SOLVED : issue when creating System Restore Points from TRW

[MerleOne]

Hi, I am using version 2.8.4 and running Windows 8.1 on a Lenovo G505.

Since recently, creating System Restore Point from within Tweaking.com Windows Repair is not working most of the time.  When I click on Create, I get instantly a message saying a point has been created.  It usually takes 30s or so.  When I check after while, I see no created system restore point.  Only when using the Windows GUI I can create new points, and this time it does take some time.

This is annoying to have a false positive message saying a point has been created.

Thanks for your help.

PS : the captcha are really hard to read...

[Shane]

The program uses WMI to create the restore point, and if WMI isnt working properly then it wont create one, but it hasnt told the program that it couldnt create it, I will look into it more and see if WMI will return anything, but tats if WMI was even working.

90% of the repairs all have to do with the registry. All you really need is a registry backup, which my program does for you, and if there are any problems you just restore the registry with the program

Shane

[MerleOne]

Thanks for your reply.  The strange thing is that it does work from time to time, or maybe it was with previous versions.  I use your program not only to take new System Restore Points of course, but that's very convenient to use actually, just 3 mouse clicks to launch.

[Shane]

Yeah the program just uses WMI to do it since there is no direct way for my program to talk to system restore.

You can actually do this with a vbs script file and just run it from that if you liked as well

The code is pretty easy,

First thing the program does is try to turn restore on if it is off

Dim obj As Object
Set obj = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!root/default:SystemRestore")

'The date and ID are auto added
Call obj.Enable("C:\")

Pretty easy, WMI makes it simple, but you dont have any control lol.
After I run that command I then just run the create restore command

Dim obj As Object
Set obj = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!root/default:SystemRestore")

'The date and ID are auto added
Call obj.CreateRestorePoint("Tweaking.com - Windows Repair", 12, 100)

And thats it. No more code that is needed. So the program does rely on WMI to do the work.

If you like I could put this in a vbs file that you can edit with notepad and simply double click to run. Then you will only need to double click the one file to make a restore point, so that would be even faster than using my program.

Shane

[MerleOne]

Thanks, that's very kind from you. I think I still prefer to use the full program, since I also perform a Registry Backup (BTW, why is the default setting now "enable fallback mode always", I have to reset it at every install - preferences are not kept apparently). I tend to wear braces and a belt as we say over here.

Could you tell me how to check if the WMI component is working ?  If there is a script for that that would be great (I guess there is a script for almost everything nowadays...).

Also, is there a way to check after the System Restore point is created that it is indeed created, even if WMI doesn't return an error.  It's really annoying to feel safe while one is not.

[Shane]

You can download the registry backup separately. The settings.ini file for it with the Windows Repair gets over written since it is meant to run with the program. The fallback option just uses the Windows API to backup the files instead of trying to use VSS.

Since I need to make sure users make a registry backup before the repairs I have it do it with the fallback method because it is so much faster.

If WMI does need repaired you can run the Repair WMI in the repair list and then reboot

Shane

[MerleOne]

Thanks for the clarification.  I think I still prefer the VSS method since it never fails.  Regarding WMI functioning or not, I'll check before if it's system restore creation points start working again.  If not I'll try the WMI repair.  I just fail to see why it would be damaged, the PC is almost new. Granted, I have already added tons of software but this would be strange.  I'll have a look at windows error logs and see if I can pinpoint something.

[MerleOne]

WMI seems to be functional (at basic level). If I type wmimgmt.msc, then right click on WMI control (local) I get the attached info. Seems normal to me, even if I have read troubleshooting WMI is quite complicated.

[MerleOne]

Eureka : the solution was in Windows Error Logs : I have a nice & explicit message from System Restore saying no restore point has been created since there is already a recent one, too recent to create another one. That explains why sometimes it did work.

[Shane]

Eureka : the solution was in Windows Error Logs : I have a nice & explicit message from System Restore saying no restore point has been created since there is already a recent one, too recent to create another one. That explains why sometimes it did work.

Good find. Odd that it doesnt even let the user create one if it is very new lol

Shane

[MerleOne]

I observe in the list of System Restore Points that the ones created through TWR are labelled as "System" and the other ones, created by MSFT dedicated tool, are labelled as "Manual".  I guess it's the "System" ones that are monitored. Hope it can help.

[Shane]

Thanks, I didnt know system restore did that. I dont use it, at all.

It keeps the files on the same drive, which does me no good if the drive dies, and system restore is very easy to break, plus it slows down the system. So I never use it. Instead I keep my registry backups and then for my files I do a normal backup to an external hard drive

System restore is a good idea, but MS has zero info on it, on how to fix it when it breaks, and there have been so many bugs with it that have never been fixed and are in every version of windows. Such as by simply 3rd party defraggers running will cause system restore to remove all restore points and a bunch of other odd things that for some reason system restore decides to delete all the restore points.

And the amount of other services that it requires to work makes it very easy to break and has been something I havent been able to make a fix for because on each version of Windows they change oh it works lol

So for me, system restore off (Saves me hard drive space and performance) and just do registry backup and proper backup of my files to an external drive, which I start when I am done for the day and my backup program shuts down the computer when it is finished

Shane

[MerleOne]

I fully agree with you but still, I like to be able to use this feature, it has saved me a couple of times without having to try a full restore. Granted, it is unstable, SR points are quite "volatile".

BTW, regarding Registry Backup only, I remember the day when I discovered this program, I did a backup in the morning.  At noon, for some reason, my PC crashed more or less, at least some apps froze, so I tried to close the session.  It finally closed the session, but after the reboot, all my configuration was gone.  I was pretty sure the registry had been damaged during shutdown. I then remembered the backup done in the morning, I was able to restore it effortlessly and, at reboot, everything was fine again ! Incredible.  I remember having done a small donation a few days later (using my Paypal e-mail address, not the one I am registered here).  And my PC almost never crashes.  What a coincidence !

[Shane]

I always like to hear that my program did its job

Shane