System Restore has packed up

[maxfindlay]

My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.

Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
the same message.

I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
Thank you.

maxfindlay

 

[Ǝøçεl]

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding System Restore in Windows XP

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...n/faqsrwxp.mspx
-=

Troubleshoot System Restore “Restore Point Failures†in Windows XP


-=


"maxfindlay" wrote:

> My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
> grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
> one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
> working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
> stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
> reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
> because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
> turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
> System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
> as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
>
> Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
> through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
> restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
> stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
> says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
> chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
> matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
> the same message.
>
> I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
> problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
> Thank you.
>
> maxfindlay
>

 

[Mark Adams]

"maxfindlay" wrote:

> My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
> grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
> one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
> working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
> stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
> reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
> because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
> turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
> System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
> as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
>
> Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
> through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
> restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
> stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
> says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
> chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
> matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
> the same message.
>
> I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
> problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
> Thank you.
>
> maxfindlay
>

Restore points are probably corrupted. Create a new restore point, then go
into Disk Cleanup and click the More Options tab. Click the Clean Up button
under System Restore. This will delete all of the previous restore points
except the one you just created.

 

[Daave]

maxfindlay wrote:
> My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I'd be
> very grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I
> have a one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems
> to have been working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my
> System Restore has stopped working properly. After I select a restore
> point, a box comes up that reads: "Changes made to drive(s) E: after
> this point cannot be reversed because the drive was either excluded
> from System Restore monitoring or was turned off or removed". Drive E
> is the name usually given to the USB slot where I plug in a memory
> stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted System Restore to
> monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas as I know,
> I've never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.

Right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the System Restore
tab. Highligt E: and click Settings. Check the box for "Turn off System
Restore for this drive."

> Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to
> go through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when
> Windows restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home
> screen (I get to stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and
> then up comes a box that says: "Restoration incomplete. Your computer
> cannot be restored to [your chosen date]". After some experimenting,
> I have discovered that it doesn't matter what date I select for the
> Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly the same message.
>
> I don't know what's happened or what I've inadvertently done to cause
> this problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me
> solve it. Thank you.

It sounds like at some point you installed a program that interferes
with System Restore (examples: Norton, Kaspersky, Zone Alarm). More
info:

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

One way around this is to change the offending program's settings (if
possible) or to downright uninstall it! If you would rather not do that
(at least right away), then perhaps you can run System Restore either in
Safe Mode or in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. For the latter, please
see this page:

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

Then again, the more important question is:

Why do you need to run System Restore right now?

 

[Ǝøçεl]

Link correction,

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding System Restore in Windows XP


-=-

"Ǝøçεl" wrote:

> Frequently Asked Questions Regarding System Restore in Windows XP
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...n/faqsrwxp.mspx
> -=
>
> Troubleshoot System Restore “Restore Point Failures†in Windows XP
>
>
> -=
>
>
> "maxfindlay" wrote:
>
> > My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
> > grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
> > one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
> > working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
> > stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
> > reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
> > because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
> > turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> > where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
> > System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
> > as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> > ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
> >
> > Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
> > through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
> > restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
> > stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
> > says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
> > chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
> > matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
> > the same message.
> >
> > I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
> > problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
> > Thank you.
> >
> > maxfindlay
> >

 

[maxfindlay]

Thank you very much for this. I really appreciate your help.

"Ǝøçεl" wrote:

> Frequently Asked Questions Regarding System Restore in Windows XP
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...n/faqsrwxp.mspx
> -=
>
> Troubleshoot System Restore “Restore Point Failures†in Windows XP
>
>
> -=
>
>
> "maxfindlay" wrote:
>
> > My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
> > grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
> > one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
> > working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
> > stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
> > reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
> > because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
> > turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> > where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
> > System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
> > as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> > ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
> >
> > Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
> > through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
> > restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
> > stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
> > says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
> > chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
> > matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
> > the same message.
> >
> > I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
> > problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
> > Thank you.
> >
> > maxfindlay
> >

 

[maxfindlay]

I really appreciate your help -- thank you.

"Mark Adams" wrote:

>
>
> "maxfindlay" wrote:
>
> > My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I’d be very
> > grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I have a
> > one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems to have been
> > working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my System Restore has
> > stopped working properly. After I select a restore point, a box comes up that
> > reads: “Changes made to drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed
> > because the drive was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was
> > turned off or removedâ€Â. Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> > where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted
> > System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas
> > as I know, I’ve never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> > ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
> >
> > Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to go
> > through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when Windows
> > restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home screen (I get to
> > stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and then up comes a box that
> > says: “Restoration incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored to [your
> > chosen date]â€Â. After some experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn’t
> > matter what date I select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly
> > the same message.
> >
> > I don’t know what’s happened or what I’ve inadvertently done to cause this
> > problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me solve it.
> > Thank you.
> >
> > maxfindlay
> >
>
> Restore points are probably corrupted. Create a new restore point, then go
> into Disk Cleanup and click the More Options tab. Click the Clean Up button
> under System Restore. This will delete all of the previous restore points
> except the one you just created.

