system restore wont load

[gwoody]

Was recently working on a machine and removed a bunch of spyware using spybot and adaware, uninstalled norton 2003 and installed symantec corporate client. Tried to reconnect using remote assistance, they sent invite I accepted and then i get remote assistance error message saying that they refused help. but they didnt touch anything. checked all settings and remote assistance in enabled and allow remote control is checked under advanced. Tried to run system restore to restore everything back to the day before and when I try to open system restore I get a white box with the classic windows title bar that says system restore but the box is empty never gives me an option to create or restore just blank box. HELP!!! any ideas???

[Sniper]

Hi gwoody,

You may try doing a system restore from safe mode. Boot to the safe mode and perform the system restore in same way as you do in normal mode. If you wanna know how to boot to safe mode then click on the link below :

http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

If that does not work then you might try doing it from safe mode with command prompt. For booting to safe mode with command prompt you may follow the abov document, the only difference is that you need to select Safe mode with command prompt on the Advance Menu option screen. Then you will get a DOS prompt screen. Type following commands and hit <ENTER> after each one of them :

cd\

cd windows\system32\restore

RSTRUI

After this you will get the same system restore window and then you can carry on in the same way as normal mode.

NOTE : You will not be able to create restore point in any of the safe mode options.

[gwoody]

ok I tried what you suggested and same thing happens I get a window that has a title bar that says system restore but the box is still empty doesnt give the option to create or restore from previous. I appreciate your attempt if you have any other ideas I am open to suggestions please help.

[Sniper]

Hi,

Thanks for acknowledging my efforts... though I didnt do much... lol. Anyways coming to your problem, is there any error displayed, if yes then please post it here. Another thing I would like to know is if you are able to work on other parts of computer. I mean other programs or windows application.

[faydra]

Well you could give this a try - it's worked for me before: You can restore a working backup copy of your Registry using a text-based version of the Windows Registry Checker tool.

Restart your computer, press and hold the F8 key as soon as you see a message that indicates Windows is starting. When the startup window appears select the command line (DOS) or command prompt only line.

At the command prompt (C:\) type
cd\windows\command and press enter.

At the next command prompt (C:\windows\command) type scanreg/restore and press enter.

From the list in the text box that appears, select the most recent working Registry .CAB file and then choose Restore (you may need to use the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to do this). You can identify the working files by the presence of the word "started" next to the date. (you will lose any system changes that have occurred since this date).
After you are notified that you have restored a properly functioning Registry, press Enter. This will restart your computer. Once your computer reboots you will be able to create a Restore point. From the Start Menu, select Programs, Accessories, System Tools and System Restore. Select "create a restore point" from the options on the right side.

[gwoody]

this is windows xp I have tried that already unless i am missing something xp has done away with that function.

[gwoody]

It does work mostly. If i bring up windows explorer and open a search it is blank the little dog walks out and sits there scratching himself but there are no search fields to utilize just a solid blue box. Remote assistance wont allow connection and system restore wont load completely that is all that i can pin point so far I think I still have some spyware in here also. Have run spybot and adaware several times and they say its clean but not sure they arent missing some.

[Sniper]

Hi,

It might be possible that after you ran scan for spyware and got rid of it. Some of the system files might have been deleted as well. It happens at times. You may try sfc /scannow. Steps are as follows :

1. Insert the Windows XP CD in your top CD drive.

2. Close out the window which comes up as the CD auto-runs

3. Click on Start >> Run.

4. Type sfc /scannow and click OK.

5. It will initiate a scan. You might get a small pop-up windows where in you will be asked to select the place from where you want the files to be copied. Delete the existing path and write down this path : d:\i386 and click OK

6. When it finishes then take out the CD and restart the computer.

[shaun225]

gwoody - i have had the exact same symptons on my computer.
I think it may have been when I uninstalled Norton Internet Security and Liveupdate

[Lucero]

I too have fallen victim to this horrible nightmare. I am on vacation fixing my brother's computer. He tried to uninstall Norton Internet Security and couldn't. So, I got the services disabled and ripped the thing out with add/remove programs. On top of that I dug out about 1000 spy/adwares off his machine.

Then his wife tried to log into her work in IE and MSN explorer. The scripts which run the login were not working, but worked in Mozilla Firefox. Hmm, I wonder. Then I found that Help and Support, System Restore and the extended view of services in the manage.mmc are not working as well. Just a blank window with a title and no mini icon.

I am unable to locate my XP disk right now. So I might reinstall norton IS to see if that will work as well. Good luck to the unfortunate few.

[Lucero]

Re-installing Norton AV/IS fixed system restore blank screen. Yay!

[Rich M]

When you folks uninstall Norton antivirus, you need to go to the Symantec site and download the Norton Removal tool for each program before doing it.
I think some of you will need the XP repair and if you don't have XP disks, well shame on you you saved $10 on your pc and mfgr made $100, don't be so foolish again ,,,buy it now because you cannot expect to navigate an operating system effectively in these times without owning one.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm