system restore totally messed up my computer

I Restored Because I Was Haveing A Minor Problem....done It Before...this Time The Restore Did Not Finish Or Tell Me That The Restore Worked And Now Even Norton Is Not On My Desk Top;cannot Use Certain Web Sites;restore Window Comes Up Blank So I Cannot Use It;internet Explorer Won't Open...blank Window. Pogo..my Favorite Site Won't Open The Games......i Know All This Is Ok Because I Can Get It On My Main Computer. This Is My Lap Top. I Have Spend 2 Days Trying To Fingure This Out. I Looked At The Cd That Came With This And Do Not Want To Start All Over Again And I Tried Members Suggestions On Restoreing.......didn't Work...what Else Is There......thanks For Any Help You Can Give Me. Also...my Search Won't Work Right Either....the Dog Comes Up But The Rest Is Blank....thanks....snookie28 I Do Have Enough Room To Run The Restore...i Looked At That And It's At The Highest %

 

Hello snookie

I Do Have Enough Room To Run The Restore...i Looked At That And It's At The Highest %
Doesn't mean much if its filled up with restore points. First, have you tried to undo this restore?

Then, did you try getting rid of the older RP's?

Right click on My Computer > Properties > System Restore tab and for the Monitored drive > settings. Move the slider left to 6% and reboot. This will make room for the Restore Operation. Afterwards, reset the slider back to 12%.

Regards - Charles

 

system restore

Thanks For Your Help....i Tried That...i Had 12% And Went Down To The 6;rebooted And Then Put It Back At 12 And Still Come Up With A Blank Box. I Cannot Understand Why Some Of My Programs Wont Work Or Come Up Because Of This And Where Did My Norton Go? I Tried Running It And It Won't Run. I Had To Go Into My Files To Get It...it Was On The Desktop Working Quite Well Until I Did This Restore. I Tried The Other Tip About Taking Out The Prev. Points And Now I Have No Past Date To Go To If It Does Get Fixed!!!! I'd Hate To Total Restore.......takes A Lot Of Work To Get Where You Are.......thanks........anything Else I Can Try?
Snookie

 

Hi snookie,

Forget SR then if you wiped all the RP's.

What you're left with is either formatting or repairing the installation if you've got an XP cd:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Then afterwards set about repairing Norton and any other application that doesn't work.

Also have to reinstall SP1 if that isn't part of the XP that you have or SP2 if you installed that and any MS updates.

You will also have to look into the possibility that you have malware or a virus on your system. Something broke, and you're going to have to think about what caused it. System Restore not working is a symptom, not a cause.

You should get imaging software, exactly the situation it was meant for.

Regards - Charles

 

system restore

Thank You Charles.....i Will Try That. Too Bad I Shut Off The Restore And Wiped Out The Points. How Would I Try To Un Do The Restore Or I Have A Feeling, Is It Too Late?
Thanks....snookie

 

Hi snookie,

How Would I Try To Un Do The Restore Or I Have A Feeling, Is It Too Late?
Your feeling is correct - no RP's, can't undo.

Once you've gone thru a Restore process, there is a third option (button) in the SR Panel to "undo your last restore ". This is the reason why restores take up more room than system checkpoints - the system state is saved just prior to the restore.

BTW, I Restored Because I Was Haveing A Minor Problem.... what was the minor problem?

Regards - Charles

 

System Restore

Hi Charles....the Minor Problem Was My Internet Security Was Set Too High And When I Opened A Program All The Pictures Were X's Instead Of Pictures,etc. The Last Time I Had That Problem I Checked Allow Pictures......(don't Know Exactly What It Was Called) And It Worked...this Time It Didn't And I Don't Know Why I Had That Change Happen To Begin With.

 

Un Do Last Restore

Hello Charles....i Looked In My Computer Properties And Restore And Did Not Find Anything To Undo The Last Restore.

 

Hi snookie,

i Looked In My Computer Properties And Restore And Did Not Find Anything To Undo The Last Restore.
No, that option would be on the panel where the dates are. Right now, I know that option is not there - you have nothing to "undo" w/o any RP's.

Regards - Charles

 

System Restore

Charles.....so Now What? Put My Disk In And Totally Restore? I Did Copy A Few Things On A Disk So It Would Be Easier Later.

 

I'm a bit confused here. Is the reason you can't use system restore because there are no restore points available or is it because the system restore window is just a blank window? My understanding is the latter. If the restore window is blank it doesn't necessarily mean there are no restore points available.

Can you boot to safemode (I realize you can boot normally)? If you can, boot to safemode (log on as administrator) and try system restore from there.

Have you tried the last known good configuration in the startup menu you get when pressing F8 while booting. It might not fix the problem but you never know.

Also, am I understanding you correctly that you don't have a regular windows disk available? If not, have you ever used the restore disk before? It's possible when you boot from it, it may give you the option to reinstall windows besides the option to restore the computer. I'd have a look.

Do you have SP2 installed yet? You could always try installing that to see if it would patch things up. Not likely but you never know. If you have to wipe the disk anyway, it would be worth a try.

These suggestions are just shots in the dark on my part. I really don't know if any of them will get you anywhere but if you haven't tried them yet, it can't hurt given the alternative.

 

Take a look at this. The cause that it states could also have an effect on IE.
System Restore Tool Displays a Blank Calendar in Windows XP

 

Here's more.
Control Panel, Help, and System Restore Are Empty or Partially Empty

Several dialog boxes are blank

 

Is the reason you can't use system restore because there are no restore points available or is it because the system restore window is just a blank window? My understanding is the latter, Zander that's my understanding as well.

Snookie thanks for that bit of clarification. You do not appear to have an XP cd, what you have is a factory restore disc.

Right now, see if following Zander's references and advice on the blank windows will solve the problem. As he says, give it a shot, not much to lose at this point. After that you just do the restore to the factory state if you have to.

Do yourself a favor, look into Drive Imaging software, not much money and will save you from this sort of thing.

Regards - Charles

 

restore not working

Thank You All For You Advise. If I Had Not Deleted My Points In The Restore I Think I Could Have Fixed The Problem. I Called Toshiba And They Were Great!! I Have Only Had The Lap Top For One Month So I Didn't Have A Lot To Re-install. I Copied Some Things When I Realized I'd Have To Do A Complete Restore.
Charles...what Is Drive Imaging Software? What Does It Do?
Thanks Again......hopefully Everything Will Run Much Smoother Now

 

Hi snookie,

I picked one reference, Fred Langa of News Letter fame. His explanations are good and easy to understand http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-03.htm

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask here in the Other Software section. Lot's of the Board regulars use this kind of software and would be quite happy to share their experience with you.

Regards - Charles