Can't turn System Restore on

My Compaq Presario CQ61 laptop (Windows Vista Home Basic) is working OK but I have discovered it is not creating system restore points. It used to do this, and I have found using System Restore helpful in the past so I would like to turn it on again.
Under System--System Protection, it tells me that System Restore is off and provides a link to turn it on.This opens a System Properties dialog box with the System Protection pane open. The "System Restore..." button is greyed out.  Next to the list of available discs, under "Most recent restore point" it says "None". If I highlight a disk to try and turn on system restore for it, the "Create" and "Apply" buttons remain greyed out.
I have tried the windows.microsoft.com site for help but it does not explain the problem of the buttons being greyed out.
I have Administrator privileges on the laptop.
Any ideas gratefully received. 

This post may help:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/need-help-with-turning-on-system-r...
******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
**Click Accept as Solution on a Reply that solves your issue to help others**

Similar Messages

  • Error while turning system restore on windows 7

    Hi,,
    Recently I restored my system to factory image, and today i downloaded a video card driver and it failed and i want to restore my system to the point before installing this driver, But when i tried it told me to turn system recovery on. And when i tried
    to turnsystem recovery on like the video here ( http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows/turn-system-restore-on-off#1TC=windows-7  )and when i clicked OK "Apply" it shows me an error " The filename, directory name, or volume label
    syntax is incorrect. (0x8007007B) "
    then it said to me to close the property page and try again.
    I have attached a picture of this error and please help me because my video card stopped working because of that update.
    I think system restore is working even when it shows this error, I don't know why but i want to go back in the time before i installed that driver when the system restore was turned off, I really want to know if there is any way to restore my Laptop to the
    moment when system restore was turned off and before installing that driver and thanks.

    They'll help you over here.
    Windows 7 forums on Microsoft Answers
    Regards, Dave Patrick ....
    Microsoft Certified Professional
    Microsoft MVP [Windows]
    Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

  • Win 7 x64 - Need to repair a single driver, but can't use System Restore

    Basic Info - an HP/Compaq Elite 8200 Convewrtible Minitower with 2 extra SATA drives & a Creative SoundBlaster card installed.
    Background:  My system had begun going into Blue Screen (BS hereafter) every couple of days with a message that the BIOS was not "fully ACPI compliant."  I contaced HP and was able to obtain & install the needed BIOS upgrade.  Following this, I decided to do some housekeeping & checked for out-of-date drivers.  I installed these one at a time, as I had a previous bad experience with updating too many drivers, particularly Intel chipset drivers, at a single time.  When I finished the last update, which involved two drivers labeled IntStrA and IntStrB, if I recall correctly (I'm posting this from my PC at work, so I may have the names off by a character or so) my system began going BS after ~10 minutes or so.  Nearly every BS referenced the MicroSoft system driver wdf01000.sys.
    It is my belief that either wdf01000.sys became corrupted, or the last 2 updates were having a negative impact on the M S driver.  Unfortunately, if I try to use System Restore to roll back the suspect updates, the system will BS ~1-2 minutes after the m essage "Restore is initializing" appears.
    The only solution I can get from the HP Tech is to back up my data and then use the "Erase, Reformat & Reinstall" function from the Recovery Disks.  Unfortunately, with a system that goes B S every 10 minutes, it is impossible to perform a reliable back-up for all 3 disks, while the Recovery Disk is only willing to back up my drive F:\, not my primary OS Drive, C:\ or my other drive, G:\ (the HP Recovery partition is drive D:\).
    My questions are:
    1.  If the problem is a corrupted WDF01000.sys is it possible to obtain a reliable copy of & replace it?  (The HP tech warned about the danger of obtaining a copy of a MicroSoft sysem file from the internet - a danger of which I was fully aware - but, isn't there at least one system in HP's possession running Windows 7 x64 professional?  I should think a file supplied from HP would be sufficiently safe.  However, when I raise the possibility with the tech, there is no response.)
    2.  If the problem stems from the last 2 Intel driver updates, is there a way to get a functional OS loaded from DVD that would peremit System Restore to run?  My last system had Win 7 installed from MS media and, as I recall, once loaded, the use of System Restore was one of the repair options.  The HP Recolvery disks only offer 2 choices - back-up (which would only cover drive F:\, with <10% of my 4+ years worth of data) or "Erase, Reformat & Reinstall."  Following this course would put at risk ~90% of my data, not to mention the grief of reinstalling a great deal of software.
    3.  The HP tech tells me that, since Recovery is only willing to back up drive F:\, this is where the Recovered OS would be installed.  This would give me the independently loaded OS I sought in question 2.   However, I greatly fear that drive where recovery operated would be my primary OS drive, C:\.  If this were the case, the result would be disastrous!  I do have back-up via Carbonite, but I don't think this has been operating properly since the ACPI-related BSs began.
    So -- any suggestions?  Anything that gets me out of this problem without loss of data will be most sincerely appreciated!
    Tom Filipi

