Vista - Bug? I can't delete retore points

I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK, here's
the problem:

I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
copies.

I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the most
recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.

It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
shows the shadow copies.

Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
with the RTM. Now, it does not.

I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that worked.
I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore point
yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4 VCs
(I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup get
rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."

Can anyone replicate?

Thank you.

P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the only
user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.

I *may* have found the log entry that corresponds to this "problem" :
Log Name: Application
Source: VSS
Date: 12/20/2006 7:35:05 PM
Event ID: 32
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: HPDesktop
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: The VSS Coordinator class is not
registered. This may be caused due to a setup failure or as a result of an
application's installer or uninstaller.

Operation:
Instantiating VSS server

The above error seems to occur each time I try to delete restore points.

OK, 2 questions: (1) Am I correct that this is the "right" error? And, (2)
Anybody know the fix?




"Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
> here's
> the problem:
>
> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
> copies.
>
> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
> most
> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>
> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
> shows the shadow copies.
>
> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>
> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
> worked.
> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
> point
> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
> VCs
> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
> get
> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>
> Can anyone replicate?
>
> Thank you.
>
> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
> only
> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>

Robert:
I'm running Enterprise x64 RTM with BitLocker enabled because this
is a multi-boot system. I had 6 restore points listed, performed a disk
clean-up, now I list 1 restore point. I've had some odd behaviors with
different AV programs but haven't had any oddities since installing Nod32.
Since I can't duplicate the problem on my system, I won't be able to help
much. Have a great holiday.

--
Dennis Pack
Vista x64 Enterprise
Office 2007
"Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
> here's
> the problem:
>
> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
> copies.
>
> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
> most
> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>
> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
> shows the shadow copies.
>
> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>
> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
> worked.
> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
> point
> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
> VCs
> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
> get
> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>
> Can anyone replicate?
>
> Thank you.
>
> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
> only
> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>

It sounds like a dll needs to be registered.

"Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:CFDFEB21-B2E1-4457-B3C9-BB783DCAFD0A@microsoft.com...
>I *may* have found the log entry that corresponds to this "problem" :
> Log Name: Application
> Source: VSS
> Date: 12/20/2006 7:35:05 PM
> Event ID: 32
> Task Category: None
> Level: Error
> Keywords: Classic
> User: N/A
> Computer: HPDesktop
> Description:
> Volume Shadow Copy Service error: The VSS Coordinator class is not
> registered. This may be caused due to a setup failure or as a result of
> an application's installer or uninstaller.
>
> Operation:
> Instantiating VSS server
>
> The above error seems to occur each time I try to delete restore points.
>
> OK, 2 questions: (1) Am I correct that this is the "right" error? And,
> (2) Anybody know the fix?
>
>
>
>
> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
>> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
>> here's
>> the problem:
>>
>> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
>> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
>> copies.
>>
>> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
>> most
>> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>>
>> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
>> shows the shadow copies.
>>
>> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
>> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
>> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>>
>> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
>> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
>> worked.
>> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
>> point
>> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
>> VCs
>> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
>> get
>> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>>
>> Can anyone replicate?
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
>> only
>> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
>> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>>

Thanks for the try, Dennis. I *think* I may have found the critter. When I
am sure, I'll post again. At the moment, I can't delete restore points
because the new Nvidia driver showed up and -- this is a first impression
only -- I may need a restore! <g>

"Dennis Pack" <dennispack@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:FD9D0917-999A-41A5-9FD6-75FEB296EE3D@microsoft.com...
> Robert:
> I'm running Enterprise x64 RTM with BitLocker enabled because this
> is a multi-boot system. I had 6 restore points listed, performed a disk
> clean-up, now I list 1 restore point. I've had some odd behaviors with
> different AV programs but haven't had any oddities since installing Nod32.
> Since I can't duplicate the problem on my system, I won't be able to help
> much. Have a great holiday.
>
> --
> Dennis Pack
> Vista x64 Enterprise
> Office 2007
> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
>> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
>> here's
>> the problem:
>>
>> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
>> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
>> copies.
>>
>> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
>> most
>> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>>
>> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
>> shows the shadow copies.
>>
>> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
>> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
>> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>>
>> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
>> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
>> worked.
>> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
>> point
>> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
>> VCs
>> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
>> get
>> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>>
>> Can anyone replicate?
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
>> only
>> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
>> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>>
>

Robert:
After you mentioned the Nvidia driver update I went to WU but
disabled Nod32 before installing the updates. Disk Cleanup still eliminates
all but 1 restore point on my system. Possibly you can disable any AV then
roll-back the driver and re-install it if it's video driver related.