 

[maxfindlay]

Thats great thank you. I've now got System Restore working again thanks to
all you guys.

"Daave" wrote:

> maxfindlay wrote:
> > My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I'd be
> > very grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again. I
> > have a one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything seems
> > to have been working fine. Last night, though, I discovered that my
> > System Restore has stopped working properly. After I select a restore
> > point, a box comes up that reads: "Changes made to drive(s) E: after
> > this point cannot be reversed because the drive was either excluded
> > from System Restore monitoring or was turned off or removed". Drive E
> > is the name usually given to the USB slot where I plug in a memory
> > stick / my external hard drive. I have never wanted System Restore to
> > monitor my memory stick / external hard drive but, as fas as I know,
> > I've never done anything in System Restore to suggest that I might
> > ever have wanted it to cover Drive E.
>
> Right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the System Restore
> tab. Highligt E: and click Settings. Check the box for "Turn off System
> Restore for this drive."
>
> > Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems to
> > go through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but, when
> > Windows restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the home
> > screen (I get to stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway) and
> > then up comes a box that says: "Restoration incomplete. Your computer
> > cannot be restored to [your chosen date]". After some experimenting,
> > I have discovered that it doesn't matter what date I select for the
> > Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly the same message.
> >
> > I don't know what's happened or what I've inadvertently done to cause
> > this problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could help me
> > solve it. Thank you.
>
> It sounds like at some point you installed a program that interferes
> with System Restore (examples: Norton, Kaspersky, Zone Alarm). More
> info:
>
> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html
>
> One way around this is to change the offending program's settings (if
> possible) or to downright uninstall it! If you would rather not do that
> (at least right away), then perhaps you can run System Restore either in
> Safe Mode or in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. For the latter, please
> see this page:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449
>
> Then again, the more important question is:
>
> Why do you need to run System Restore right now?
>
>
>

 

[Daave]

YW. Which solution worked for you, by the way?

maxfindlay wrote:
> Thats great thank you. I've now got System Restore working again
> thanks to all you guys.
>
> "Daave" wrote:
>
>> maxfindlay wrote:
>>> My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I'd be
>>> very grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again.
>>> I have a one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything
>>> seems to have been working fine. Last night, though, I discovered
>>> that my System Restore has stopped working properly. After I select
>>> a restore point, a box comes up that reads: "Changes made to
>>> drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed because the drive
>>> was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was turned
>>> off or removed". Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
>>> where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have
>>> never wanted System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external
>>> hard drive but, as fas as I know, I've never done anything in
>>> System Restore to suggest that I might ever have wanted it to cover
>>> Drive E.
>>
>> Right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the System
>> Restore tab. Highligt E: and click Settings. Check the box for "Turn
>> off System Restore for this drive."
>>
>>> Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems
>>> to go through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but,
>>> when Windows restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the
>>> home screen (I get to stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway)
>>> and then up comes a box that says: "Restoration incomplete. Your
>>> computer cannot be restored to [your chosen date]". After some
>>> experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn't matter what date I
>>> select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly the same
>>> message.
>>>
>>> I don't know what's happened or what I've inadvertently done to
>>> cause this problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could
>>> help me solve it. Thank you.
>>
>> It sounds like at some point you installed a program that interferes
>> with System Restore (examples: Norton, Kaspersky, Zone Alarm). More
>> info:
>>
>> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html
>>
>> One way around this is to change the offending program's settings (if
>> possible) or to downright uninstall it! If you would rather not do
>> that (at least right away), then perhaps you can run System Restore
>> either in Safe Mode or in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. For the
>> latter, please see this page:
>>
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449
>>
>> Then again, the more important question is:
>>
>> Why do you need to run System Restore right now?

 

[maxfindlay]

In the end, I went for the nuclear option of turning off System Restore
/rebooting/ turning SR back on again. It's a bugger losing all the old SR
points but since I couldn't access them anyway, I had nothing to lose really.
It was just that I wanted to solve a problem I've got with Windows firewall /
AVG antivirus / possible Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the registry
through over-enthusiastic use of CCleaner (I've posted a separate message
about it in the forum) and I thought System Restore might be a quick answer
to the problem. Thats when I discovered it didn't work.