    Hello TomF,
    Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.
    I understand that after running some updates your system is getting BSOD errors associated with the Windows file wdf01000.sys. Now I cannot claim to be able to get you a copy of that file. I am not sure just replacing it would resolve your issue anyways. I can do this for you I can tell you that first the HP Compaq 8200 Elite Convertible Minitower PC is a commercial product. You can do this at you may get more assistance by posting this on the commercial forums at  Business PCs - Compaq, Elite, Pro.
    Additionally, I would suggest you start your computer in Safe Mode and using an elevated command prompt run the command "SFC /SCANNOW". You can do this by right-clicking on the Command Prompt link and choosing Run as adminstator. Also, you can use chkdsk to run another repair on your files to see if they can be repaired.
    The SFC /SCANNOW command will run the System File Checker to see if it can repair any corrupted system files where the chkdsk will do the same, but for ALL the files on your computer.
    I am also providing you with resources on both below:
    Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files
    Run Check Disk from a Command Line to Check for and fix Disk Errors
    I hope this helps. Thank you for posting on the HP Forums. Have a great day!
    Please click the "Thumbs Up" on the bottom right of this post to say thank you if you appreciate the support I provide!
    Also be sure to mark my post as “Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others who face the same challenge find the same solution.
    Dunidar
    I work on behalf of HP
    Find out a bit more about me by checking out my profile!
    "Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong." ~ Donald Porter

  • Restored database, can't perform 'System Restore'

    We've just performed a system reset of a system by performing a database restore to a version from a few months back.  I now need to reapply the SC's that have been modified since the initial database snapshot.
    However, when I try to perform a restore, the DI gives me a message indicating that the system already has the up-to-date version.  Checking the SystemInfo page, it's quite clearly shown that the SC is the old version; checking in the SLD also shows the old build version.  However, running the SDM tool shows the new version as being deployed...
    Inspecting the file system, you can see all the originally deployed SCs in the folder /usr/sap/SID/JC00/SDM/root/origin, organized by domain and DC.  The SC I need to redeploy is indeed in these directories, and I think I can probably fix my problem by removing the file, but I'm not sure of the side effects of doing this.
    It's almost as if SAP expects you to perform a full system restore, rather than a database restore when recovering a system, since data is contained in both the database, and the file system.
    Opinions?

    Just used SDM to force/sync the system.

  • How can I do system restore on my mac

    Hi, can you tell me how to do system restore on mac, thanks

    With Snow Leopard you will need the install DVD.  Load it and reboot while holding down the Option Key OR select it as the Startup Disk in System Preferences -> Startup Disk and reboot.
    From there install the system.
    OR
    If you have Time Machine, select it as the source when asked how to install.

  • Can I use system restore disks to re-image after a HDD replace?