--
Dennis Pack
Vista x64 Enterprise
Office 2007
"Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:4D9B97C9-F19E-4A94-9265-22F529E74C49@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the try, Dennis. I *think* I may have found the critter. When
> I am sure, I'll post again. At the moment, I can't delete restore points
> because the new Nvidia driver showed up and -- this is a first impression
> only -- I may need a restore! <g>
>
> "Dennis Pack" <dennispack@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:FD9D0917-999A-41A5-9FD6-75FEB296EE3D@microsoft.com...
>> Robert:
>> I'm running Enterprise x64 RTM with BitLocker enabled because this
>> is a multi-boot system. I had 6 restore points listed, performed a disk
>> clean-up, now I list 1 restore point. I've had some odd behaviors with
>> different AV programs but haven't had any oddities since installing
>> Nod32. Since I can't duplicate the problem on my system, I won't be able
>> to help much. Have a great holiday.
>>
>> --
>> Dennis Pack
>> Vista x64 Enterprise
>> Office 2007
>> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
>>> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
>>> here's
>>> the problem:
>>>
>>> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
>>> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
>>> copies.
>>>
>>> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
>>> most
>>> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>>>
>>> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions
>>> still
>>> shows the shadow copies.
>>>
>>> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
>>> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very
>>> computer
>>> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>>>
>>> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
>>> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
>>> worked.
>>> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
>>> point
>>> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
>>> VCs
>>> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
>>> get
>>> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>>>
>>> Can anyone replicate?
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
>>> only
>>> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
>>> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>>>
>>

I have been using Avast as the anti-virus program on this computer under
Vista for many months. It's not the cause of the problem related to disk
cleanup not getting rid of restore points/shadow copies --- that's a very
recent
problem for me.

However, I do tend to toggle Avast's real-time protection off when doing
something disk intensive and, just to show that great minds think alike, had
if off when I was fiddling with the clean-up problem. No effect.

Thanks again for your assistance, Dennis.


"Dennis Pack" <dennispack@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:78DA9453-34BA-4C3C-BEA6-B90972B23FA4@microsoft.com...
> Robert:
> After you mentioned the Nvidia driver update I went to WU but
> disabled Nod32 before installing the updates. Disk Cleanup still
> eliminates all but 1 restore point on my system. Possibly you can disable
> any AV then roll-back the driver and re-install it if it's video driver
> related.
>
> --
> Dennis Pack
> Vista x64 Enterprise
> Office 2007
> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:4D9B97C9-F19E-4A94-9265-22F529E74C49@microsoft.com...
>> Thanks for the try, Dennis. I *think* I may have found the critter.
>> When I am sure, I'll post again. At the moment, I can't delete restore
>> points because the new Nvidia driver showed up and -- this is a first
>> impression only -- I may need a restore! <g>
>>
>> "Dennis Pack" <dennispack@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:FD9D0917-999A-41A5-9FD6-75FEB296EE3D@microsoft.com...
>>> Robert:
>>> I'm running Enterprise x64 RTM with BitLocker enabled because
>>> this is a multi-boot system. I had 6 restore points listed, performed a
>>> disk clean-up, now I list 1 restore point. I've had some odd behaviors
>>> with different AV programs but haven't had any oddities since installing
>>> Nod32. Since I can't duplicate the problem on my system, I won't be able
>>> to help much. Have a great holiday.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dennis Pack
>>> Vista x64 Enterprise
>>> Office 2007
>>> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
>>> news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
>>>> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
>>>> here's
>>>> the problem:
>>>>
>>>> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise,
>>>> I
>>>> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
>>>> copies.
>>>>
>>>> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
>>>> most
>>>> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>>>>
>>>> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions
>>>> still
>>>> shows the shadow copies.
>>>>
>>>> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least
>>>> under
>>>> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very
>>>> computer
>>>> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>>>>
>>>> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
>>>> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
>>>> worked.
>>>> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
>>>> point
>>>> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
>>>> VCs
>>>> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
>>>> get
>>>> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone replicate?
>>>>
>>>> Thank you.
>>>>
>>>> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
>>>> only
>>>> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
>>>> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>>>>
>>>
>

Booting to a different OS in multi-boot config is known to screw up Vista
restore points.

