System Restore problem - Windows 7 (yet again!!)

[barryman]

Hi - I found this forum while wading through thousands of posts on the net by people who, like me, are having problems with System Restore and who cannot fix it.  I am using Windows 7 Ultimate edition.

My problem is that I can make restore points OK and they show up in the list but when I come to do the restore I get the message saying the restore was un-successful.  I have tried every one of the suggestions I have read about doing a restore in Safe Mode, checking on Volume Shadow Copy being started etc etc, tweaking registry - all to no avail.

What I think is possibly the cause (and I am not a tech - just a puzzled user) is that my COM+ System Application will not start and I understand that it is a vital part of SR. I have set it to Automatic (also tried manual as well) but when I try and actually start it from Services, I get the error message 1053 saying "the service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion" Could this be a reason for SR not working. (BTW, the COM+ Event System seems to be started OK)

So, my question to anyone is - how do I repair this Com+ System Application ?? I am desperately trying to avoid a re install of the whole damn W7 system so any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Shane]

The question is, is the problem in the registry or with files?

I have attached the regkeys from my Windows 7 for that service. Apply them, reboot and then try and see if the service will start for you and let me know

Shane

[barryman]

Hiya Shane and thank you very much for trying to help me!!
I loaded the reg keys you sent, tried a system restore, but unfortunately no joy. I attach the message I got after the SR attempt. I tried to "Start" the Com+ System application within Services but still won't start. I get the error 1053 message again.

Any other ideas??

Thanx again for assistance so far.

Barry

[Shane]

Have you ran a system file check yet?

Shane

[barryman]

yep, I did sfc /scannow.  All was OK
I just checked the dependencies of Com+ SA ie.  Remote Procedure Call RPC and System Event notification and they are both showing as Started. I have also tried SR in safe mode - again, no joy.

Fast running out of ideas but don't want to do re-install as you know how long it takes to get your system configured again from scratch!

[Shane]

Actually a repair install would get you going without having to reinstall everything :-D

To do a repair install, this way you can keep all your programs and settings.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

And to do that you will need a Windows 7 disk with SP1 already on it, you can grab that here
https://sites.google.com/site/linuxlablibrary/windows-iso


Shane

[barryman]

Just tried repair install and still System Restore not working. Neither is COM+ Sys App.
Going to get some sleep now and maybe it will magically repair itself overnight!! I wish......

[barryman]

My gut feeling is that it is all down to the COM+ System Application not starting. If I could find a way to get that fixed and started then SR might work....

[Shane]

Wow! A repair install didnt even fix it. Then it is something deep and has to do with some of the settings that get kept.

Lets make sure it isnt a profile problem.

As a test, I want you to create a new user. Then under that new account give system restore a try. Do a backup then restore it and let me know how it goes.

Shane

[barryman]

Forgive my ignorance but how do I go about setting up new user (and do I have to delete old user??)
Pls explain what I need to do

[barryman]

I have just found the screen for Creating new user account. It is asking me to create either Standard Account or Administrator a/c. Which one should I do? At the moment I think I currently have an Admin account set up as any programs I install have to be "Run as administrator" so, if I set up a new account, will I be able to delete it again as I do not want to change what I have at present.

Also, before I got your last posting, I did a restore from my last System Image, hoping that the System Restore function was working on that. Alas, not!! The COM+ is still not starting and SR still not working.

[Concrete Pillow]

Create an admin user and yes, you can delete it afterwards also no need to delete your current user account
btw im not affiliated to this site... Im just trying to help out coz ive done this new user thing once before

[barryman]

OK - I created new user profile, tried everything...all still the same. No Sys Restore and also still cannot start COM+ System application.

I think I may have to rely on System Images and just do them a bit more regularly to keep up with any program additions/changes etc. unless you can think of anything else to try.

BTW I really appreciate your assistance in trying to help me.

Barry

[Concrete Pillow]

Aha my Knowledge ends here sadly.. Let Shane Pop up and give the Problem a try, he'll probably come up with some other way..

[barryman]

One last thought before I give up and learn to live without System Restore -

Apparently there is a file called dllhost.exe in the Windows\System32 folder that controls all the Com+ functions etc. Supposing mine was somehow defective or just corrupted - can I download a copy of dllhost.exe for my Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit version. I have searched the Windows program disk that I had but I cannot locate that file.

Could this file be causing problem and can it be reinstalled?? (if so where do I get a copy)

[Bubba Euler]

Howdy!, Y'all.  Yes, I'm from Texas.

I'm going to attach a JPEG of my ResMon.exe showing what happens while a System Restore Point has been created and in normal mode.  In Safe Mode, the System Restore only addresses one (1) System Volume Information file. 

