XP System Restore Problems & Fix

How to Enable and Disable Windows XP’s System Restore feature

System Restore (restorept.api) is a new Windows XP feature that’s similar to “Last Known Configuration.” However, System Restore maintains multiple restore points instead of one last restore point. The user can manually create restore points, or System Restore can keep restore points during the following operations:

Installing new software, if the application uses a current installer that is System Restore-compliant, Using AutoUpdate, During a restore operation, During a Microsoft backup or recovery operation, Installing an unsigned driver, Automatically following 24 hours of inactivity.

By default, System Restore monitors all partitions. So, for example, if you delete an executable file, you can have the system state revert to a specific restore point to recreate or repair the executable file. When you revert to a restore point, however, you lose all changes since that point, except for changes to files in the My Documents folder and documents you’ve created with applications such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

If you use System Restore and don’t like the new system state, you can undo the process and restore the machine to the system state it had before you ran System Restore. Alternatively, you can run System Restore to change the system state to a different restore point.

To enable or disable System Restore, perform the following steps:

Start the System Control Panel applet. Select the System Restore tab. Clear the “Turn off System Restore on all drives” check box to enable System Restore, or select this check box to disable System Restore.  Click OK.  Also here:

To delete older restore points, but leave the system restore turned on: Right Click the Drive in question/Properties/Disk Cleanup/More Options/System Restore/Cleanup.

You can also click the Settings button to set a maximum amount of space that you want each drive to use for restore information. If the drive you select isn’t the system drive, you can also disable System Restore on a per-drive basis. The maximum amount of space that you can use for restore information is 12 percent per drive.

An alternative to the usual method of enabling and disabling Windows XP’s System Restore feature is to use the registry. To use this alternative, perform the following steps:  Start the registry editor (regedit.exe).

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore.
If a “DisableSR” value doesn’t exist, go to the Edit menu, select New, DWORD value, and create the value.
Set the value to 1 to disable System Restore or 0 to enable System Restore.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\sr to prevent the System Restore service from starting.

Double-click Start, and set the value to 4 to stop the service from starting or to 0 for normal startup. Close the registry editor.

Enabling System Restore:

Right click my computer icon, properties.  System Restore Tab, Clear “Turn Off System Restore on all Drives”.

Adjust System Restore Disk Usage

By default, System Restore is given 12% of your hard disk space when you install Windows XP. Change amount: Right click my computer icon, properties.  System Restore Tab, Settings.

Creating Restore Points

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore.  In the System Restore window, click “Create a Restore Point button, next.  In the window that appears, enter a description.  The date and time is created automatically.

Running System Restore

If you can boot Windows:

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore.  Click the Restore My Computer to an earlier time, next.

If you cannot boot Windows:

Boot into safe mode. Click the System Restore link.  Click the Restore My Computer to an earlier time, next.

Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows XP

To troubleshoot System Restore issues, try one or more of the following steps:

If you receive an error message that is related to System Restore, always make sure that you first record the error message
and follow the instructions that the error message contains to try to resolve the issue. Most System Restore issues generate
an error message that contains a description of the issue and suggestions for how to resolve the issue.

Make sure that you have enough disk space on all of the drives on which System Restore is enabled.
Make sure that the System Restore service is running by using one of the following methods:

- Check in Control Panel:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click “Performance and Maintenance”.
2. Click Administrative Tools, click Computer Management, and then click Services and Applications.
3. Click Services, and then click System Restore Services.

- Open a command prompt window:

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type “CMD” (without the quotation marks).
2. Press the ENTER key, and then type “Net Start” (without the quotation marks) at the command prompt to make sure that
the System Restore service is up and running.

- Make sure that System Restore is enabled on the drives that you want System Restore enabled on.
- Try to run System Restore in Safe mode.
- If you suspect that you do not have as many restore points as you should have, make sure that the data store is the size that
you want the data store to be.

- Check the event logs to investigate System Restore service errors:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click “Performance and Maintenance”.
2. Click Administrative Tools, click Computer Management, double-click Event Viewer, and then click System.
3. Click the Source tab to sort by name, and then look for “sr” or “srservice.” Double-click each of these services, and then
evaluate the event description for any indication of the cause of the problem.
System Restore cannot create a restore point. Please restart your computer
Disable System Restore, reboot, then enable.

System Restore Should Not Be Enabled During Program Installation

When you first enable System Restore, this creates an initial restore point. If you enable System Restore during a program installation, this may corrupt the initial restore point.

System Restore tracks changes to the registry and system files. By keeping a record of changes, System Restore can undo the changes to set the computer back to a previous state, which is also called a restore point. To create a restore
point, use the System Restore program in the System Tools folder, which is on the Start menu.

In Control Panel, you can enable and disable System Restore in System properties on the System Restore tab. When you disable System Restore, all previous restore points are lost because System Restore is no longer able to track changes and is
therefore unable to undo those changes.

When you re-enable System Restore, it creates an initial restore point. If you enable System Restore while you are installing a program, this may corrupt the initial restore point as well as all subsequent restore points. There is no way to determine if the initial restore point is corrupted.

System Restore Tool Displays a Blank Calendar in Windows XP

When you run the System Restore tool on a Windows XP-based computer, the calendar on the left side of the “Choose a Restore Point” window is not displayed. This behavior can occur if the file association for Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) component (.htc) files is not in the registry. To resolve this behavior, verify that the following keys are in the registry. Keys are listed here.

How to Start the Windows XP System Restore Tool if You Can’t Boot

Boot into safe mode/Log on with Admin Privileges/ Type: %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe. Then press enter.
HOW TO: Restore Windows XP to a Previous State.

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