my system restore will not reset to earlier checkpoint -have tried several --no joy ??
please help

FRUSTRATED, May 2013

by the way electro
i looked at several forums --they all moaned /blamed SP3 for the problem --???

still trying, May 2013

thanks yet again electro
did what you said -SERVICES.MISC' -found- system restore --set at ''automatic'' -so i think its on
uninstalled couple progs.- did a restore to mondays --nothing ?????
i just would like it working --just in case --i only use comp. for emails and a bit of int /net
also what is advan. of wdws 7 over xp pro sp3 --just updates? etc

still fed up, May 2013

I'm on Windows 7, in French, so I also need to translate to English. Some of the items have changed names, some are in new places, and some new ones have been added.
"system protection" is a "new" Windows 7 title.

You obviously know your way around to a reasonable level. If you find the equivalent functionality on XP, then it's OK.

Using the "Run..." dialog, start "services.msc".
Look the descriptions for something about "saving" and "restore".
In Windows 7, the description reads: "Offers the capacity to save and restore Windows".
You should have something similar. Make sure that this service is set to "Automatic", or maybe "Manual".


Only about 70 Gb used on a 500 Gb drive, it's almost empty.

If you suppress all previous restore points, you have no restore points available. You used the correct procedure at the correct location to suppress the old restore points and restart everything.
Try creating a restore point manualy.
Install something, or uninstall something unimportant.
Reboot.
Restore the system to your manual restore point.
If the newly installed application is gone, or the uninstalled application is back, your restoration is working.


Keep only one system cleaner. More than one is overkill and can cause some troubles. I suggest that you keep Ccleaner. Make sure that you set it to NOT touch your restore points.
Several cleaners, possibly set to agressively, can destroy your restore points, or make them unuseable.

Also, only keep only ONE anti-virus. More that one anti-virus only bog you down and each one can interfer with the working of the other(s). MalewareBytes is prety good.
If you realy want to have more than one anti-virus, you MUST set ONLY ONE to run all the time, and only do manual scans with the other(s).

AdAware and Spybot are both excellent products and can peacefully coabit on the same computer. They don't hunt for exactly the same thing.

I don't see a third party defragmenter. You should get one. There are many very good free ones around. To be set on a weekly schedule. If you get a premium one with some kind of "smart scheduling" or "set and forget" feature, enable that feature.
Almost ANY defragmenter is beter that the one provided with Windows.

Electro, May 2013

forgot to add electro
ihave --cleanup--cclean --adaware- spybot - sys care - s/antispy -m/ware bytes +do disc clean
so i like to keep the m/c tidy etc

me, May 2013

thanks again electro
i have 500 gig ( 430 unused )-so lots space -i think
i deleted all old restore points -turned off the restore button -then on -then next day tried to restore to the one/new point -yesterdays --then -''restoration incomplete ''? --no good
it used to work fine -but not now
only have one drive 'c'
cant seem to find the -'system protection etc' --do i look in the 'control panel '
to carry out your first instructions ?
anything else -or is it in the tooooooo hard basket now

still still frustrated, May 2013

I understand your frustation.

A status of "Monitoring" mean that the creation of restore points is ON.

Do you use any disk cleaning utility?
Those can be set to delete restore points that are to old. If "to old" is set to short, like a day, it could very well suppress all your restore points.

You may have to little space allocated to your restore points. Try increasing that value.

Another potential problem can be the creation of to many restore points. You don't need dayly saves, only when you install new applications or update your drivers. Check the frequency of creation of the restore points. Routine restore points creation should not need to be done more than once a month.

Some rogue applications, trojans and other nefarious virus often try to poison your restore points by injecting themselves into older restore points. I've seen that poisoning at work.

Support for Windows XP will end shortly, meaning no more updates, even security updates will be terminated in about 3 months. Think about upgrading to Windows 7. Most computers running Windows XP can run Windows 7. You may need to add another hard drive with at least 50 Gb of free space.

Electro, May 2013

thanks electro
i,m running xp --
i can find 'control panel '-'system '-'system restore' -has a box (no tick )-'turn off system restore' -under is -'status' (c) 'monitoring'
so is it working --is it on or off
help please

still frustrated, May 2013

Check if your the creation of restoration points is realy enabled on your drive. It may have been disabled, maybe to save space on the drive...

Open the configuration pannel.
Open "System".
Open "System protection". A new window will open named "System properties" with the tab "System protection" sellected.
Toward the middle, there is a box listing all your drives, maybe only one, maybe several.
Make sure that the drive/partition containing Windows is marked as "Active" under the "Protection" heading.

If it's NOT set as Active, then, NO restore point will ever be created.
If needed, sellect a drive/partition and click the "Configure" button.
Sellect the first option to be able to restore system files, applications executables and settings.
The second option will save only the system files and applications executables.
The third one will disable all protection.

If you have more than one drive or partitions, you should disable the protection for those containing only data like images, music, videos and other user collected and created files. The restore points won't touch those, EVER.

Electro, May 2013