A collection of Microsoft Knowledgebase Articles about those mysterious parts of ME that no-one knows about until they need them

(If you're looking for help with the Windows XP version of System Restore, you really need to go to MVP Bert Kinney's site

HOW-TO Articles

KB279736 - How to Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt
KB264887 - How to Enable and Disable System Restore

What is SR? (and related articles)

KB267951 - Description of the System Restore Utility in Windows Millennium Edition
KB278449 - Description of Windows Millennium Edition System Information (Msinfo32.exe) Tool
KB247485 - Description of Troubleshooting Settings for File System Properties
KB274155 - Description of the Safe Mode Troubleshooter
KB267952 - Description of PCHealth in Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
KB264996 - Description and Functionality of Cabbit.exe
KB272117 - Description of Files on the Windows Me Startup Disk

Problem-Solving Articles

KB267698 - Computer May Not Start Properly After You Use a System Restore Point
SurfWatch-related fault - ignore if you've never had SurfWatch installed on your PC

KB267176 - Unable to Access the System Restore Buttons If Screen Resolution Is 800x600 or Less
Cause - low screen resolution

KB306768 - Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows Millennium Edition
General troubleshooting advice.

KB275646 - System Restore Shows Date of Saturday, December 30, 1899
Cause - missing registry association

KB261716 - System Restore Removes Files During a Restore Procedure
Cause - Putting data files outside the 'My Documents' folder tree - Undo the restore, move the files and redo

KB250231 - System Restore Points May Not Be Created for Hardware Device Driver Installations
- use SR to restore to go back to last point prior to install, or uninstall driver using provided routine)

KB267160 - System Restore May Not Properly Restore Attributes to Files
Cause - this seems to be a minor bug in SR

KB261690 - Start Menu or Shortcut Items Appear Capitalized After Restoration
Cause - this seems to be a minor bug in SR

KB261719 - Screen Saver Password May Be Removed or Changed After Using System Restore
Cause - 'by design'

KB266714 - SFP Cannot Function When System.cat File Is Corrupt or Missing
Cause - corrupt/missing System.cat file

KB306762 - Restore Points Are Not Saved in System Restore
Cause - McAfee Safe & Sound
KB267123 - Restore Operation Fails if a Folder Has the Same Name As a File in the Root Directory
Cause - as title (rename or move the offending folder)

KB267426 - Previously Scheduled Tasks Start Even After System Restore Changes Configurations
Cause - .job files are not monitored by SR  - change the Scheduled tasks manually

KB267794 - Recently Saved Files May Not Remain in the My Documents Folder
Cause - Multiple user profiles may result in executables in other users 'My Documents' being monitored by SR

KB297958 - Performance Issue While Running ForeHelp
Cause - ForeHelp continuously modifies a monitored file type

KB299266 - Free Hard Disk Space Decreases for No Apparent Reason
Cause - System Restore (and/or GoBack) use space to back up modified files - limit the space used for SR (uninstall GoBack!!!)

KB266342 - Error Messages May Be Displayed When Using Windows Me Startup Disk with Adaptec GoBack Software
Cause - GoBack modifies the MBR on your HD, and ME no longer recognises the boot partition

KB275144 - Error Message: The Specified File Is Protected and May Not Be Copied Over or Deleted
Cause - SR archives are Hidden System files - and should not be modified by the user

KB303354 - Error Message: System Restore Was Unable to Create a Restore Point
Cause - corrupted registry

KB296090 - Error Message When You Start System Restore: An Error Occurred in the Script on This Page
Cause - damaged SR Control files

KB274092 - Error Message: System Restore Cannot Run Until You Restart the Computer
Cause - WININIT.INI file present in C:\Windows folder - if rebooting doesn't cure the problem the first time, check that there isn't another wininit.ini file created by third-party drivers.

KB261680 - Error Message Occurs When Attempting to Use System Restore
Cause - SR is turned off either by the user, or because of low disk space.

KB298888 - Error Message When You Browse Internet or Read E-mail with AOL (NOTE - may also occur with System Restore - message is error in WINMM.DLL, msacm.dll, OR user.exe)
Cause - Corrupted WINMM.DLL file

KB267511 - Error in Rstrui.exe When Starting System Restore or Creating a Manual Restore Point
Cause - wrong date on computer! - reset date, then SR

KB264578 - Ebdundo.exe Does Not Do Anything When Run from the Startup Disk
Cause - A restore operation was NOT the last action on the system.

KB264152 - Deleting the _Restore Folder from a Non-Windows Me Partition Resets the Data Store
Cause - user intervention (often over-zealous use of disk cleanup utilities)

KB309663 - Control Panel, Help, and System Restore Are Empty or Partially Empty
Cause - problems with JSCRIPT.DLL

KB305671 - Computer Starts Only in Safe Mode and System Restore Does Not Work Properly
Cause - Norton Anti-virus (specifically v2001) auto-protect

KB267698 - Computer May Not Start Properly After You Use a System Restore Point
Cause - SurfWatch has been uninstalled, and you've Restored back to a point where SurfWatch was installed

KB274460 - Computer May Not Restart After Unsuccessful System Restore with Drive Overlay Software Installed
Cause - Drive Overlay tools modify the MBR

KB267808 - CD-ROM Drive Title Remains After You Restore the System Restore Point
Cause - SR restores the ShellIconCache file - if problems continue, delete the file

KB267718 - Cannot Reinstall SurfWatch 3.0 After You Run the System Restore Tool
Cause - SurfWatch is partially reinstalled in a Restore operation

KB275651 - Blank Pages in Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) Help and Support
Cause - missing registry association

KB259680 - Backup Files Take More Space Than Expected
Cause - global backup includes SR archive, and temp files. do not allow Backup to include C:\_Restore folder tree

KB263455 - Antivirus Tools Cannot Clean Infected Files in the _Restore Folder
Cause - C:\_Restore is a protected folder tree

Please email me if you find broken/missing links

Copyright © 2003-2009, Noel Paton

This page was last updated 18/03/2009

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