Can't Access Custom Restore Points

Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
created in September, the calendar will not go back past October! Therefore,
I can't restore to the last custom restore point!

More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After that, all
the user settings and software configuration that I'd worked HOURS on, in
September, were gone. Since we don't live in the same city, I am trying to
provide system support, over the long-distance telephone line and I have
tried to walk my mother through the system restore process. However,
whenever we get to the calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She
can only see October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that
is the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore. Argh!

What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't be it.
I'm lost.

Sounds like your father used the recovery partition in his computer. This erases the hard disk and reinstalls the software that was on the computer when it left the factory.

You wouldn't want to restore to a point in time so long ago in any case. That would very possibly damage the computer.

Ted Zieglar

"quebi" <quebi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:8E490741-0A13-4188-9E63-D7A1B0FE2C89@microsoft.com...
> Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> created in September, the calendar will not go back past October! Therefore,
> I can't restore to the last custom restore point!
>
> More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After that, all
> the user settings and software configuration that I'd worked HOURS on, in
> September, were gone. Since we don't live in the same city, I am trying to
> provide system support, over the long-distance telephone line and I have
> tried to walk my mother through the system restore process. However,
> whenever we get to the calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She
> can only see October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that
> is the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore. Argh!
>
> What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't be it.
> I'm lost.
>
>

Sounds like your father used the recovery partition in his computer. This erases the hard disk and reinstalls the software that was on the computer when it left the factory.

You wouldn't want to restore to a point in time so long ago in any case. That would very possibly damage the computer.

Ted Zieglar

"quebi" <quebi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:8E490741-0A13-4188-9E63-D7A1B0FE2C89@microsoft.com...
> Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> created in September, the calendar will not go back past October! Therefore,
> I can't restore to the last custom restore point!
>
> More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After that, all
> the user settings and software configuration that I'd worked HOURS on, in
> September, were gone. Since we don't live in the same city, I am trying to
> provide system support, over the long-distance telephone line and I have
> tried to walk my mother through the system restore process. However,
> whenever we get to the calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She
> can only see October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that
> is the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore. Argh!
>
> What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't be it.
> I'm lost.
>
>

Originally, that's what I thought, too. However, some of the programs that I
installed the last time I was there are still on the computer, so I'm a bit
confused about what exactly happened.

What really pisses me off is that I told him specifically NOT to to what he
did. My dad is like a big kid. He just HAS to know what that button
does!!!! LOL

Thanks for your input.

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

> Sounds like your father used the recovery partition in his computer. This erases the hard disk and reinstalls the software that was on the computer when it left the factory.
>
> You wouldn't want to restore to a point in time so long ago in any case. That would very possibly damage the computer.
>
> Ted Zieglar
>
> "quebi" <quebi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:8E490741-0A13-4188-9E63-D7A1B0FE2C89@microsoft.com...
> > Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> > created in September, the calendar will not go back past October! Therefore,
> > I can't restore to the last custom restore point!
> >
> > More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> > answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After that, all
> > the user settings and software configuration that I'd worked HOURS on, in
> > September, were gone. Since we don't live in the same city, I am trying to
> > provide system support, over the long-distance telephone line and I have
> > tried to walk my mother through the system restore process. However,
> > whenever we get to the calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She
> > can only see October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that
> > is the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore. Argh!
> >
> > What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> > October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't be it.
> > I'm lost.
> >
> >
>

quebi wrote:
> Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> created in September, the calendar will not go back past October!
> Therefore, I can't restore to the last custom restore point!

The calendar only shows available restore points. By default System
Restore (SR) holds restore points for maximum of 90 days. The amount of
days restore points are held can also depend on the size of the restore
points and the amount of disk space assigned to hold them. Going back to
September would probably cause more problems than it solves.
You may also find this page helpful.
Keeping System Restore Healthy
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html

> More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After
> that, all the user settings and software configuration that I'd
> worked HOURS on, in September, were gone.

I agree with Ted, and your dad did a system recovery. SR doesn't prompt
the user to restore the system.