Notice that there are at least three (3) SVI files being addressed. 

This problem is slowing my computer to a stand-still.  I've done every other thing that has been listed, thus far, to no avail. 

Thanks!

[Shane]

System restore is a pain in the butt lol and MS has 0 help files on how to repair it. Which I find odd.

I myself dont use system restore. I do backups of my files to an external drive every night and I use my reg backup program to make a backup of my registry everyday. 90% of Windows crashes come from something in the registry anyways.

I have been trying hard to make the first known system restore repair, which is the beta repair in my windows repair tool. I did everything I could to watch and trace what the system restore uses and still no luck on a fix.

Normally a repair install of Windows does the trick, very odd how that didn't happen this time. If I could just find out how system restore works and what it needs and what causes it to error out I could make a repair in no time. All I need is the info. Which right now has been a needle in a hay stack. And of course the errors system restore gives are empty in anything useful.

A repair install of Windows reinstalls windows while keeping your settings, permissions and programs. So this at least helps me a little as now I know it has to be something tied there.

You created a new user account, problem is still there. This means it isn't anything in the registry for the user that is doing it. System registry would have been rebuilt with any custom settings transferring over.

Where is the common factor?!

File permissions? Reg permissions? Services?

The system restore can create the backup point, at least it says it does, but cant restore. Perhaps it isnt really making the backup so there is nothing to restore and thus you get an error?

If we look in the system volume information folder, where the restore points are kept, I wonder what size they are.

Shane

[jraju]

Hi, Are you using spybot. If teatimer is running then this could be the problem causing. I had once upon this problem and did away with total uninstallation to have my restore points. If not, the adware or something, may be present in the extended drive partition in the system and just total format is the only way around.Please, my advise to uninstall program is by using revo uninstaller, a good and safe, (will not pop up message like do you want to delete this file, system could be using it ) and then reboot to find whether sr is working.
If the problem still could not be found, pl use this microsoft instructions to have sr functional
To start System Restore using the Command prompt, follow these steps:

    Restart your computer, and then press and hold F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in safe mode with a Command prompt.
    Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode with a Command prompt option.
    If you are prompted to select an operating system, use the arrow keys to select the appropriate operating system for your computer, and then press ENTER.
    Log on as an administrator or with an account that has administrator credentials.
    At the command prompt, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER.
    Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to a functional state.
                 

[barryman]

Thanks Jraju - I tried that rstrui.exe but, unfortunately, made no difference. Still got a failure message. I am pretty sure that it's my COM+ Sys App which will cannot be made to start (error 1053 appears when trying to start). If I could get that fixed then I might have a chance.

Meanwhile, I hereby accept defeat by Microsoft. They have produced an error ridden utility, tens of thousands of unhappy users who experience this fault, and NO fix or answer to it. They might as well leave out the System Restore altogether if it's so prone to crashing!!

I will now retire form this particular discussion - thanks to all those who have attempted to assist. I'll keep looking at this thread in case anyone suddenly comes up with a "miracle cure"

[jraju]

Hi,  The problem is that there is some damaged registry entries in the regisrtry. Remember sky is the limit for trying for things. Alternatively, you choose total reinstallation. Try this, if it helps, then after restoring, try malwarebytes rootkit, aswmbr scan by avast. That will remove any hidden processes inside doing the mischief.
Got to My Computer>Local Drive C:>Windows folder>Inf Folder. Find SR.INF, right click on it, and select Install. This should repair the System restore.


Alternatively
You can run from command console or from batch file this line:
%SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %SystemRoot%\inf\sr.inf

A warning that is to be noted, is when you reinstall the sr.inf, all the previous s r points will get deleted. But sr would become functional at least. If you want a sr to a previous date , pl wait for some time . I will try to assist. I had all the problems but some how the links got deleted when i switched from xp to windows 7

[Shane]

%SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %SystemRoot%\inf\sr.inf

That is only in XP. In every single version of Windows they have changed the system restore and how it is installed and what it uses. This is what is making it so hard to find a fix. No system restore is the same from other versions of Windows.

Shane

[barryman]

I'll wait for someone to post the Ultimate solution for my Windows 7 Ultimate edition problem!! Does anyone know how to fix this COM+ Sys App problem ?? As I have said before, I cannot start it without getting the "error 1053" message - so If anyone can tell me how to fix that, it may solve the SR problem - no??

[Shane]

Lets focus on the com problem. For now lets not worry about system restore and lets work on getting com+ working.

Start a new thread for that and we will dig into it instead

Shane