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System Restore Window Blank

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by hopor

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I have been trying to remove some spyware (ezula, wiltangent, and more) from a laptop with Windows XP. Before starting on my quest I decided to do a system restore checkpoint. After many runs of Adware and Spybot, I went in the registry with some 11 pages of instructions and did some manual tweaking. After some problems deleting a few entries I decdided to restore my checkpoint and start over. When I bring up system restore all I get is a blank screen (all white). I can see the backups in the system volume information folder but can't seem to access them. I've tried running system restore from Windows, from a command prompt, from safe mode, from safe mode command prompt and get the same results each time. As near as I can tell everything else is working OK. I've even tried a few things on Microsoft's website including articles 313853 and 831430. I suspect I've changed the authority on or deleted a key in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive, but don't know what.

11 replies

by sgt_shultz

i have not had quite your symptoms and can't tell without researching the articles you mentioned what you have already tried.
can you go to a system that works and copy down the keyboard strokes it takes to get to a restore point to restore it. then go to your pc and do those steps even tho you can see. have you tried that

by shanef

You can try running the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=304449

or reinstall system restore;

Start, Run, type: c:\windows\inf
in the INF folder, look for SR.INF (or sr)right-click on SR.INF and left click on Install
insert the XP disk if prompted and it will reinstall system restore

by shanef

At this point I would boot up with a windows xp disk and run the installation repair. Eleven pages of instructions for some manual tweaking leaves a lot of room for error. While running the repair you will not lose any of your personal data files, but some application(s) might need to be reinstalled. When I tried that in the past I only had to reinstall one application that was not a major app.

by hopor

I tried reinstalling sr.inf and also a repair from the CD. I still can't get system restore to work. If I click system restore once it appears nothing happens. If I look in task manager I see rstrui.exe (system restore) running, but there are no windows. If I attempt to run system restore again, that is when I get the blank window.

by coling

Yes yes-i had the same exact problem plus other probs like buttons or links that didnt work. Download and install microsoft script 5.6 It worked for me

by coling

Yes yes-i had the same exact problem plus other probs like buttons or links that didnt work. Download and install microsoft script 5.6 It worked for me

by hopor

I found an old backup of the registry and did a restore of it. This resolved the problem with system restore showing a blank window. Unfortunately, I could no longer access my old restore points, even though I could see them in the System Volume Information folder. I have since found an article on Microsoft's website that tells how to restore your registry from a backup created by system restore: "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting" http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545.

by toplock318096

I was having the EXACT same problem. Coling had the solution: Microsoft script 5.6 worked perfectly. Thanks!

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