    G60 laptop with Win7 Home Premium 64. OEM HDD (250GB) died (thankfully, had all data backed up). Have had no other issues with this machine.
    Purchased new HDD (320 GB) and installed with no problem. Booted with disk #1 of recovery set. Progressed to about 48% then displayed the following error: "Recovery Manager cannot restore your computer using factory image.
    Please contact HP support. Error code: 0xe0ef000e"
    Second attempt reached about 8%, then same error. Third attempt, 28% then same error again.
    I have resored this same machine with these same disks previously a couple of times, and now it takes significanly longer to get to the 28% point.
    Temporarily moved CD drive to another machine, and it reads disks just fine. Recovery disks appear to be in good condition (No scratches, fingerprints, etc.).
    Could there be hardware ID that is preventing recovery from working? Orsomethint else.

    Hi:
    It is very hard to say why the disks aren't working, but it happens quite a bit.
    If you purchased the disks from HP, see if making this CD patch and running that first helps.
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-80183-1&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en
    If you made the disks yourself, or the patch didn't work on the factory HP disks, you have one other option if you can still read all 25 characters of the W7 product key on the bottom of your notebook and that is to make your own W7 installation media.
    Here's how...
    If you can read the 25 character Microsoft windows 7 product key, you can download plain Windows 7 ISO files to burn to a DVD for the version of windows that came installed on your PC, and that is listed on the Microsoft COA sticker on your PC's case.
    Burn the ISO using the Burn ISO option on your DVD burning program and burn at the slowest possible speed your program will allow. This will create a bootable DVD.
    Or use the Windows 7 USB/DVD installation tool to compile the ISO file you download from Digital River. Link and instructions below. You need a 4 GB flash drive to use the USB method of compilation.
    http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool
    Use the 25 character product key on the PC to activate the installation.
    The key will activate either a 32 or 64 bit installation.
    Then go to the PC's support and driver page to install the drivers you need.
    Link to the W7 ISO file downloads is below.
    http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

  • How can I turn off restoring all windows on restart?

    Lion restores all my windows and applications when it restarts my computer.  Is there any way to turn that feature off?

    This "feature" is really annoying.  For years I have set my computer to shut down around midnight and then start itself up again at 6:00 AM.  It's a habit, I guess.  I just don't like waking up to a mess of opened applications and half-read browser articles.  Makes me crazy.  I also really don't like opening Word or Excel to the last few documents or spreadsheets I last worked on.  I don't understand why Apple thought this was a good idea.  Does anybody know any code to turn these "features" off?
    John

  • A205-5809 - I cannot bring up the Control Panel or do a System Restore

    Hello. I am the Chairman of our church fundraiser and I have inherited a laptop from the previous Chairman. I am not used to working on a Toshiba and really not used to working with Vista.
    When I first got the computer I downloaded Microsoft Office Home Ed 2007 and a few anti-virus programs. At some point the computer started acting up. I tried to do a System Restore to a few different System Checkpoints and had no luck. The System Restore would not complete.
    My immediate concern is the Control Panel. If I go to the Start Menu and click Control Panel, a small white appears as if the Control Panel is opening and then it immediately disappears. I can access the Control Panel by going through My Computer though.
    I mentioned both issues in this one post because I do not know if one issue is causing the other. Please give me any suggestion as to why I cannot do a System Restore or why the Control Panel will not open up from the Start Menu.
    Thanks in advance!
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    Satellite A205-S5809 
    In case Christopher's fix doesn't solve all your problems...
    Have you installed Service Pack 1? If not, do so.
       How to obtain the latest Windows Vista service pack
    Does this fit the situation?
    Icons are missing from Control Panel, or you cannot start Control Panel, the Welcome Center, or game...
    Restore Points get corrupted from time to time. The fix is to turn the function off and then on again. Unfortunately, all previous restore points are lost.
       Turn System Restore on or off
    -Jerry

  • System Restore does not work (Windows 7)

    I believe that my internal wireless network card has died although the laptop is only 8 months old, but that's another issue.
    I'm running Windows 7, and I tried to have system restore backup to a few days ago.  There have been no changes to the computer in this time other than Windows update. After performing system restore and rebooting, I have a message that system restore was cancelled because there was a file in use.  It suggested I disable anti-virus protection.  After disabling that, I tried system restore once again.  The computer seemed to be doing it right, but after reboot, I got the same message that it could not be performed due to a file in use.
    I've turned off everything I can think of, does anybody know why might be causing system restore to stop and how it could be corrected?
    Thanks