When did your dad perform the recovery? And how may restore points are
there available?

> Since we don't live in the
> same city, I am trying to provide system support, over the
> long-distance telephone line and I have tried to walk my mother
> through the system restore process. However, whenever we get to the
> calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She can only see
> October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that is the
> only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore.
> Argh!
>
> What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't
> be it. I'm lost.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org

Hi,

If this is the case, when did your dad perform the restore? And is there
a restore point available for the day before this restore?

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org

quebi wrote:
> Originally, that's what I thought, too. However, some of the
> programs that I installed the last time I was there are still on the
> computer, so I'm a bit confused about what exactly happened.
>
> What really pisses me off is that I told him specifically NOT to to
> what he did. My dad is like a big kid. He just HAS to know what
> that button does!!!! LOL
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> "Ted Zieglar" wrote:
>
>> Sounds like your father used the recovery partition in his computer.
>> This erases the hard disk and reinstalls the software that was on
>> the computer when it left the factory.
>>
>> You wouldn't want to restore to a point in time so long ago in any
>> case. That would very possibly damage the computer.
>>
>> Ted Zieglar
>>
>> "quebi" <quebi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:8E490741-0A13-4188-9E63-D7A1B0FE2C89@microsoft.com...
>>> Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore
>>> point, created in September, the calendar will not go back past
>>> October! Therefore, I can't restore to the last custom restore
>>> point!
>>>
>>> More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
>>> answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After
>>> that, all the user settings and software configuration that I'd
>>> worked HOURS on, in September, were gone. Since we don't live in
>>> the same city, I am trying to provide system support, over the
>>> long-distance telephone line and I have tried to walk my mother
>>> through the system restore process. However, whenever we get to
>>> the calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She can only
>>> see October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that
>>> is the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the
>>> restore. Argh!
>>>
>>> What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
>>> October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't
>>> be it. I'm lost.

Thanks for your input, and the link. I will check that out.

Between my visits to my parents, there aren't many changes to their system.
They mainly use it for email and my Dad's Flight simulator. When I visit, I
download updates to software and clean things up. This is whey I thought it
would be good to use the restore point that I made during my last visit.

I would think that manually created (custom) restore points wouldn't be
deleted automatically. That's just my logic, though.



"Bert Kinney" wrote:

> quebi wrote:
> > Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> > created in September, the calendar will not go back past October!
> > Therefore, I can't restore to the last custom restore point!
>
> The calendar only shows available restore points. By default System
> Restore (SR) holds restore points for maximum of 90 days. The amount of
> days restore points are held can also depend on the size of the restore
> points and the amount of disk space assigned to hold them. Going back to
> September would probably cause more problems than it solves.
> You may also find this page helpful.
> Keeping System Restore Healthy
> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html
>
> > More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> > answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After
> > that, all the user settings and software configuration that I'd
> > worked HOURS on, in September, were gone.
>
> I agree with Ted, and your dad did a system recovery. SR doesn't prompt
> the user to restore the system.
>
> When did your dad perform the recovery? And how may restore points are
> there available?
>
> > Since we don't live in the
> > same city, I am trying to provide system support, over the
> > long-distance telephone line and I have tried to walk my mother
> > through the system restore process. However, whenever we get to the
> > calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She can only see
> > October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that is the
> > only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore.
> > Argh!
> >
> > What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> > October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't
> > be it. I'm lost.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://bertk.mvps.org
>
>
>

well that is al very nice to know if you need to simply restore your computer
to an earlier date 90 days ago. but i am so deperately looking for some way
to fully restore my system back to how it was the day i got it. because my
computer is so darn slow and unproductive due to virus's that i have had for
some time now. and i just really need to know how to do a full system
restore, or at least if i even can. because if there is no way to fully
restore my computer, then i might as well just throw it in the trash.