-iceeagle


"Dennis Pack" <dennispack@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:FD9D0917-999A-41A5-9FD6-75FEB296EE3D@microsoft.com...
> Robert:
> I'm running Enterprise x64 RTM with BitLocker enabled because this
> is a multi-boot system. I had 6 restore points listed, performed a disk
> clean-up, now I list 1 restore point. I've had some odd behaviors with
> different AV programs but haven't had any oddities since installing Nod32.
> Since I can't duplicate the problem on my system, I won't be able to help
> much. Have a great holiday.
>
> --
> Dennis Pack
> Vista x64 Enterprise
> Office 2007
> "Robert Blacher" <rblacher@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:F2C00F87-9240-4BD1-BDF0-60A5199C37E6@microsoft.com...
>> I've attached a picture just to show I *do* know how to do this. OK,
>> here's
>> the problem:
>>
>> I can no longer delete system restore points. Or, to be more precise, I
>> should say, Disk Cleanup has forgotten how to do so. Ditto for shadow
>> copies.
>>
>> I go to Disk Cleanup, "More Options" and tell it to delete all but the
>> most
>> recent System Restore and Shadow Copy.
>>
>> It does not. System restore still shows them and Previous Versions still
>> shows the shadow copies.
>>
>> Vista Ultimate RTM 6000 x64. I *know* this used to work, at least under
>> Build 5744. I *think* it was working at some point on this very computer
>> with the RTM. Now, it does not.
>>
>> I've known about this "bug" on my computer for a few days. I turned off
>> system restore yesterday to clear out all the restore points -- that
>> worked.
>> I then ran the SR task from the Task Scheduler to create a new restore
>> point
>> yesterday. All worked fine. By tonight, of course, I have 4 SRs and 4
>> VCs
>> (I fiddle!), am comfortable with the latest, and would let Disk Cleanup
>> get
>> rid of the extras. It won't. That's the "bug."
>>
>> Can anyone replicate?
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> P.S. UAC is turned off (sorry MS, it was driving me nuts) and I am the
>> only
>> user, hence the Administrator, of this machine. Using the "run as
>> Administrator" right-click thingie makes no difference either.
>>
>

"iceeagle" <iceeagle1112@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:#FWQmiQJHHA.4112@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Booting to a different OS in multi-boot config is known to screw up Vista
> restore points.
>
> -iceeagle


Sigh. Good guess. I've seen similar reports.

But, it can't be the cause here. I have never used multi-boot on this
computer.

Somewhere along the line I screwed up "Instantiating VSS Server." The
shadow copy service runs when it is supposed to but isn't being
"coordinated." That is, BTW, the first and last time in my life I will use
the word "instantiating." Sheesh, MS! ;-}

See the log report below.

I have some MSDN and TechNet searching to do! I was just hoping one of you
techie gurus knew the fix.

Thanks for your educated guess.

Log Name: Application
Source: VSS
Date: 12/21/2006 9:12:05 AM
Event ID: 32
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: HPDesktop
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: The VSS Coordinator class is not
registered. This may be caused due to a setup failure or as a result of an
application's installer or uninstaller.

Operation:
Instantiating VSS server
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="VSS" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">32</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2006-12-21T14:12:05.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>16841</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>HPDesktop</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>

Operation:
Instantiating VSS server</Data>
<Binary>2D20436F64653A2042554543584D4C4330303030343236332D2043616C6C3A2042554543584D4C4330303030343233382D205049443A202030303030343830382D205449443A202030303030353036342D20434D443A202022433A5C57696E646F77735C537973574F5736345C636C65616E6D67722E657865222020202020202D20557365723A2048504465736B746F705C526F626572742D205369643A2020532D312D352D32312D333234353837383730332D3636373235333335362D343033333434393831302D31303030202020</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

Only if the other OS is XP. Win2k does not do the same thing.

"iceeagle" <iceeagle1112@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23FWQmiQJHHA.4112@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Booting to a different OS in multi-boot config is known to screw up Vista
> restore points.
>
> -iceeagle
>
>