Hi, everyone. I tried using Restore yesterday for some minor issue and ended up having to undo that restore. After doing the restore back to a system restore point on Friday, none of my desktop icons or the taskbar would come up. Now I waited about two minutes after the desktop came up before trying again. Then I waited another two minutes before restarting in safe mode and undoing the restore-to-Friday thing. Could it possibly take longer than that for icons to come up after restoring back to another day? This concerns me as I always set a restore point before downloading or upgrading anything and now it seems there might be an issue with Restore. (Or maybe I just didn’t wait long enough?)
(If it makes any difference, I had added Office Live and decided I didn’t want it. Couldn’t figure out how to just delete it because it didn’t seem to be showing up in delete programs in Control Panel. So I thought I’d just restore the computer to before I added Office Live.)
SAS is also at 4.35.1002, so hopefully it is just a case of Pam not keeping her signature up to date rather than the security software and Firefox is at 3.6.3 ;D
Everything is updated except avast (I’ve updated my signature). I like to wait a while after something new comes out in case there are any major issues that need to be worked out (and sometimes I just get lazy and don’t do them when I should!) I’m now unsure about upgrading or updating anything if I don’t know if I can rely on System Restore if a problem surfaces from an program upgrade or update (other than virus updates which are obviously done automatically). I will note the the System Restore point I used was one I set on Friday at noon rather than one that the computer automatically sets (System Checkpoint). Should you request a system restore while in Safe Mode only? I just requested it in regular mode and then had to go in Safe Mode to reverse it.
I’ve done regular scans with Malware Bytes and SAS, and a boot-time scan with avast! and everything is showing up okay.
The taskbar w/start button (etc.) and icons are the items that went missing with I tried to do the system restore to Friday noon, but the desktop wallpaper is there, in case that makes a difference. Reversing the restore request corrected the problem.
Oh, and 2 GB RAM.
Any ideas?
Pam
EDIT: Just saw something that said possibly explorer didn’t load correctly?
Just a suggestion, but If System Restore isn’t working did you check if it’s enabled in “Control Panel”-Services-“System Restore Serice”-…should be set to automatic and should be able to press the “Start This Service”—Just Guessing since it isn’t working…
Hi, Daris. I don’t have “Services” under Control Panel, and I don’t see where there’s an “automatic” setting for System Restore (is this in XP?). It has a box to check if you want to turn it off, but that box is not checked so it should be running. Plus, it is working, apparently not correctly, though. And undoing it did fix the problem of the icons and taskbar disappearing. When I initially did the system restore back to Friday, I did get a window pop up that said it had successfully been restored to Friday, but I had to undo it because my icons, start button, and task bar were missing. I want System Restore to work correctly in case I really do need it sometime. (I’ve had to us it on another computer in the past.)
In my research I found numerous sites/forums were people have had this problem, either after a restore session, after a Window’s update, or just out of the blue, but I’ve yet to see an answer that seems to work to fix it. I’d sure glad that undoing the restore fixed it, but I’m not comfortable relying on it at this point, obviously.
I just updated avast to 5.0.507. Is there a way to reverse Windows updates if they cause problems if System Restore doesn’t work properly?
Edit: Darius, in searching through Microsoft Support, I found what you are talking about under Computer Management that you get to through Start-Run-compmgmt.msc. I was just going in to Setting-Control Panel earlier since I didn’t know this other existed. Yes, it is on automatic.
I have not used System Restore on my XP Pro system since I purchased Acronis True Image a year ago.
Before that I used Macrium Reflect that was free but I got a good deal on Acronis True Image at a “Give Away of the Day” event.
I have not had a problem with Windows updates on that system for a long time. ( touches wood)
I don’t know if it will help…but microsoft office live is about 400mb, almost half a GIG the 1 U downloaded I’m assuming is probably the same size…If U didn’t get rid of it properly, your comp would probably take awhile to load, and U would see icons appearing slowly…I would try to do a search for it… or are U using a Cleaner of any sort?? …Also try creating another Restore point and see if Restore services creates it…U don’t have to restore again, just create 1 in case U ever need it…Usually if it doesn’t work, it won’t let U create a Restore point…let me know how it goes…
YoKenny, thanks for the info; I will definitely look into those.
Darius, I can set my own restore points fine and the computer automatically sets one every day. The problem occurred when I tried to use one of them; I tried to restore back to Friday at noon to a restore point I had set (which was before the Office Live thing). When the computer rebooted after that restore, that’s when the desktop icons, start button, and task bar would not come up. (And I got a window pop up that said the restore had been successful.) I went in safe mode and reversed the restore and everything is fine as far as the icons, etc., are concerned, except now I don’t know if I can rely on System Restore to work if I ever really need it to (and still have icons and a task bar when it’s done!). Office Live itself is not actually running because I haven’t set it up yet (and don’t plan to, at least at this point), only the Office Live Sign-in is showing in Processes at about 3,288k memory usage.
What do people use around here for complete hard drive backup (not just the data, which I regularly back up to a flash drive)? I’m looking for something external, like an external hard drive to back up everything to. Also for curiosity, wonder how many processes people normally have running? Might should start some new threads!
Hi, I don’t know if this is something you’d be interested in. I’ve used this rollback program for several years without any problems.
It’s perfect for trialing programs,ect. http://www.pcundo.com/eazpro.php
hope this helps
@ PamJ: I’ve had this issue. It’s Avast preventing sys restore from working properly when self-defense module is activated >>> dark desktop after login in + empty taskbar (no icon) >>> only way out is go back to safe mode and uninstall avast. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=58973.msg496974#msg496974
ps: you don’t need to look for anything, backup program, imaging software, whatever, that’s not the issue : as to your amount of RAM, in this context >>>
I have 44 processes running on my XP professional SP3…But I used Revo Uninstaller to google some of my processes, and if they aren’t required on auto start programs, I stopped some…Usually i would have had about 52 processes running…Also I use Revo every time I un instal anything, that way cleans up all the leftovers properly and I Use CCleaner every time I close my Browser…Did your computer come with a Recovery CD?? If U can back up your Data on a flash drive and burn a recovery CD than… if all fails, Your computer would be set back to factory settings like when U just bought it…and U would have all Your data files on flash drive…
Logos, are you saying that I need to remove Avast completely? What is this self-defense module? My screen was not dark, the regular wallpaper was there just fine; it was the icons, task bar, and start button that were missing. I fixed the issue by going into safe mode and reversing the system restore I had done. But now don’t know if I can rely on restore in the future if I ever need it.
Not sure I understand what you mean about the amount of RAM. Also, I was just asking about ways to back up my computer totally unrelated to this. I was thinking about something external, like an external hard drive. Sorry for the confusion!
Darius, I back up my data to a flash drive every couple of days because I run a small business and need to back up client work often. When I back up client stuff, I back up my personal data as well. I have a OS CD and a drivers/utility CD that came with my computer. I have about 50 processes running, give or a take a couple at any given time. I was just curious!
