System restore dead completely

Hello All from Squatchie !
My PC as configured below a gift running XP Media Center Edition

I have several issues I am trying to resolve but first and most critical is " System Restore" It is completely dead and will not allow me to even manually create a restore point ! I use this box to do Local Biz SEO work and often add a lot of open source or freeware apps. So it can easily get hosed with small issues a system restore could be invaluable.

I have tried to reinstall system restore following instruction from various Forums etc switched it on and off checked services to ensure they are on used Tweaking .com all in one and ran SFC /CHKDSK etc and scoured many many forums as well as MS solutions to no avail. Also ran Mal-ware Bytes/CC Cleaner /TDS Killer and even ran 3-4 disk surface scan utilities etc. I am not very familiar with XP media Center all though there appears to be few differences in it and Pro.
My last thought are possibly a d-word reg setting etc missing or set wrong. I am at my wits end and do not want to keep shooting in the dark. Can anyone offer advice:cry


Gateway 2000 GT5224
Windows XP Media Center Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium D
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded
3318 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

 

Try this, http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm, lines 278 and 289(this one on right side column).

 

Rather than relying on System Restore, better make a full backup from time to time, either using Windows Backup, or a 3rd-party tool such as Acronis True Image.

 

Agreed.

There is good free backup image software available, such as Easeus Todo Backup Free and Macrium Reflect Free.

System Restore should still be kept active. Be sure to check the System Restore Settings and the Disk Space Usage setting for
each drive for which Monitoring is set On. The system partition is usually the only one that is required.

 

Thanks Nick, I had forgot to include I had tried the reg fixes from Kelly but did so again upon wake up this AM no change / I may not have mentioned I cant even createa a manual l rest point receive error. Do to poitential ignorance I also may mention I can not boot into safe mode , I did not think this had any bearing but it may. I am a novice with only 10-12 years working with XP . Thanx again

 

Mjnc, I am investigating these options and will definitely choose one.. system restore is a function i have made use of quite frequently on the other 3 machines on my network . I guess I found it amazing after reminiscing of the days of DOS 2.xx etc/