Restore points in xp disappear

[stellular]

Hello, restore points in xp disappear ... have more than enough disk space

 

[Cyberat_88]

In control panel, system, system restore tab, do you have system restore turned on ? Is it on a fixed drive ? Do you have more than 1% allocated ?

 

[stellular]

Yes system restore is turned on; maximum (12%) allocated. No noticeable rhyme or reason for the deletion... install a program and it will delete, next time you install a program and it doesn't delete. Sometimes it deletes when no specific actions are taken. Seems to be a purely random action designed by Microsoft to drive me nuts!

BTW, running XP Home on Acer laptop.

 

[Cyberat_88]

This one is not of Microsoft design, BSODs are however. Sounds like you have a rootkit and/or virus on. Do a full scan in safe mode, I suggest Malwarebytes', McAfee Stinger and whatever AV you are currently running. Let me know if you nailed the bug.

 

[stellular]

Thanks for your response. I waited a couple of days to respond to see if the problem persisted after following your suggestions. I ran Malwarebytes, Stinger, Norton, and Sophos and found no problems - computer clean - and the problem persists. I'm stumped and perplexed!!

 

[stellular]

In control panel, system, system restore tab, do you have system restore turned on ? Is it on a fixed drive ? Do you have more than 1% allocated ?

Thanks for your response.

Yes, system restore is turned on; have 12% allocated.

One constant: when MS installs security updates, restore points get wiped out and the install does not create a new restore point.

 

[stellular]

Tried all suggestions -- problem persists. It's nutty. At times restore point will remain for 3 or 4 days and then disappear. Other times restore points will disappear several times each day. No noticeable pattern.

 

[Cyberat_88]

Of the ones you mentioned I am not familiar with Sophos. What you want to look for, since we eliminated a virus, is software blocking the backup/restore points from saving OR deleting the restore points as part of cleanup. Do you run any cleanup software ?

 

[stellular]

Thanks... I've tried several cleaners.

 

[stellular]

Since none of the answers was a solution for my problem, there is no "best"
answer. However, I do sincerely appreciate all the responses looking to
help.

 

[me 1]

Thanks... I've tried several cleaners.

That's not the point.
The point is to stop using any cleaner utilities for a few days, and maybe check your services and startup in sart>run>msconfig for something similar maybe runing automatically and unckeck it.
Anything in Event viewer about system restore?
U can also try the two fixes from here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
(go down)
Here are some more causes that can delete restore points
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/missingrps.html

 

[stellular]

Since none of the answers was a solution for my problem, there is no "best"
answer. However, I do sincerely appreciate all the responses looking to
help.

 

[Guest]

Since none of the answers was a solution for my problem, there is no "best"
answer. However, I do sincerely appreciate all the responses looking to
help.

I've had the same issue - twice, now - over the years. Using Windows XP, reserving restore space only for the C drive and activating System Restore only there, I still lose my restore points.

A month ago I had to re-install XP completely and, as before, made regular restore points as I went. Today, after making another tweak, I made another restore point and, as I've been numbering them, checked back to see what number I was up to.

The answer is, apparently, Zero. No previous restore points existed any more.

Remember, this is a practically brand new install.

I've checked with anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-adware and goodness knows what else and each has come up with no errors. The error, it seems to me, is in MS implementation of the System Restore routine, whatever that may be.

I long to be corrected about this - and to find someone to answer the mystery, which has clearly affected many users and never been satisfactorily resolved, even by the most helpful and knowledgeable of respondent.

I begin to seriously doubt the value of this "facility".