System Restore, help and support, search disappeared

mamazaac

I am running windows xp and had recently installed kaspersky on my pc. I wanted to go back to before this was installed, so did a system restore which worked. However, I then tried to open system restore again in order to undo this action, but it had disappeared!! My help centre has also disappeared and my "search" facility, along with who knows what else. I have googled this and something which seemed to work with someone else is that they happened to have made a registry backup with a link to their desktop, so they merged the registry back up into the registry and system restore came back. However, I do not have such a registry backup - would my pc have automatically saved one somewhere maybe?

Have run spybot and no viruses, etc showing up.

Something else which is probably relevant is that if I go to control panel>admin tools>services there is nothing there, just a big block of blue where there should be entries of some kind.

In event viewer there were lots of errors one of which was 7023 and directed me to http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;328213 when I double clicked on it. I have downloaded this hotfix, but all that was in the download was a txt document, not the hfx.exe itself, so that wasn't any help.

From the info I have been able to get from google, I think it is probably a registry error. Should I download registry-mechanic which says it can repair the registry?

Please can someone suggest something to get this sorted out?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Laz123

The best thing to do is run a sfc:
Type cmd into run, then type sfc /scannow (note space) and pop in your xp disc. This ashould replace any damaged or missing registry files.

If this doesn't cure it you may have to do a repair install http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

mamazaac

Laz123 wrote: »

The best thing to do is run a sfc:
Type cmd into run, then type sfc /scannow (note space) and pop in your xp disc. This ashould replace any damaged or missing registry files.

If this doesn't cure it you may have to do a repair install http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Thank you for your reply. However, I didn't get an xp disc when I bought the pc, it was already installed. What I did do, however, was create a system back up disc. And I keep a back up of my whole system, not just the files, on an external hard drive, so can we utilise any of these?

Also, have just noticed that CCleaner can scan for issues on my registry which I had it do and there is a whole load of stuff which needs fixing. Should I try fixing this first before I do anything else, as I am pretty sure this is a registry problem?

thor

I had a problem with my system restore afew weeks ago where the restore still worked but I could not get access to it's settings or help menu. I read somewhere that sys restore needed a certain amount of hard disk space and when I cleaned my drive up it did indeed fix the problem.
I know your problem is different but it maybe worth a look to see if you are running out of disk space just in case.

Laz123

mamazaac wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. However, I didn't get an xp disc when I bought the pc, it was already installed. What I did do, however, was create a system back up disc. And I keep a back up of my whole system, not just the files, on an external hard drive, so can we utilise any of these?

Also, have just noticed that CCleaner can scan for issues on my registry which I had it do and there is a whole load of stuff which needs fixing. Should I try fixing this first before I do anything else, as I am pretty sure this is a registry problem?

You can use CCleaner to sort things out. It's the only trusted reg cleaner. If that doesn't sort out the prob run the sfc using your disc. As long as it's got the i386 folder it should work. If it doesn't post back and I'll show you how to run sfc without a disc.

mamazaac

Laz123 wrote: »

You can use CCleaner to sort things out. It's the only trusted reg cleaner. If that doesn't sort out the prob run the sfc using your disc. As long as it's got the i386 folder it should work. If it doesn't post back and I'll show you how to run sfc without a disc.

Thank you, have run the fix registry on CCleaner, but didn't get back what I'm missing. Both the hard drive backup and the system disk I made when I first got the pc have the i386 folder - shoud I use the hard drive because the backup is much newer? If so, how would I tell the pc to extract the info from the hard drive rather than the cd drive please?

From what you say above, it appears that this will just affect the registry files - is this correct or will it reinstate my whole system to the settings at the time of the backup I use?

Laz123

mamazaac wrote: »

Thank you, have run the fix registry on CCleaner, but didn't get back what I'm missing. Both the hard drive backup and the system disk I made when I first got the pc have the i386 folder - shoud I use the hard drive because the backup is much newer? If so, how would I tell the pc to extract the info from the hard drive rather than the cd drive please?

From what you say above, it appears that this will just affect the registry files - is this correct or will it reinstate my whole system to the settings at the time of the backup I use?

When you run sfc it will automatically look for the i386 on the cd rom, so use the disc.

If that doesn't cure the prob then go for the repair install which will reinstall xp over itself but will retain your data and progs (but backup first incase). You will then also have to reinstall all xp updates which only takes a couple of hours on bb.

mamazaac

Laz123 wrote: »

You can use CCleaner to sort things out. It's the only trusted reg cleaner. If that doesn't sort out the prob run the sfc using your disc. As long as it's got the i386 folder it should work. If it doesn't post back and I'll show you how to run sfc without a disc.