"Daave" wrote:

> YW. Which solution worked for you, by the way?
>
> maxfindlay wrote:
> > Thats great thank you. I've now got System Restore working again
> > thanks to all you guys.
> >
> > "Daave" wrote:
> >
> >> maxfindlay wrote:
> >>> My System Restore suddenly seems to have stopped working and I'd be
> >>> very grateful if someone could tell me how to get it working again.
> >>> I have a one-year-old laptop running XP Professional. Everything
> >>> seems to have been working fine. Last night, though, I discovered
> >>> that my System Restore has stopped working properly. After I select
> >>> a restore point, a box comes up that reads: "Changes made to
> >>> drive(s) E: after this point cannot be reversed because the drive
> >>> was either excluded from System Restore monitoring or was turned
> >>> off or removed". Drive E is the name usually given to the USB slot
> >>> where I plug in a memory stick / my external hard drive. I have
> >>> never wanted System Restore to monitor my memory stick / external
> >>> hard drive but, as fas as I know, I've never done anything in
> >>> System Restore to suggest that I might ever have wanted it to cover
> >>> Drive E.
> >>
> >> Right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the System
> >> Restore tab. Highligt E: and click Settings. Check the box for "Turn
> >> off System Restore for this drive."
> >>
> >>> Ignoring this pop-up box mesage, I click on Next. My PC then seems
> >>> to go through the normal preliminary stages for a restoration but,
> >>> when Windows restarts, the system appears to hang for a bit at the
> >>> home screen (I get to stare at my desktop theme for a while anyway)
> >>> and then up comes a box that says: "Restoration incomplete. Your
> >>> computer cannot be restored to [your chosen date]". After some
> >>> experimenting, I have discovered that it doesn't matter what date I
> >>> select for the Sytem Restore. In all cases, I get exactly the same
> >>> message.
> >>>
> >>> I don't know what's happened or what I've inadvertently done to
> >>> cause this problem. But i would be very grateful if someone could
> >>> help me solve it. Thank you.
> >>
> >> It sounds like at some point you installed a program that interferes
> >> with System Restore (examples: Norton, Kaspersky, Zone Alarm). More
> >> info:
> >>
> >> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html
> >>
> >> One way around this is to change the offending program's settings (if
> >> possible) or to downright uninstall it! If you would rather not do
> >> that (at least right away), then perhaps you can run System Restore
> >> either in Safe Mode or in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. For the
> >> latter, please see this page:
> >>
> >> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449
> >>
> >> Then again, the more important question is:
> >>
> >> Why do you need to run System Restore right now?
>
>
>

 

[Bennett Marco]

maxfindlay wrote:

>In the end, I went for the nuclear option of turning off System Restore
>/rebooting/ turning SR back on again. It's a bugger losing all the old SR
>points but since I couldn't access them anyway, I had nothing to lose really.
>It was just that I wanted to solve a problem I've got with Windows firewall /
>AVG antivirus / possible Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the registry
>through over-enthusiastic use of CCleaner (I've posted a separate message
>about it in the forum) and I thought System Restore might be a quick answer
>to the problem. Thats when I discovered it didn't work.

Maybe it's time you learned about using backup software, hmm?

 

[maxfindlay]

Thanks for this. I'm not sure, though, that backing-up (which I do regularly)
would have solved the Windows firewall / AVG antivirus / possible conflict
with Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the registry problem I mentioned,
would it?

"Bennett Marco" wrote:

> maxfindlay wrote:
>
> >In the end, I went for the nuclear option of turning off System Restore
> >/rebooting/ turning SR back on again. It's a bugger losing all the old SR
> >points but since I couldn't access them anyway, I had nothing to lose really.
> >It was just that I wanted to solve a problem I've got with Windows firewall /
> >AVG antivirus / possible Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the registry
> >through over-enthusiastic use of CCleaner (I've posted a separate message
> >about it in the forum) and I thought System Restore might be a quick answer
> >to the problem. Thats when I discovered it didn't work.
>
> Maybe it's time you learned about using backup software, hmm?
>

 

[Daave]

Actually, that is the rationale for backing up (specifically, imaging or
cloning your hard drive). If the registry gets screwed up or if you PC
becomes compromised, all you would need to is roll back your system
drive to the state it was in *before* those things happened. You truly
would have the ability to undo *any* screwup.


maxfindlay wrote:
> Thanks for this. I'm not sure, though, that backing-up (which I do
> regularly) would have solved the Windows firewall / AVG antivirus /
> possible conflict with Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the
> registry problem I mentioned, would it?
>
> "Bennett Marco" wrote:
>
>> maxfindlay wrote:
>>
>>> In the end, I went for the nuclear option of turning off System
>>> Restore /rebooting/ turning SR back on again. It's a bugger losing
>>> all the old SR points but since I couldn't access them anyway, I
>>> had nothing to lose really. It was just that I wanted to solve a
>>> problem I've got with Windows firewall / AVG antivirus / possible
>>> Windows update / maybe I've screwed up the registry through
>>> over-enthusiastic use of CCleaner (I've posted a separate message
>>> about it in the forum) and I thought System Restore might be a
>>> quick answer to the problem. Thats when I discovered it didn't
>>> work.
>>
>> Maybe it's time you learned about using backup software, hmm?