Re: Cannot create a Restore Point or Restore to a previous one
Hi .... When I try and manually create a restore point in VistaIget the following error message: Could not create the scheduled task for the following reason: Cannot create a file when that file already exists(0X800700B7) Coincidently this problem started when the last automatic restore point was created on Oct 26, 2008. Since then no other automatic restore points have been created and I can't create one manually either. Its almost as if the restore point creation process is stuck in constant write mode and won't create a new one automatically or manually. This error message occurs whether VSSCOPY service is running or not. I have all the required system restore files or dlls in system 32. I have also eliminated any possibility of it being caused by another program since the automatic restore point creation process worked fine upuntil Oct 26, 2008. The following is the current content of myONLY system restore registry key: "hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\currentversion\systemrestore" and its values are: firstrun regdword 0x00000000 (0) lastindex regdword 0X000000BB (187) rpglobalinterval regdword 0x00015180 (86400) rplifeinterval regdword 0xffffff (4294967295) rpsessioninterval regdword 0x00000001 (1) Please help if you can Thanks Ray
December 5th, 2008 5:02pm

I have the exact same problem as above. Unable to create restore points, restore points only made after installing windows update software. Tried to deactivate and reactivate system restore, tried to rename the system restore file as mentioned below, tried to use admin rights to do the above, tried to go into safe mode... system restore doesn't even exist in safe mode! And cannot be activated either! I'm at my wits end and getting really frustrated. My pc is hp dv5t laptop with v64 home premium upgraded to vista ultimate.When trying to create a restore point, it says: System Protection "Could not create the scheduled task for the following reasons: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (0x800700B7)"Says the same thing when I deactivate system restore with the additional subsequent window: "There was an unexpected error in the property page: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (0x800700B7) Please close the property page and try again.I have checked all my windows file as per the original suggestion, everything is in order, no file had an error. Please help. This is really frustrating!
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January 26th, 2009 3:55am

I found that my problem was a file named SR by using Sysinternal's ProcMan (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx). Might give you something to look at.
January 26th, 2009 4:07am

LGS said:I found that my problem was a file named SR by using Sysinternal's ProcMan (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx). Might give you something to look at. thanks for responding lgs! i downloaded ProcMan, could you let me know what to look for... i.e. how you found the SR file that worked for you?
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January 26th, 2009 12:03pm

Start the capture just before you hit the create button, then stop the capture just after it finishes. If, as the error suggests, the problem has to do with pre-existing files, look for CreateFile calls. I can't remember if I filtered for a specific process, but if you can, obviously the problem is going to be towards the end of the capture.
January 26th, 2009 6:01pm

LGS said:Start the capture just before you hit the create button, then stop the capture just after it finishes. If, as the error suggests, the problem has to do with pre-existing files, look for CreateFile calls. I can't remember if I filtered for a specific process, but if you can, obviously the problem is going to be towards the end of the capture. Thanks for your response LGS. I tried looking for the CreateFile calls in conjunction with SystemPropertiesProtection.exe, but I don't see much. It shows C:\ and D:\ with no file name afterwards. I don't see anything that really sticks out. I tried comparing to the ProcMon of another notebook (vista32) but I can't really tell any difference. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I hope somebody from MS could step in to help too... Funny thing is that just the other week when everybody was touting Win7 I was perfectly happy with Vista... ugh, its like the old win 3.1 days all over debugging the system files.
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January 27th, 2009 12:55am

Try looking at the process that contains the Task Scheduler.<set soapbox on>I just created a post the other day about the importance of diagnostics (here). The response from that particular MS guy seems to be that if we can't put up an error message that grandma will be able to understand and fix, there's no point in putting up any message at all. That combined with the belief that "it's impossible for *that* to happen, so we never check for it, and provide no possible fix" just makes me crazy.You'll notice that end user apps (Office, IE, etc) are starting to have Repair/Reset options. These folks have had their faces repeatedly rubbed in the fact that s*&# happens. And when it does, you can't just go telling customers to reinstall the app, or the OS, or buy a new computer, or re-evolve from a single-celled life form, or whatever the current go-back-and-start-over message entails.My belief is that two things Windows desperately needs are:1) Meaningful error messages. I understand and support the belief that we can't be putting scary/incomprehensible messages up on the screen that intimidate grandmas. But if that's really your concern, what's wrong with doing what the Error Reporting service does now (ie a "More Details" button)? I can't picture a scarier/more intimidating-looking error report than a crash dump.But the underlying problem is that even if programmers were willing to display the detailed information, the info just isn't there to be displayed. Virtually every Win32 api returns a 32 bit integer (or a BOOL) as the only error reporting mechanism. Think about it: Service A calls Service B which impersonates the logged on user and then invokes a third party plug-in that calls a COM object that fails to read a file. And we think we can describe who did what and where things went wrong by returning 0x2.2) Diagnose/repair tools. I don't know how to say it any plainer: s*&# happens. And when it does, life needs to go on. If your subsystem requires certain files, registry keys, directory structures, permissions, etc, you need to have a tool that will (on command) check all that stuff to make sure it's in workable condition, and be able to repair it when messy life come along and happens all over your nice perfect software. And these two things need to be done on an OS-wide basis: - There needs to be a consistent error-reporting mechanism that all systems use, not logfiles here, system events there, windows messages for that one, etc. Programmers need to know where to find the errors to report them, and customers need a single way to find out what went wrong. - There should be a single Diagnose/Repair console that can invoke all the subsystem tools and report system health.Sorry. Hot button for me. A pipe dream I know. Still.<set soapbox off>
January 27th, 2009 4:42am

The removal of "C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\SystemRestore\SR" from the eyes of the System Protection applet was the correct method for my situation. For months I have pondered what could be wrong with my computer, that it threw up this error, forcing me to eventually turn off System Restore and leave my computer vulnerable to a devastating crash. But now that System Protection could no longer find "C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\SystemRestore\SR", I was able to activate System Restore once more, and even create a system restore point. Of course, when you posted this response almost 21 months ago, you were afraid that renaming this file could crash some integral part of Windows. I'll restart Windows soon and see if I've crashed anything, but for now, System Restore is up and running. Thanks to all of you for your help in my situation. Brandon TaylorBrandon Taylor
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September 28th, 2010 7:17pm

Hi LGS I had a same problem as VistaRay. renaming the SR file solved my prob. Thanks
January 23rd, 2011 11:00am

Hi, I got the same problem as VistaRay. Follow your advice, I renamed the file SR to SR.sav and can successfully create restore point and do the system restore. However, is it alright to delete the renamed file (SR.sav)? Because as long as I create new restore point, a new SR file is created in that folder. I don't know if this cause any mismatch files later on. Please kindly reply.
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December 13th, 2011 11:10pm

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