[SOLVED] No Restore Points in Vista

[Humble]

too many start up programs? not sure in my case.
according to ccleaner only two start with windows:

rambooster and sunsetscreen

at one point I had defraggler set to "boot-defrag every time".
but I don't remember if the RP issue started right after that, or not.

 

[Willy2]

- RAMBOOSTER is a piece of crap. Use CLEANMEM instead. It also reduces memory usage but works in a different way.

GOOGLE the words "PcWinTech" & "Cleanmem".

 

[Humble]

ok, why not. i'll check that out

 

[Humble]

you seem to know programs, may I ask which cleaners and uninstallers do you like?
now I use ccleaner and iobit uninstaller.

 

[xilolee]

Hey guys.

It seems defraggler in fact breaks something.
Carl A mentioned it in his topic about System restore.
Humble did it.
I also had a problem with defraggler, when I defragged at system boot (I think I was using windows 8.1, but I'm not totally sure of it).
Some wise cleaner software didn't work in the right manner, then I used chkdsk two-three times and it seems it worked in some way.


Humble: inbox full, I'll respond here.

I think you should create a new system image of your system, now that it's working in the right manner.
Then you can experiment without fear. ;-)


Did you see and get the giveaway offer about aomei backupper professional?

 

[Humble]

@xilolee: inbox emptied.

good idea, new back up image.

and no, i didn't find and get that give away offer yet but would like to.

 

[Humble]

xilolee: just noticed, all restore points ( by system and manually ) have already disappeared!
maybe not enough space allocated? how much should it be, how do I check and change it?

 

[Humble]

xilolee:
I only find expired give away offers for backupper pro.
if you know of a current one did you want to share specifics?

 

[Humble]

update on "disappearing restore points"

with 2 GB RP space allocation manual and system points seem to disappear after shutdown.
since changing allocation to 10 GB points have not disappeared.

 

[Willy2]

- I also read here on this forum that DEFRAGGLER (DF) can "break" VSS. Perhaps it won't happen when one uses Task Scheduler to start with some minutes delay ??
- I use both the build-in Windows Defragmentation program and Defraggler. Each program has its pros & cons. I use DF to move non-system files towards the end of my drive.
- I personally gave Windows permission to use ALL disk space for the Restore Points. If Windows uses too much space it will simply delete the oldest Restore Point(s).
- RAMBOOST uses a doubtfull technique to "clean" the memory whereas CLEANMEM uses Task Scheduler and a build-in Windows API ("EmptyWorkingSet") to regulalrly reduce memory usage. It also can collapse the file cache.
- I prefer Ccleaner & REVO Uninstaller.

Correction: The main commands in Repair #19 are:

net stop vss
net stop swprv

cd /d c:\windows\system32

regsvr32.exe /s ole32.dll
regsvr32.exe /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32.exe /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32.exe /s swprv.dll
regsvr32.exe /s /i swprv.dll
regsvr32.exe /s eventcls.dll
regsvr32.exe /s /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32.exe /s es.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wbem\stdprov.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wbem\vsswmi.dll
regsvr32.exe /s vssui.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml2.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml3.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml4.dll
regsvr32.exe /s comsvcs.dll
vssvc /register

net start vss
net start swprv

(Up to now there were no complaints for this set of commands)

- On a 64 bit system Windows Repair (WR) will use the same commands a second time, in an attempt to register files in the "syswow64" folder(s) as well.

 

[Humble]

@willy2:

thank you for sharing useful tips.

Am trying cleanmem as we speak.

allow ALL disk space for restore points....to what benefit?

about DF: not 100% positive but it does seem the RP issue started after setting DF to boot defrag every time.

 

[Willy2]

@Xilolee: I remembered that Macrium also had a script to repair VSS:

Troubleshooting Microsoft VSS errors - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

It only slightly differs from the script in a previous post in this thread.

 

[xilolee]

Ok, but in windows 10 (at least on this machine), some files listed don't exist.

stdprov.dll is in the wbem folder (maybe the command can find it given that the wbem folder is in the path variable... But if the path variable was changed, what will it happen?).

