Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: Restore and Backup Problem

If so, those rarely are in add/remove programs and System Restore does that if you have any number of AntiVirus suites.

I will not write nice about such suites as they should announce they blocked system restore.

And about the toolbar. Unless I know which browser all I can offer is that it's under manage addins.
Bob

Sorry but the lack of detail means we can't do much.
Bob

But System Restore does indeed break if you install Norton, Kapersky and some other "protection." Not one is nice enough to pop up and warn you that they blocked the restore. For that, I have no kind words. OK, this is that detail I alluded to. If you want to tackle system restore we have to know what antivirus and other "protection" apps are installed.

About Chrome add ons. http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=142064 covers how to disable and block plugins. So that's not a mystery at all.

http://www.ghacks.net/2012/07/23/how-to-manage-disable-or-remove-google-chrome-plugins/ shows the screens and tells that to delete it manually is as simple as moving the plugin out of the Chrome plugin folder.
Bob

" If you want to tackle system restore we have to know what antivirus and other "protection" apps are installed."

I supplied some items about Chrome plugins but this is starting to sound like a very bad infection or even the old "limited user account."
Bob

We know that Spybot has created issues with McAfee but you have quite the brew there. I can't tell you if it's toxic or not but it looks like nothing I'd use.
Bob

http://pchelper360.com/fix-errors/?error=0x80040154

I suggest you get away from the Windows backup program and get yourself a good commercial backup program. I've seen forums fraught with problem reports for the Windows one. I know I was very unimpressed when I tried it. Three I'm familiar with and like are Norton Ghost (which I've been using for 8 years without the 1st problem), Easeus Todo Backup Free, which you can download from http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm and Memeo which has a 30 day free trial and you can buy it for $29.99 - you can download it from http://memeo.com . You can get Ghost for next to nothing (like I did) if you watch the sales.
The March 2012 issue of PC World was very high on the FREE program from Easeus and so is CNET. In my experience with a variety of configurations I have to say I'm very impressed. Like Ghost it will back up to a networked drive, and it will create a boot CD for when your PC won't boot. See CNET's review of it at
http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Todo-Backup-Free/3000-2242_4-10964460.html?tag=mncol;1#editorsreview .
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CNET has a lot of backup program reviews at
http://download.cnet.com/windows/backup-software/?tag=contentBody;sideBar .

Some of these are free (last time I checked there were over 300), some have free trials (over 1000), and some are purchase only (over 200).
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External hard drives are best for backup. You can get a 500 GB one for around $60 and a 1 TB one for around $70. You can also buy a 32 GB flash drive for under $15. It's the best insurance you can ever buy!

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I hope this helps. Good luck

If nothing much works, I think backing up your data and anything else you want to save, then restoring to factory settings would be what I'd do. Then I'd start making full system backups at regular intervals. Sooner or later all PCs will develop problems requiring a backup to recover from. Personally I'd never consider having a computer without numerous backups. If you have full system backups, you can usually recover in well under an hour. If you don't, it can be very painful.

Good luck.

Depends on how much "everything" is. If it's your new 3 TB external disk full with downloaded movies, I wouldn't do it.
And it depends on your backup program. Can that write to the cloud?

Kees

If I had a banged up OS I can still backup if I can copy files out. It appears you are trying to use Windows backup software which is going to be a bad idea.

Why not copy files out?

Why not boot a LIVE CD of some OS like BartPE or Ubuntu (no install required) to copy your files out.
Bob

Try the Easeus Todo Backup Free, which you can download from http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm . The March 2012 issue of PC World was very high on the FREE program from Easeus and so is CNET. In my experience with a variety of configurations I have to say I'm very impressed. It will back up to a networked drive, and it will create a boot CD for when your PC won't boot. See CNET's review of it at
http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Todo-Backup-Free/3000-2242_4-10964460.html?tag=mncol;1#editorsreview .

Good luck.