Windows Me System Restore (Page 3)
Manually Creating System Restore Points
If you are not sure that a new piece of software you want to install uses the latest installer technology (which tells Windows Me to make a snapshot before running the installation), you can add a System Restore Point manually.
To do so, select Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Once the System Restore Window opens, you'll be offered two choices: Restore my computer to an earlier time and Create a restore point (if you have ever used System Restore to restore your system there will be a 3rd choice: Undo my last restoration). Selecting Create a restore point, and pressing Next will prompt you to give a name/description to your restore point, once that is done click Next, and a new restore point will be created.
Restoring Your System
To restore your system to an earlier time/date, you need to access System Restore as follows: select Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Once the System Restore Window opens, you have to make sure Restore my computer to an earlier time is checked, than click Next. On the next Window, you'll need to choose your Restore Point. You will be presented with a calendar showing you the current month, with some days highlighted in bold. Day's highlighted in bold contain System Restore Points. If you select one of these, you will see a short description in the window next to the calendar. Once you've chosen your Restore Point, click Next. You'll get a warning and some additional information, to continue with the System Restore, press Next. When the process is complete, System Restore will reboot your system.
If you are not able to start your system (normally or in safe mode), there is another trick you could try:
- Start your computer by using the Windows Me Startup disk
- From the Startup menu, choose Minimum Boot
- At the command prompt, type edit c:\windows\system.ini, and then press [Enter]
-
Edit the shell= line so that it reads:
shell=progman.exe
- Press [Alt]+[F], and then press S to save the changes to the System.ini file
- Press [Alt]+[F], and then press X to exit the editor
- Remove your Windows Me Startup disk, and restart your computer. When your computer restarts, Program Manager should start.
- On the File menu, click Run, type msconfig in the Command Line box, and then press [Enter]
- Click the Launch System Restore button (on the General tab) to begin restoring your computer to a previous, functional state
Note: Since the System.ini file is one of the files that will be restored, you will not have to change the shell= line back to it's original state, that will be done when System Restore restores the file to a previous version.
Windows Me System Restore Update
Microsoft has released an update to fix a problem with System Restore. This update resolves an issue with the System Restore date-stamping functionality that may cause System Restore to date-stamp snapshots that are taken after September 8, 2001 incorrectly. This can prevent System Restore from locating these snapshots and can cause the system restore process to fail.
For more information about this update, read Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) Article Q290700, Checkpoints That You Create After September 8, 2001 Do Not Restore Your Computer.
You can download the update from the Microsoft Download Center (249KB).
Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles
Here are some Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles dealing with System Restore problems:
- 250231 - System Restore Points May Not Be Created for Hardware Device Driver Installations
- 261680 - Error Message Occurs When Attempting to Use System Restore
- 261690 - Start Menu or Shortcut Items Appear Capitalized After Restoration
- 261716 - System Restore Removes Files During a Restore Procedure
- 261719 - Screen Saver Password May Be Removed or Changed After Using System Restore
- 263455 - Anti-Virus Tools Cannot Clean Infected Files in the _Restore Folder
- 264152 - Deleting the _Restore Folder from a Non-Windows Me Partition Resets the Data Store
- 264578 - Ebdundo.exe Does Not Do Anything When Run from the Startup Disk
- 264887 - How to Enable and Disable System Restore
- 264996 - Description and Functionality of Cabbit.exe
- 265371 - How to Extract and Replace a Protected File in Windows Me
- 266077 - How to Enable System File Protection Popup Notification
- 266714 - SFP Cannot Function When System.cat File Is Corrupt or Missing
- 267123 - Restore Operation Fails if a Folder Has the Same Name As a File in the Root Directory
- 267160 - System Restore May Not Properly Restore Attributes to Files
- 267176 - Unable to Access the System Restore Buttons If Screen Resolution Is 800x600 or Less
- 267426 - Scheduled Tasks Start After System Restore Alters Configurations
- 267511 - Error in Rstrui.exe When Starting System Restore or Creating a Manual Restore Point
- 267594 - Starting from the Windows Millennium Edition EBD (bootdisk) Disables the Hibernation File
- 267655 - Multiple Restore Points Created During Visio 2000 Installation
- 267794 - Recently Saved Files May Not Remain in the My Documents Folder
- 267808 - CD-ROM Drive Title Remains After You Restore the System Restore Point
- 268114 - System File Protection Unable to Restore Rnanp.dll
- 274092 - Error Message: System Restore Cannot Run Until You Restart the Computer
- 275646 - System Restore Shows Date of Saturday, December 30, 1899
- 279736 - How to Start the System Restore Tool From a Command Prompt
- 290700 - Checkpoints That You Create After September 8, 2001 Do Not Restore Your Computer
 Previous Page |