System Restore Failure with Vista

I've been having a problem with a game and tried everything to fix it. Nothing worked so I decided to just do a system restore to when it was working to see if that worked....unfortunately I got this message:

System Restore does not appear to be functioning correctly on this system.

The Volume Shadow Copy service used by system restore is not working. For more information view the event log (0x81000202)​

No it doesn't work in safe mode. Yes I've run my anti-virus, defragged, ran ccleaner, and done the Vista cleaning steps.

While installing SAS I got the following message before and after I changed the name:

The windows installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if the windows installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.​

While installing MGTools I got this:

SteelWerX WhoAmI application has stopped working​

I'm pretty frustrated and might start crying...which is not a pretty sight lol. I've posted the logs of what I was able to do.

Thanks in advance

 

Is System Restore and Volume Shadow Copy turned on?

If those are set correctly, you could try deleting the VSSAccessControl key. Word of Warning: This is making changes in the Registry. Ensure your computer and registry is backed up before proceeding, and if you do not feel confident then do not proceed. Any errors you make may not be easily reversible. You will find the key here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\

The other issues we can look at once you are able to use System Restore and set a new restore point.

 

I have no idea what that even is, let alone where to find it.

 

To make sure System Restore is turned on do the following:

1. Click on the Start button to open your Start Menu. The Start button looks like this: http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/vista_features/vista_start_button.jpg
2. Click on the Control Panel menu option.
3. Click on the System and Maintenance menu option.
4. Click on the System menu option.
5. Click on System Protection in the left-hand task list.
6. Put a checkmark in the checkboxes next to each hard drive listed under the Create restore points automatically on the selected disks: section.
7. Press the Apply button and then the OK button.

System Restore is now enabled on your computer. I believe that in Vista if system restore is enabled then Volume Shadow Copy also is, as they are integrated. I don't have Vista on a machine right now, so if I am wrong can someone else correct me.

 

I clicked System Properties and got a pop up that said the same error message but with this first:

There was an unexpected error in the property page:
<insert above error message here>
Please close the property page and try again.

I click ok, and on the system properties box under automatic restore points there is nothing. It just says "Searching..."

The button for System Restore... and Create... are both greyed out. I have absolutely no access to my system restore. I stumbled across the list of past restore points but it said there was none.

 

Did you work through the instructions in my previous post? It made no mention of System Properties, so I am a little confused as to what you are trying to do.

 

I'm sorry...I ment System Protection. I'm pretty sick right now and while I can follow directions, it apparently affects my typing skill >.<

 

Sorry to hear you are not well.

Are you logged on to the computer as Administrator?

 

I am.

 

Have you changed any permissions on any system folders or moved a user profile which may have caused permissions to change? Maybe you couldn't access some folders even though you are logged in as administrator so changed some permissions, which would explain the problems you are experiencing.?

 

I don't think so...is there a way I can double check?

 

You would know if you had done so

As I don;t have a machine with Vista on it right now I am working blind here. So I'm going to ask one of our Forum Administrators who specializes in Vista to take a look at this thread for you. Please be patient as he lives in a very different time zone to us

 

Thank you so much.

 

Should I move this to the Malware thread maybe?

 

Thanks. I'll have to try it when I get home.