I tried to run sfc using the system back up disks I made when I first got the pc, but it doesn't recognise either of the discs, so am presuming to do this you have to have all the info on one disk?

I then ran the sfc clicking cancel everytime it asked me for the disk, but nothing happened at the end.

I then used Nero BackItUp which I used to back up the whole system to restore just the i386 folder, as that was the one you mentioned, but it didn't solve the problem (maybe I needed to restore something else as well?).

You said before that you could show me how to run sfc without a disc - how can this be done please?

If possible I would like to avoid reinstalling the whole system - can the repair install be done using the backup on my external hard drive as I don't have the xp cd? If I must reinstall the whole system, will it be ok to restore my latest backup through nero, rather than what is on the original back up disks I made, as that includes Acer stuff which was a pita and which I got rid of ages ago.

Many thanks again for trying to help me.

jack_spratt_2

I had a problem with system restore recently and it was Zone alarm that had caused the problem !! I removed it and downloaded PC tools and it sorted it !!

Laz123

mamazaac wrote: »

I tried to run sfc using the system back up disks I made when I first got the pc, but it doesn't recognise either of the discs, so am presuming to do this you have to have all the info on one disk?

I then ran the sfc clicking cancel everytime it asked me for the disk, but nothing happened at the end.

I then used Nero BackItUp which I used to back up the whole system to restore just the i386 folder, as that was the one you mentioned, but it didn't solve the problem (maybe I needed to restore something else as well?).

You said before that you could show me how to run sfc without a disc - how can this be done please?

If possible I would like to avoid reinstalling the whole system - can the repair install be done using the backup on my external hard drive as I don't have the xp cd? If I must reinstall the whole system, will it be ok to restore my latest backup through nero, rather than what is on the original back up disks I made, as that includes Acer stuff which was a pita and which I got rid of ages ago.

Many thanks again for trying to help me.

I don't know why sfc failed if the i386 folder is on the backup disc. Unusual.

Try this:

You will need to tell your computer you have the files on your PC. We do this is the registry (type
regedit in the Run box on the start menu) by navigating to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup
You will see various entries here on the right hand side. The one we want is called:
SourcePath
It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, and that is why it is asking for the XP CD. All
we need to do is change it to:
C:\
Simply double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up allowing you to make the change.
Now restart your computer and type into run cmd, then in command box type sfc /scannow (note space).

---

Other Problems with scannow sfc...
#1
Has the CD Drive's drive letter changed (perhaps by the addition of another hard drive, partition, or
removable drive) since Windows XP was first installed? If so, simply edit the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath to reflect the changed drive letter.
After you restart the computer sfc /scannow uses the new source path instead of prompting for the
Windows XP installation CD-ROM.

mamazaac

Laz123 wrote: »

I don't know why sfc failed if the i386 folder is on the backup disc. Unusual.

Try this:

You will need to tell your computer you have the files on your PC. We do this is the registry (type
regedit in the Run box on the start menu) by navigating to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup
You will see various entries here on the right hand side. The one we want is called:
SourcePath
It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, and that is why it is asking for the XP CD. All
we need to do is change it to:
C:\
Simply double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up allowing you to make the change.
Now restart your computer and type into run cmd, then in command box type sfc /scannow (note space).

---

Other Problems with scannow sfc...
#1
Has the CD Drive's drive letter changed (perhaps by the addition of another hard drive, partition, or
removable drive) since Windows XP was first installed? If so, simply edit the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath to reflect the changed drive letter.
After you restart the computer sfc /scannow uses the new source path instead of prompting for the
Windows XP installation CD-ROM.

Ok, checked the sourcepath which was showing as C:, changed it to C:\, restarted pc and tried the sfc /scannow, but still asked for disk.

Found this article - http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html - and followed all the instructions in it but still no joy. Even changed the sourcepath to E:\ and tried again with the back up disk but still asked for the xp disk.

However, I think maybe I have the answer. The article you linked me to says "the Windows File Protection service constantly monitors for any changes to the main system files. Well Windows XP keeps a cache (copy) of these essential files at the following location:

C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache (assuming C: is your system root which it probably is.)"

Well, there is no Dllcache in my System32 folder on my pc (yes, I have selected to view hidden files). BUT, when I look at the backup of my system on my external hard drive, the Dllcache folder is on there. Therefore, I believe I might have this whole problem because my Dllcache folder has disappeared from my pc. Do you think this is right? And if so, would the answer be to 'restore' through Nero my Dllcache from my external hard drive?

I'm sorry this is proving to be such a bother to you, but really appreciate your advice.