Vista - backup failed, chkdsk and sfc, sidebar settings.ini missing

Hi, happy holidays for everyone.
This is my first post on this forum.
When I tried to make a backup I've got an error message saying:
Backup failed
0*80070017 cyclic redundancy control failed
I've searched the net for that code and they suggested chkdsk, I've done that
and ran sfc/scannow with elevated privileges. Sfc did correct some problems but there is one problem he could not repair.
I've looked at the log in c:\windows\logs\cbs and searched with the tag [SR] to narrow down, and there was a problem that occured several times.
Windows SIdebar settings.ini is corrupt or missing (64-32bit program files) and when sfc tries to look for backup of the source file it also stated that this one is corrupted.
So I was wondering I've someone knows a method to correct this?
Maybe if there is a way to reinstall the sidebar my problem could be solved (?)
I can't use System restore because I recently deleted those checkpoints, because of an space lack on that partition.
Any help will be much appreciated.
I've you need more info please feel free to ask.
Sorry if my English isn't perfect, not my native lingo.

Best regards Carlo

Hi Carlo and welcome,

Read these tutorials and see if these can help.

Windows Sidebar will not Start in Vista

Windows Sidebar - Gadget Not Displayed Correctly

As to your other problem, try a startup repair if possible.

System Recovery Options


You can generate a system health report to see if you get any other information.

System Health Report

Dare I ask if you have been using registry cleaners?

Sounds like you have windows file corruption. You have two choices if this is a result of registry cleaning-1. restore your registry cleaner files that the program altered/deleted. 2. Reinstall Windows.

Thanks for quick reply.
First I wanna say to Airbot that I don't have any problems with starting the sidebar nore with the gadgeds that are displayed.
I've tried some options from the recovery partition and disk, but I couldn't reinstall the sidebar without doing a complete install of Windows.

I think that rive0108 is closer to determine what caused my problem.
I've been thinking about the fact that some registry cleaners may caused this problem.
I'm trust those applications too much I guess.
Hopefully I still have the backups, because I used and tested quite alot of them.
But before I commence I want to ask something;
- do I choose backup per backup and starting with the last one, and do I need to restart after every single backup that I restore?
- on second thoughts though, there are 2 regcleanprogrs wich have a complete backup from the whole registry, from before the first action they took, I think it would be better to set one of those back...

And what happens with my system if I replace one and since that time I've updated some hardware, could that cause some serious troubles?

I wanna use a complete Windows restore as last resource, because I did just that
a week or 2 ago, and reinstalling everythng is something that I look up to do again.

Anyway thanks for the tips and I hope to get some answers from this reply.

Best regards guys

A rule of thumb on registry cleaners-
they are notorious for deleting critical program/windows .dll registry entries (amongst other things). If you do not know the function of the things the cleaner wants to remove- do not allow it to remove it. This can cause severe file corruption in Windows.
The programs often do not discriminate between legitimate and unwanted items, and Inexperienced users are often advised to exercise caution. Personally I stay clear of registry cleaners- and if the time comes when I want/need to clean certain entries from the registry I search for it myself under "find" in regedit and delete the unwanted entries. I only do this for critical issues (like removing malware/unwanted programs), and never as a general "sweep" for performance improvements.

For restoring your computer this is what i suggest-
Stop using registry cleaners.
There are free disk imaging software programs for home premium. Reinstall Windows, download all updates, load all the programs you want. Do a full system defrag in command prompt as admin (defrag c: -w), run check disk, then create your image. Takes 15 min to reinstall image if needed at a later time. Download free DriveImage (similiar to Norton Ghost):Download Private Edition

note- Do not back up a corrupted image. This is why I suggest fresh Reinstallation of Windows and sp1 updates.

Also, if you want to completely remove programs that are installed with Microsoft Windows Installer use this.

Hi,
Maybe I have to adjust my policy regarding those cleaners.
I trusted them too easy, and used them almost every day.
And to make matters wurse I use several cleaners;
Advanced System Care from IObit
RegistryEasy
and a built in cleaner from Advanced Vista Optimizer
I get carried away by promising words like optimize, clean, faster, tweak...
Are the built in features of Vista enough to keep the machine clean?

When your pc gets slow do you trust on Imaging software to replace it with a clean image?

I'm a little bit reserved using Imaging software.
On my previous xp machine I used Acronis, and when the time came when I needed that Image it was corrupted. Allthough I did a verificationproces when making it and afterwards, both turned out OK. A couple of weeks later it was corrupted due to bad sectors on the external hd.
Thats why I did an upgrade to Vista, and I tried a different Imaging prog
Spotmau (all- in-one), but that prog was a nightmare, when the imaging process was done everything was messed up. (my profile was gone, and partitions were changed...)
I did a new clean install of Vista, like I said in my previous post.

Is it possible to make a bootable version of DriveImage, so when Vista wont boot I still have a bootable cd?
Or can I trust the OEM preinstalled rescue/recovery manager to restore Windows boot items and then restore the image made by DriveImage when Vista is loaded?

Forgive me if I ask to much questions, but with all recent affairs I'm getting a bit vigilant.

Nevertheless, I appreciate your feedback!

Regards Carlo

I imaged my drive right away after Vista SP1 and all my essential programs were installed. I also back up files/folders through Windows backup utility to a 320GB external drive every week. My Complete Vista PC Image (5-DVD's) is used for catastrophic recovery, and I have recently used it for setting up my newly upgraded internal hard drives. (640GB-320GBx2)

I run a RAID 0 config, and when I notice performance loss, I do a full defrag through command prompt (this on top of the regularly scheduled default weekly defrag).
I use NOD32 antivirus/antispyware (while not free, is relatively inexpensive) which has a very small footprint and provides excellent heuristics, and I also use a tweaked Windows defender as a secondary backup- but mostly just for monitoring software not yet classified for risks (new)/and changes made by software that is already permitted to run.
I also run Check disk once a week or so. Always use UAC.

As for bootable images, Drive Image should create a bootable set of DVD disks, or a bootable file on your external. I am not really sure though as I do not use it. I created my Image with Vista, and boot off my Vista O/S disk into the advanced recovery options.

I agree with rive0108, if you're not making absolutely sure as to what cleaner programs are cleaning then you can have disastrous results. If you just go on faith that they know better, they will wind up deleting important files and entries.

Hi again
This is really helpfull information.

I'm gonna use DriverImage, and test it out.
If everything works as it should be than I'll do a complete reinstall of Windows and use your method.
There's one thing I want know, how do you make an Image with Windows.
Has it something to do with "Volume shadow copy", and how do I use it?
If I'm not mistaken, the Backup function in Windows doesn't backup system files and can't therefor be used as a total backup of the pc.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for the adequate advice