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View Full Version : How do I manually replace XP System Restore files?

curiousnoob
October 5th, 2008, 06:34 AM
a few months back I found a posting on how to locate the System Restore files on the XP partition and use an older one to replace the current one to fix a broken installation that will not boot up.
I cannot seem to find this article.
Does anyone have a link or know how to do this?
Sef
October 5th, 2008, 10:21 AM
Moved to Windows Discussions.
smoker
October 5th, 2008, 03:01 PM
not sure if this is what you mean, but from 'safe mode with command prompt' you can use this command:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

you may also be able to use this command using the 'recovery console' off an install cd, though i haven't tried that.
curiousnoob
October 7th, 2008, 09:40 AM
not sure if this is what you mean, but from 'safe mode with command prompt' you can use this command:


you may also be able to use this command using the 'recovery console' off an install cd, though i haven't tried that.

Not quite. I am looking for the directory where past system restore files are stored and how to copy them to the current active location, thereby restoring the PC.
fiddledd
October 7th, 2008, 09:53 AM
System Restore stores all it's files in C:\System Volume Information\.
curiousnoob
October 8th, 2008, 09:42 PM
System Restore stores all it's files in C:\System Volume Information\.

That's what I was looking for. Now does anyone know where the "active" directory is?
I should be able to replace those files with one of the old ones and get it to work now.
Battie
October 9th, 2008, 01:01 PM
That's what I was looking for. Now does anyone know where the "active" directory is?
I should be able to replace those files with one of the old ones and get it to work now.

I'm not sure I understand why you're trying to do this. If you start System Restore, it will ask you to choose the date/time to which you want to roll back. There should be no need to replace any files.
curiousnoob
October 9th, 2008, 06:31 PM
I'm not sure I understand why you're trying to do this. If you start System Restore, it will ask you to choose the date/time to which you want to roll back. There should be no need to replace any files.

I am unable to start Windows, even in Safe Mode or with the System Disc.
Battie
October 9th, 2008, 06:39 PM
Have you tried booting with Last Known Good Configuration yet? It sounds like you think it was a recent change that messed up your system, so this may work.
curiousnoob
October 9th, 2008, 07:21 PM
Have you tried booting with Last Known Good Configuration yet? It sounds like you think it was a recent change that messed up your system, so this may work.

Yes, I have tried that as well. Regardless of what mode I use the system restarts a few seconds after the Windows splash screen with the progress bar appears.
I had a similar issue with another PC a few months back and was able to fix it the way I have been describing. Unfortunately I can no longer find the tutorial.
Battie
October 10th, 2008, 09:58 AM
Yes, I have tried that as well. Regardless of what mode I use the system restarts a few seconds after the Windows splash screen with the progress bar appears.
I had a similar issue with another PC a few months back and was able to fix it the way I have been describing. Unfortunately I can no longer find the tutorial.

Wow. I'm curious to see if this works. I'd have thought it was impossible to fix a system with just those restore files.
ColinTempler
October 10th, 2008, 05:41 PM
a few months back I found a posting on how to locate the System Restore files on the XP partition and use an older one to replace the current one to fix a broken installation that will not boot up.
I cannot seem to find this article.
Does anyone have a link or know how to do this?


Try this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us
Part two describes using a previous system restore from c:\System Volume Information.