"Bert Kinney" wrote:

> quebi wrote:
> > Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore point,
> > created in September, the calendar will not go back past October!
> > Therefore, I can't restore to the last custom restore point!
>
> The calendar only shows available restore points. By default System
> Restore (SR) holds restore points for maximum of 90 days. The amount of
> days restore points are held can also depend on the size of the restore
> points and the amount of disk space assigned to hold them. Going back to
> September would probably cause more problems than it solves.
> You may also find this page helpful.
> Keeping System Restore Healthy
> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html
>
> > More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
> > answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After
> > that, all the user settings and software configuration that I'd
> > worked HOURS on, in September, were gone.
>
> I agree with Ted, and your dad did a system recovery. SR doesn't prompt
> the user to restore the system.
>
> When did your dad perform the recovery? And how may restore points are
> there available?
>
> > Since we don't live in the
> > same city, I am trying to provide system support, over the
> > long-distance telephone line and I have tried to walk my mother
> > through the system restore process. However, whenever we get to the
> > calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She can only see
> > October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that is the
> > only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore.
> > Argh!
> >
> > What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
> > October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't
> > be it. I'm lost.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://bertk.mvps.org
>
>
>

Hi Alex,

System Restore (SR) was not designed to restore a system to it's
original state.
System Restore monitors system changes and saves the system state as a
restore point. If a system problem develops as a result of a system
change, the user can return the system to a previous state using the
data from a restore point.

Applications and the system can create restore points when system
changes occur. System Restore also creates checkpoints every 24 hours of
absolute time. It can also be configured to create restore points at
regular intervals. In addition, users can create restore points at any
time.

System Restore does not restore user data or documents, so it will not
cause users to lose their files, e-mail, browsing history, or favorites.
System Restore is also made available to users in safe mode, making it
easier for them to restore their computers to a state before problems
occurred. For more information on SR, click on the link in my signature
block.

Restoring a system to it's original state as it was when it was
purchased involves a process called system recovery. This process
depends on the manufacturer of the system. Some ship the recovery files
on CD and some place them on a hidden partition on the hard drive. You
will have to check the documentation that came with the system or the
manufacture's web site.

How to perform a clean install of Windows XP:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org


Alex Baker15 wrote:
> well that is al very nice to know if you need to simply restore your
> computer to an earlier date 90 days ago. but i am so deperately
> looking for some way to fully restore my system back to how it was
> the day i got it. because my computer is so darn slow and
> unproductive due to virus's that i have had for some time now. and i
> just really need to know how to do a full system restore, or at least
> if i even can. because if there is no way to fully restore my
> computer, then i might as well just throw it in the trash.
>
> "Bert Kinney" wrote:
>
>> quebi wrote:
>>> Summary of Problem: When trying to restore to a custom restore
>>> point, created in September, the calendar will not go back past
>>> October! Therefore, I can't restore to the last custom restore
>>> point!
>>
>> The calendar only shows available restore points. By default System
>> Restore (SR) holds restore points for maximum of 90 days. The amount
>> of days restore points are held can also depend on the size of the
>> restore points and the amount of disk space assigned to hold them.
>> Going back to September would probably cause more problems than it
>> solves. You may also find this page helpful.
>> Keeping System Restore Healthy
>> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html
>>
>>> More details: Recently, my parents computer was unbootable. My dad
>>> answered "yes" to a system restore prompt at the DOS prompt. After
>>> that, all the user settings and software configuration that I'd
>>> worked HOURS on, in September, were gone.
>>
>> I agree with Ted, and your dad did a system recovery. SR doesn't
>> prompt the user to restore the system.
>>
>> When did your dad perform the recovery? And how may restore points
>> are there available?
>>
>>> Since we don't live in the
>>> same city, I am trying to provide system support, over the
>>> long-distance telephone line and I have tried to walk my mother
>>> through the system restore process. However, whenever we get to the
>>> calendar, she is unable to go back to September. She can only see
>>> October and November. She is logged in as "Owner", since that is
>>> the only user that was on the computer after my dad did the restore.
>>> Argh!
>>>
>>> What could be the problem? Why would the calander not go back beyond
>>> October? I'm assuming that "owner" has admin rights, so that can't
>>> be it. I'm lost.
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://bertk.mvps.org