    If you cannot do a System Restore from the Recovery Environment (as Archie suggested), then probably the restore points have become corrupt. That's not uncommon.
    To repair that, turn System Restore off and then on again. Unfortunately, that removes all the previous restore points.
       Turn System Restore on or off
    If you post again, tell us which computer you have.
    -Jerry

  • Windows 8.1 refuses to shut off System Restore when I tell it to do so

    This problem is driving me crazy! Windows 8.1 will not let me turn off System Restore.
    My OS and programs are on a solid state drive. I realized the other day that I only had 8 GB of space left...even though I had not done any other installations. I discovered it was because the System Restore feature was taking up 50% of my drive (about 60 GB).
    I have other ways to back-up my system...so I want to simply turn off the feature. The OS lets me turn it off for the two other drives on my system, but when I turn it off on the "C" drive, it says that it's disabled...but it then continues to dump
    backup files and drain hard drive space. If I leave it "on" and try to adjust the "max usage" for the feature in order to limit how much it uses on the SSD, it simply ignores my request and reverts back to the 50% default later on...sometimes
    right away and sometimes a little bit later.
    Most recently, I tried setting the maximum usage to roughly 6 GB. The setting was used successfully for a few days..but then all of a sudden, it popped back to the 50% allocation allowance. I'm thinking it did it as a response to hitting the 6 GB max in the
    course of its work.
    I don't know what else to do. If the feature is disabled, why is it still dumping files and taking up space? Why can't I completely turn it off like it will allow me to on the other drives?
    Thank you for your help!

    Hi,
    You could use T. Kujala's method to clear the system restore point.
    And then use group policy to disable the system restore function:
    1. Click WIN+R key.
    2. Type gpedit.msc to run box.
    3. Navigate to
    Computer configuraton>administrative templates>system>System restore
    find
    Turn System Restore Off
    Enable it.
    Karen Hu
    TechNet Community Support

  • T440 System Restore cannot find station

    Got a new T440 yesterday. Good machine, only a small issue with the Windows 7 System Restore feature that i'm not able to fix:
    I wanted to try system restore but it did not work properly. There are numerous system restore points created but i'm not able to revert to one of these restore points. It says Local Disk (Unknown) - The station cannot be found. (Picture in Dutch)
    After i received the T440, i created a new partition on the 256GB Samsung SSD. Maybe this is the reason system restore is not working properly?
    I already fixed the mbr, but this makes no difference. In the picture below, you can see the partitions. I 
    only reduced the size of the C: partition and created a new D: partition. The *SYSTEM_DRV, Q: Lenovo Recovery and the *: 7.00 GB partition are not changed at all. 
    Does anyone here know how to fix this? I'm a bit anxiously to wreck my Windows instalation. 
    Thank you!
    System specs:
    Windows 7 SP1 x64
    i7-4600U
    256GB Samsung SSD
    8,00GB Ram
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    Problem solved.
    Turned off system restore once again, removed all restore points. Turned system-restore on again, made a new restore point and suddenly system restore is functioning as it should.

  • System restore has re-enabled itself from when a member of a previous domain

    hello all,
    One of my companies domain computers was  migrated from a legacy domain to a new one.
    On the new domain system restore is DISABLED, on the previous legacy domain system restore was ENABLED.
    A windows update has somehow kicked of system restore from when the computer was on the legacy domain and moved it back in time around 8 months!
    Any ideas how this happened, and how I can remove any system restore historical information which must be hidden somewhere?
    Cheers, Andy
    Cheers, Andy andrewDOTstoryATjameswalkerDOTbiz

    Hi,
    I suggest you re-check the GPOs applied to the domain computers, run RSOP and gpresult /r , check Computer Configuration\Policy\Administrative Templates\System\System Restore, turn off system restore and its configuration.
    Yolanda Zhu
    TechNet Community Support

