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Question

System Restore not working in Windows 10 Pro

by Dec 30, 2016 5:09PM PST

I have a brand new custom built PC with Windows 10 Pro. System Restore no longer works for me.

I receive the following error every time:

System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.
Details:
System Restore failed to extract the original copy of the directory from the restore point.
Source: %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps
Destination: AppxStaging
An unspecified error occurred during System Restore (0x8007045b)
You can try System Restore again and choose a different restore point. If you continue to see this error, you can try an advanced recovery method.

Only once in all my attempts did I ever get a different error code. This occurred during one of my attempts in safe mode. The message was the same but the error code was (0x80070026).

Here's my system summary:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.14393 Build 14393
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer ASUS
System Model All Series
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU Unsupported
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6900K CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 1401, 11/9/2016
SMBIOS Version 3.0
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.14393.206"
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 64.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 63.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 58.7 GB
Total Virtual Memory 73.4 GB
Available Virtual Memory 67.6 GB
Page File Space 9.50 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

Here's how I discovered the issue and all the steps I have tried to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

- I launched the Windows Store and noticed that I was not logged in. Every time I clicked the login it did nothing.
- I researched solutions for this issue online. The first solution was to sign up for the Windows Preview which should force you to have to login again. Clicking on the login for Windows Preview would immediately close out the login screen.
- The second solution was to launch msconfig, check all non-Microsoft services, disable them and reboot. This fixed this issue.
- It then occurred to me that I should have taken screenshots of the services that had been disabled, if any. So, I decided that I would do a system restore to check the list of services and then repeat the steps above, if necessary, should I not be able to login to the Windows Store.
That's when I discovered system restore was not working. I tried restoring several different points and received the same error message (above with code 0x8007045b).
- Thinking that the system restore was corrupt, I deleted all restore points, disabled system restore and rebooted. After rebooting, I enabled system restore and made a few test restore points (it's set to use 20% of my hard drive which should be more than enough). You can create restore points with no errors.
- System restore still gave me the same error. I then disabled my Norton 360 and tried again but got the same error.
- I held down shift and restarted to enter safe mode and tried restoring. I got the same error message but with a different code (above with code 0x80070026).
- I ran chkdsk, scandisk and sfc and none of them found errors.
- Thinking that maybe there was a virus on the computer or in the master boot record, I ran complete scans with Norton 360, Malware Bytes, Spybot and Super Antispyware, None of them found issues.
- Finally, I spoke with Microsoft and they told me to use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to do a reinstall over my existing copy of Windows 10 Pro. I chose the option to keep my files and apps. - After the installation, I noticed that System Restore was suddenly showing that it was disabled. I enabled it again, deleted the previous restore points and created some new test ones. System restore still gives me the exact same error after restarting the computer and does not complete successfully.

I don't want to wipe out my entire computer and reinstall everything. This makes me nervous that I'm using a computer with no protection should something go wrong. I don't want to have to rely on frequent Acronis backups.

Does anyone have any ideas for other things that I can try?

Discussion is locked

19 Posts
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Answer
Norton.
by Forum moderator Dec 30, 2016 5:16PM PST

Norton has a feature called product protection that breaks system restore. For this alone, I never use their products as I've lost count of folk that call in, PAY HUNDREDS for support to wipe out their PC.

Do you get the idea I'm no fan? That's a safe bet.

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Norton causing an issue with System Restore in Windows 10?
by lghtanddrk Dec 30, 2016 5:53PM PST

Interesting. I have Norton 360. Do you know if this feature is in that version? I have another computer with Windows 10 Pro and Norton 360 and have had no issues with System Restore. If I can't get system restore working, aside from traditional backups, can you recommend a software that does something similar to system restore? I would really like to get system restore working though.

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Sorry yes and no.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 30, 2016 5:55PM PST
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Not sure Norton is causing the problem
by lghtanddrk Dec 30, 2016 6:11PM PST

I see on Google where people have known issues with Norton but I have another computer running Windows 10 Pro with all the same apps installed that I have used System Restore countless times with no problem. If I disable Product Tampering and click disable Norton protection so it's not monitoring that should be enough if it were a conflict. But, I still have the problem. I'm betting if I uninstall Norton the problem will still exist.

