system restore does not work

i just get the result from the system restore itself. it says that it can not restore from the selected point, and that I should try another one. I have tried quite a few, all with the same results.

"windows explorer has encountered an error and needs to close." not very helpful.

when i look at the technical info, it has 1 module for explorer.exe, and then 20-something more for various .dll files. I'm not sure what all that means though.

but unfortunately, i haven't com up with the answer yet. just lots of problems.

I read a few other posts of yours and you claim you get this error message (see the google)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22MS+Explorer+has+encountered+an+error+and+has+to+close.%22

But that results in ZERO reports of that message.

If you don't supply the error messages or the message without typographical errors you may end up frustrated and reloading the OS.

Bob

It says, word for word, this: "Windows explorer has encountered an problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

the report data is:

AppName: explorer.exe
AppVer: 6.0.2600.0
ModName: msvcrt.dll
ModVer: 7.0.2600.0
Offset: 000216af

Hope that helps.

While you can review http://www.google.com/search?&q=+site:support.microsoft.com+Windows+explorer+has+encountered+an+problem+and+needs+to+close.+We+are+sorry+for+the+inconvenience.%22 and the articles nothing exact yet can be shared.

You have yet to tell the full story in any post I read, tell what Service Pack is installed, or all the details asked for by the WORDS IN RED that you see with each post.

No one is going to ask for such since it's with each and every post you make. You must apply yourself.

In closing, if this was my machine, I'd try SFC /SCANNOW as well as an online virus scan.

Bob

okay, full story:

toshiba satellite 1005-157S
Celeron 1005MHz
512mb RAM
XP home SP1
Running nearly every virus/spyware scanner known to man, no major modifications to anything.

I ran a complete spyware sweep, sometime after that I had the problem with explorer not running and getting the error message I posted. Went back and undid all the spyware changes. Still bad. Tried to do a system restore, nothing works, here I am.

sfc /scannow does nothing, it scans and then doesn't diplay results or anything. is that the usual result?

spyware/virus doesn't seem to be the problem, I have run the whole gambit and come up with nothing that would be doing this, as far as I know. I get the usual spattering of n-Case and a couple more, but those delete with no problems and have always done so.

I'm at a loss as to what I did to make this happen. The computer is nearly non-functional.

If I could get system restore to work, I think I could get somewhere, but so far, I have had nothing but bad luck with that.

i can't do most of the solutions, either because they require windows explorer or because they require me to delete the restore points and start over. the latter just puts me in a worse spot yet, since the last thing i would ever want to do is restore to this point once i get everything fixed.

i will try what i can and let everyone know how it goes.

As you may now, when System Restore does become corrupt such may happen and you have to just toss the old points out by turning it off and back on. But first, what about...

SAFE MODE with the COMMAND PROMPT. It's not very advanced. You tap F8, get to the command window (there is no GUI to speak of), CD to the directory where RSTRUI is and run RSTRUI.

Or type in this:

c:\windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe

Bob

the solutions that I am able to try did not work. I'm guessing my restore points are corrupted, and that it is a seperate issue from the windows explorer not working. I tries safe mode (explorer works in safe mode) but restore still doesn't work.

if I delete the restore points and make a new one, it really doesn't help me at all.

I'm thinking I might as well just get a new hard drive, get XP Pro, and take a loss on all my saved stuff, since I would like a little more than the comically small 15gig hard drive I have.

And running RSTRUI fails?

From the movie... "That's bad."

About your files. Uh, did you just reveal you don't backup?

Bob

on that machine, I really don't back up very much, because it doesn't have much that I need on it.

a few saved game files and some other junk, but nothing I can't live without.

I'm not stressing out about losing everything on the machine, I'm just mad I have to take the time to completely wipe the thing clean.

Trust me though, i back up everything on my desktops at work and home. I'm not completely stupid.

If you are installing a new OS on a new hard drive, simply install your old drive as a secondary and all your old data will be right at your fingertips. Ive done it many times, mainly cuz I lack the expertise and patience to fix the original problems !!....dave

might work, but its tougher to do on a laptop computer.

With only 15Gb, and games installed, that might point to your problem. SR needs (I think) 15% free space to work at all. So if you have the restore points and your disk creeps towards full, no workadaseestem.

I agree. But it is possible. Somewhere at the 10GB mark is when I pan XP as not a good idea on a machine.

With all the effort on this one, it may be time to try using the command line or the Recovery Console to delete a few big things then to do a repair install.

-> My concern is that no clue showed up in these discussions about how the fault occured. Usually a clue is given about no firewall, antivirus or use of P2P software. Or a too stuffed hard disk.

A little thought about how this happened or you get to repeat it.

Bob

there really isn't much i can tell you. i have used P2P programs on that computer, but not for a long time now. it has been at least 6 months. I use norton and symantec virus protection, tons of spyware programs, and I THINK I have enough free space.

can I uninstall some stuff through safe mode and fix the problem if disk space is what it is? Everything seems to work fine in safe mode. If thats the problem, it might just be an easy on to fix.

I eject spyware programs and more from my machine with tools such as I note at http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&messageID=15002

Sometimes I even review the HIJACKTHIS log to make sure.

What happens with a clean boot (hints at http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci968108,00.html )


Bob

i will try the clean boot steps as soon as I get home from work. I will keep you all posted and let you know what that turns up.