Original title: System RestoreI wanted to save space on my C drive, so I went to My Computer and clicked on Properties on Local Disk C, and clicked on Disk Cleanup. Under the More Options section it showed that I could free more disk space by removing all but the most recent restore point. I did that, and realized that it was a mistake because now I cannot use System Restore at all. Is there a way to reset this so I can use System Restore again. I tried unchecking the box that said System Off, and that did not help. Thank you.

Hi Duane, If you have deleted all the restore point on the computer you cannot recover the restore points. Only option is to create new restore points. Link you may refer to for steps: How to set a system restore point in Windows XP:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948247 Regards:Samhrutha G S - Microsoft Support.Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

What do you mean you cannot use System Restore at all?What happens when you try to use it?If you chose to remove all Restore Points but the last one, there is no way to recover the old ones.If you turn off System Restore and then turn it back on, all your Restore Points are permanently deleted. That is the way it works.If you turned off your System Restore, you might want to turn it back on.The default amount System Restore uses to accumulate Restore Points is 12% of the volume being monitored.If you think your System Restore points are taking up too much hard disk space, adjust the amount of space System Restore uses to accumulate Restore Points. or get a larger hard disk.What amount of disk space was freed up when you deleted your all your Restore Points and was it worth it?It sounds like your system has a self inflicted wound, and if you are not sure if your System Restore is working properly, you should test it.Make a new Restore Point manually, reboot, then choose to restore your system to the new Restore Point you just created.That will test your System Restore operation from end to end to make sure it all works and if it doesn't work, fix it.The day you need System Restore to work is not the day to find out System Restore is afflicted.Do, or do not. There is no try.I decided to save up points for a new puppy instead of a pony!

You will still be able to use System Restore should the need arise. Besides, you don't want to go that far back in time anyway.

I am wondering why they would even put that in as an option - it in effect deleted the System Restore programfrom my computer. I did try turning it off and turning it back on, and ran the System Restore program. It wentthrough all the motions and then said that nothing was done. On top of that, it did not free up that much space.It was a big mistake on my part to do that function, but I thought there would be a way to get it back if I neededit again, but there isn't. Good luck with the puppy.

I am sorry to say the information did not help me restore the System Restore. I am mad at myself that I was dumbenough to try to save space on my hard drive by deleting that program, but I thought I could go back and reset it ifI wanted to, but I cannot find out how to do it. Thanks for trying to help. I went to the link you suggested and Ihad already done that part. I had used the System Restore in the past and it worked well.

Help me out here... I am not getting it.You lost all your SR points by a cockpit error.Did you then make a new Restore Point manually, reboot, try to use restore the system to the new Restore point and then get a message that says something did not work right?What does the message say exactly?Something like this?Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored...This happens a lot in the real world and you should figure it out and fix it.Answer these questions as best you can:What is your system make and model?What is your XP Version and Service Pack?Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.What is the issue you are having that you think System Restore will remedy (or are you just practicing)? System Restore is not a time machine.Some Anti Virus tools will "protect" your system so much that they will not allow a System Restore to work properly. For example, if you are running any Norton/Symantec products, you may see a message like this:Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored...It is such a popular Symantec problem (well, I'll be polite and call it an "undocumented feature"...), they wrote an article about it:http://service1.symantec.com/support/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2005113009323013Depending on what you are using for malware protection, you may have to disable the product(s) temporarily, do the System Restore and then turn the products back on again when the System Restore is complete.Sometimes you will need to boot your system in Safe Mode and while your protection programs are not running, then do the System Restore. Microsoft hints in some of their articles that if System Restore fails to restore your computer, boot into Safe Mode and then execute the System Restore. That works for some configurations.Sometimes System Restore is so afflicted or the Restore Points are suspicious, the best option is to just reinstall your System Restore. Doing so will delete any old Restore Points, but sometimes this is the only way to fix a broken System Restore. You don't have to reinstall XP, just the System Restore part.Do, or do not. There is no try.I decided to save up points for a new puppy instead of a pony!

System Restore should only be used in rare instances. And you really don't want to go that far back in time anyway as you risk instability.You should not run System Restore if there is no reason to!If you ran System Restore and had the result you did, chances are some program (probably Norton) interfered with it. If so, see this page:http://service1.symantec.com/support/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2005113009323013Once you delete restore points, they are gone for good (unless you have backups, which of course is always a good idea). Also, if you regularly image your drive, your need to run System Restore greatly diminishes. :-)