Before installing some software on my computer I set a restore point. As it turns out I needed to restore the system following the software installation but when I attempt the system restore a message appears saying “Restoration Incomplete”. I tried other system restore points which were saved but they all yielded the same result. However, I found an article which suggested turning off System Restore (thus deleting all the restore points) and then turning this back on. After doing this I am now able to restore to previous restore points. So it seems that Windows has difficulty restoring when there are many restore points. Is it possible to limit the number of restore points which Windows creates and also delete individual restore points? The computer is running Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Windows should not have difficulty restoring system restore points, regardless of how many restore points have been created, as this is the entire point of the System Restore functionality. As such, I do not believe there is a way to limit the number of restore points which Windows creates. The only method you could use to limit the number of restore points created is change the disk space allocation for System Restore. This will limit the disk space which System Restore can use to store the restore points thus placing an upper limit on the number of restore points which can also be created. However, this is not an exact science since the number of restore points which can be stored in that space allocation is dependent on the size of each restore point. So it would be a very hit and miss approach. Additionally, I do not suggest that you set the allocation to be any lower than 2 – 3 GB, as this may lead to insufficient space to store some of the larger restore points resulting in other restore points being deleted by Windows to make way for the creation of more recent restore points.

Apart from enabling, disabling and modifying the space allocation for System Restore there is not much else which is user manageable in the System Restore function in Windows. There is no in-built function in Windows to selectively delete restore points – you can only remove all restore points by disabling the System Restore function (as you have discovered). That said, there is a utility called CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) which, amongst other things, does allow you to selectively delete system restore points. I have not used this utility so I cannot comment on its efficacy. However, I would be very wary deleting system restore points. System restore works by tracking changes between the restore points. Instead of taking a full, self-contained snap-shot of the system every time a system restore point is made, the idea is to only track the changes to the system since the last restore point so that the process is much more efficient and consumes less storage space for each restore point. However, this also means that each restore point is dependent upon the chain of restore points which precede that restore point. As such, if you start deleting restore points and then attempt to restore to a later restore point you will get an error saying that the restore point is corrupt.

In any case, we should look at the problem which you previously experienced relating to the message appearing saying “Restoration Incomplete”. While this problem has been solved, it is possible that it may reoccur. The first possibility was that the restore point database was corrupt for one reason or another. This would have been a one-off occurrence and the disabling and then re-enabling System Restore has cleared the restore points and then allowed these to be re-created from scratch. If the problem does not occur again then this was the likely cause. However, if the problem does reoccur then we need to look at potential reasons for the recurring behaviour and how to stop this from happening.

First, you should update Windows with the latest Service Pack. This includes security and other critical Windows Updates which may resolve the problem being experienced. To download the updates, visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com and follow the prompts to update your system. Once your system has been updated we should consider whether there could be a third-party application running on the computer which is conflicting with the System Restore process. To test this theory, you should try running System Restore from Windows Safe Mode. This is a special diagnostic mode of Windows which does not load any unnecessary background processes or programs, just the bare essentials to get Windows going. To boot into Safe Mode, restart the computer and just before the Windows XP splash (logo) screen appears start tapping the F8 key. In the boot menu that appears select “Safe Mode” and press ENTER. Once the computer has finished booting try completing the system restore operation. If this works successfully then it appears a third-party background program may be interfering with the process. There is unfortunately a lot of software which could be potentially causing this conflict, particularly security software (such as anti-virus scanners and internet security software). While you could spend a lot of time attempting to track down the problematic piece of software I would suggest that you just boot into Safe Mode whenever you need to complete a system restore, as you don’t need to do this very often.

However, if the System Restore does not work in Windows Safe Mode then it seems something is wrong with the System Restore function itself. Unfortunately there is not much more I can suggest without further information on the problem. Next time the problem occurs, look in the Windows Event Viewer which should hopefully provide you with some more detailed information on the problem. Go to the “Start” menu > “Control Panel” and open the “Administrative Tools” control panel then “Event Viewer”. In the Event Viewer window click “System” in the left-hand pane. This will display all the system related events in the right-hand pane. Under the “Source” heading in the right-hand pane look for “sr” and “srservice” as these refer to the System Restore service. Look for any entries which have a warning (yellow exclamation point sign) or error (red cross sign) pertaining to these services. If any of these occur double-click on the entries for further information. Then, please email me the description for each entry (which should contain the error information) so that I can investigate the issue further for you.