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Then back to Symantec.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 30, 2016 10:23PM PST

It's been something I've run into for over a decade. You can wonder forever or just ask Symantec why this is so and how to fix. Not to upset you but this is one well known issue and if you can't get Symanatec to tell you where the off switch is, then they have failed you like that did me.

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The only way to do "system restore" with Norton...
by Dafydd Dec 30, 2016 5:59PM PST

is to disable Norton entirely.
Dafydd.

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Norton Product Tampering
by lghtanddrk Dec 30, 2016 6:01PM PST

I found the option to disable Norton Product Tampering and turned it off. System Restore still doesn't work with it disabled. I don't think Norton is the issue since it works on my other computer that has all of the same programs installed and has Norton too.

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OK. uninstall Norton using their tool...
by Dafydd Dec 30, 2016 6:08PM PST

and then try.

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You don't Disable Norton
by itsdigger Dec 30, 2016 6:18PM PST

You uninstall it using the Norton Uninstall Tool
Otherwise your'e wasting everyone's time

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System Restore still not working after Norton was removed
by lghtanddrk Dec 30, 2016 6:26PM PST

I uninstalled Norton and then used the Norton removal tool. I created a few new system restore test points. I still get the exact same error after having completely removed Norton 360,

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It may be too late
by itsdigger Dec 30, 2016 6:59PM PST

You putzed around with that stuff to the point that there are no viable restore points,
Hope you have back ups

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Reinstall
by lghtanddrk Dec 30, 2016 9:28PM PST

I did a windows replace, uninstalled Norton, deleted and re-enabled system restore, created new restore points and still have issues. At this point, it's clearly not Norton causing the issue.

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Next up. Microsoft.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 30, 2016 10:25PM PST

I can't tell what's up as SR is fine here. I don't see any other clues in your posts but Norton and now other AVs continue to break SR. Not only that but malware, rootkits and low disk space.

Why must you use SR? What's going on?

Post was last edited on December 31, 2016 9:23 AM PST

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Why I needed system restore
by lghtanddrk Dec 31, 2016 7:32AM PST

If you look at my original post you'll see I originally had an issue with Windows Store that I resolved but in the process made some other changes that I wanted to undo. Regardless, I'm sure at some point I'm going to need System Restore working. It's not good that I no longer have this tool at my disposal. I don't want to rely on backups for everything.

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Re: need system restore
by Kees_B Forum moderator Dec 31, 2016 8:10AM PST

Then invest some time to go back by reinstalling Windows and drivers from the disks that came with it, using the makers instructions. It should work then.
Then gradually go forward to reconstruct your current situation, making an image backup regularly. If it doesn't work any more, it was in the last steps. Then go back to your latest image backup and try again with smaller steps.

When all set, restore your data. Since the machine is "brand new" that won't be much.

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Custom computer
by lghtanddrk Dec 31, 2016 8:20AM PST

It's a custom built computer that I have been using since August. I have hundreds of applications that I use and it would be a nightmare to have to start from scratch. I was hoping to find a solution short of wiping and reinstalling.

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Re: custom computer
by Kees_B Forum moderator Dec 31, 2016 8:37AM PST

If it's custom built or not, of course, doesn't mean anything about the number of apps you installed. But hundreds, indeed, is a LOT.

Then all I can say, is: if no help comes here or elsewhere, let Microsoft support solve it. That won't be free, I'm afraid, but could be quite effective. If no luck at solving, and no money to pay Microsoft, you might have to decide to live with it.

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Answer
PS. There are ongoing discussions about that error.
by Forum moderator Dec 30, 2016 10:27PM PST
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This issue doesn't seem to apply to me
by lghtanddrk Dec 31, 2016 7:30AM PST

I reviewed this other person's issue and it doesn't seem to apply to me.

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