . . " > http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html > > Troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to create an > automatic restore point: > http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html > > Tips on keeping System Restore healthy: > http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html > > -- > Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009 > A+ > http://dts-l.net/ >
From: Jose on 4 Mar 2010 08:38
On Mar 3, 9:27 pm, "Jan" <J...(a)Jan.com> wrote: > The auto restore points are created in the calendar every day however after > the restoration I get a message that it was not succesful. My manual restore > points work OK. I don't have Norton. > Thank you Jose and Glee for your replies. I will now work through the > various options and see how it goes. > > "glee" <gle...(a)spamindspring.com> wrote in message > > news:eonUCUuuKHA.3536(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > > > > > "Jan" <J...(a)Jan.com> wrote in message > >news:usR9J0quKHA.5936(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > >>I have Windows XP Home SP3 on my 6 year old computer that has been working > >>quite well todate. I discovered today that my System Restore program does > >>not seem to work correctly. When I set my own restore point it works OK > >>but the restore points it automatically creates itself every day do not > >>work. What could be wrong with this and how can this be rectified. > > > You don't state what you mean by they "do not work". Are you getting an > > error message? Are there restore points in the calendar in System > > Restore, and they fail with an error message when you try to restore? > > > There are a few reasons why a restore point would fail, and some of those > > failures can be due to programs installed on the computer (such as Norton > > Anti-Virus). > > > A common cause for corrupted restore points is that the default setting in > > Windows for the percentage of drive space used by System Restore is far > > too high for modern hard drive sizes. The first article linked below > > explains how to adjust this. > > > These articles should help you troubleshoot the cause yourself: > > > How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold > > restore points: > >http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html > > > Here are some troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to > > restore: > >http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html > > > "Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored . . . " > >http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html > > > Troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to create an > > automatic restore point: > >http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html > > > Tips on keeping System Restore healthy: > >http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html > > > -- > > Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009 > > A+ > >http://dts-l.net/ Do you mean you see a message like this: Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored... Norton products can interfere with SR as they protect your system, hence the question and that is a known and fixable working as designed issue (not the same as a problem). Microsoft hints in their SR notes at running using SR in Safe Mode if it fails and sometimes that works for people. When you have a particular one that fails, that is the one to troubleshoot and figure out what is going on - do the restore in Safe Mode and see what happens, then you can accept it as the way it is, or try to fix it. It would be curious to know what compels you to use SR? It sounds like you might use it frequently. It is certainly not a problem fixer. It is an undoer which is not the same as figuring something out and fixing it. Some people seem to like to use it every day. I keep mine running and know it works from experimentation but have never benefited from it or was glad it was there. |