I can't find msxml.dll, msxml3.dll, msxml4.dll, vssui.dll.

I can find msxml3r.dll, msxml6.dll, msxml6r.dll (in system32).

Read More:

c:\Windows\System32\msxml3.dll
c:\Windows\System32\msxml3r.dll
c:\Windows\System32\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\System32\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\SysWOW64\msxml3.dll
c:\Windows\SysWOW64\msxml3a.dll
c:\Windows\SysWOW64\msxml3r.dll
c:\Windows\SysWOW64\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\SysWOW64\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml30_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_b5e2ac15ad88c6a3\msxml3.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml30_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_b5e2ac15ad88c6a3\msxml3r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_b5e267bdad891386\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_b5e267bdad891386\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.321_none_c25799f134b43fc0\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.321_none_c25799f134b43fc0\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\Temp\InFlight\1221cf431e2ed201e902000088090c19\amd64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.187_none_c21cb85934df8522\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml30_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_c0375667e1e9889e\msxml3.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml30_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_c0375667e1e9889e\msxml3r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_c037120fe1e9d581\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.0_none_c037120fe1e9d581\msxml6r.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.321_none_ccac4443691501bb\msxml6.dll
c:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-msxml60_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.14393.321_none_ccac4443691501bb\msxml6r.dll

Hence the script on the macrium website becomes (for windows 10):

cd /d %windir%\system32
net stop vss
net stop swprv
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll
regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32 /s es.dll
regsvr32 /s wbem\stdprov.dll
vssvc /register
net start swprv
net start vss

And I got these errors (see post 44th):
- The module "es.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found.
- The module "eventcls.dll" was loaded but the call to DllRegisterServer failed with error code 0x80070715. For more information about this problem, search online using the error code as a search term.
- The module "swprv.dll" was loaded but the call to DllRegisterServer failed with error code 0x80070715. For more information about this problem, search online using the error code as a search term.

 

[xilolee]

(sorry, I'm continuing previous message, edit time is already finished)


If those three commands don't work, it finally becomes:

cd /d %windir%\system32
net stop vss
net stop swprv
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s wbem\stdprov.dll
vssvc /register
net start swprv
net start vss

 

[Willy2]

- I did some tests (Win 7) and then I can boil it down to this:

cd /d %windir%\system32

net stop vss
net stop swprv

regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s wbem\stdprov.dll
vssvc /register

net start swprv
net start vss

- Does this work on a Win 10 system as well ? (Can you break VSS ?).
- I assume they obfuscated it (more) to confuse copy-cats. Although I assume adding some more commands would increase the stability of this repair.
- Perhaps even the last command "vssvc" can be omitted.

 

[xilolee]

MS tells: "This article is not for use with Windows Vista, with Windows Server 2008, or with later Windows operating systems. Starting with Windows Vista and with Windows Server 2008, Windows component installation is manifest-based. Trying to manually register specific components, as described in the following steps, can have unexpected results that may require you to reinstall Windows to resolve."

Translated: those steps shouldn't work on vista, 7, server 2008, 8, server 2012, 8.1, 10, server 2016.

The question is: why did they work on windows vista?

 

[Humble]

...Trying to manually register specific components, as described in the following steps, can have unexpected results that may require you to reinstall Windows to resolve."....

@WILLY2:
just curious, could above also refer to the kind of testing we talked about, or not?
What do you think?

 

[Willy2]

- @Xilolee: Odd, very odd. A overlooked relic of an older OS ? I have seen - at least - one thing in Win 7 that clearly indicates MS overlooked to completely remove one Win XP feature. Where did you find that info ? Weblink ?
- @Humble: I would proceed with it but now you MUST make a backup of the registry. Just in case.

 

[xilolee]

See 42nd post, the link is there... KB940184.

 

[Humble]

@Willy2: running number 1 already resulted in catastrophic error message when trying to create restore point manually. what would be a good next step?