  • System Restore...sorry may be in wrong forum

    Just had a complete computer rebuild by my IT guy (wiped out everything on hard drive and rebuilt entire system)due to virus concerns. I am using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on a Dell Inspiron 660S..Tried to research this in google and not sure what to
    do.. My IT guy said it was better not to turn on system restore (wouldn't explain why)..I don't really have a restore drive when you click on start button then computer...just have one named OS(C:) It shows 414 GB free of 450..Anyway, when I went to system
    protection to set a restore point, I discovered system restore turned off
    and the yellow highlighted "drive" ...When I googled it I found some threads in Microsoft forum, but unsure of 1.Where it came from..its it dangerous/malicious.. 2.Should I just highlight it and
    click configure and click  'turn off' like someone suggested..   THANKS...SORRY FOR BEING SO ILLITERATE..
    pharmerbill

    Please try:
    - click on "OS(C:)(Missing)"
    - click on "Configure"
    - in the window that opens select "turn off system protection"
    - click "ok"
    - click on "OS(C:)(System)"
    - click on "Configure"
    - in the window that opens select "Restore system settings and previous versions of files"
    - drag the Max Usage slider to something like 5% to 10%
    - click ok
    - click ok
    Hopefully the "Missing" drive will no longer be listed and System Restore should now be enabled for your c: drive. Turming System Restore off can be useful when you know your computer is infected as viruses can hide in the restore points (turning
    System Restore off deletes all restore points for the specified drive). Otherwise you should probably leave it enabled. A lot of problems on these forums are solved simply by using System Restore. 

  • Problem system restoring my hp laptop

    i wanted to system restore my laptop and i didnt back up my files, now its saying that the syetem restored failed. i keep retrying and nothing works. i put the laptop in safe mode then sytem restored it and still nothing. keeps saying restore failed. please help.

    Hi @matthewr4891 ,
    Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. I have read your thread on your HP Notebook and errors when try to do a system restore.  When performing a hard reset please note remove any and all USB devices. Disconnect all non-essential devices as these could cause system restore to fail.
    If that does not help try to turn on the computer you start to press F11 repeatedly till the menu opens.You can do a system restore. System restore will help if something automatically updated and did not go well on the Notebook.
    Here is a document on system restore issues for Windows 7. Here is a document for Windows 8.
    Each of these documents have what to do when system restore fails.
    I would be happy to assist if needed. How Do I Find My Model Number or Product Number?
    Please include which Windows version you are using.
    Please let me know.
    Thanks.
    Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
    Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom to say “Thanks” for helping!

  • Various questions about System Restore Point

    How can I delete old System Restore Points?
    Is it possible to move the folder that holds them to a different drive then C:?
    Can I limit the amount of data System Restore is allowed to have?
    I have downloaded the TreeSize program to see what is using up so much space on my SSD and a folder named "System Volume Information" has 17GB of storage. Now I have found out that this is the folder that keeps System Restore Points and I checked
    on my restore points. There are too many of them and I was wondering if I could delete some of the old ones? I read on another post that someone said that you could limit the amount of data System Restore is allowed to use. Is this possible?
    Best Regards.

    Hello HurricaneHojax,
    Here I list the requirement, and please correct me if I have misunderstanding:
    1. Delete some System restore point
    2. Move the folder that hold system restore data to a different drive then C:.
    3. Limit the amount of system restore data.
    1, We can delete some system restore point.
    For more information, please take a look at the following article.
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-hk/windows/delete-restore-point#1TC=windows-7
    2,We are not able to move the system restore folder to other Drive.
    3, We can limit the amount of system restore data.
    For more information, please take a look at the following article about managing the disk space that is used by System Restore.
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-hk/windows7/how-much-disk-space-does-system-restore-require
    Best regards,
    Fangzhou CHEN
    Fangzhou CHEN
    TechNet Community Support

Maybe you are looking for