Can't Restore to a Restore Point: Avast to blame?

[Fred Nitney]

Greetings,

I have no problem creating restore points on my Win 7 running Dell Laptop, but any attempt to actually restore my laptop results in a restore failure with the following Windoze error message:

System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.
Details:
System Restore failed while restoring the registry from the restore point. An unspecified error occurred during the System Restore. (0x80071a91)
...

Ignoring the fact that Windoze reported the error as "unspecified" and then specified it (0x80071a91), I generally associate screw-ups with my laptop as being somehow attributable to Avast. Am I being unfair, or is there a know problem with (perhaps recent) versions of Avast and system restores?

Other than wasting my time, of which I have so little, this problem isn't terribly debilitating as I don't have any great need to preform a restore on my laptop. Still, I'd like to be prepared.

Thanks in advance.

[DavidR]

Well everything can't be attributed to Avast when there is a problem with Windows.
A search for "windows 7 system restore error 0x80071a91" returns many hits and has been around for many years, whilst an Antivirus is just one area that could impact.

One of those hits was https://windowsreport.com/system-restore-error-0x80070091-fix/

That also mentions an Antivirus as a potential cause.

Personally when creating or restoring a system restore point I would disable the Avast self-defence module.  Or you could go a step further and disable it until the system restore point has been created or a restoring one.

[Cluster-Lizard2014]

Have you tried using the Restore Points whilst starting in Safe Mode?

In the past when AVAST was definitely deliberately interfering in the use of Restore Points, due I think to the Self Defence Module DavidR just mentioned, that was the way necessary to bypass the problem.

But don't dismiss the possibility the particular restore point you used is corrupted or can't be used for a multitude of other reasons. I'd put in a new manual restore point and test that.

FYI for Win7 that's done via Control Panel > System > "System protection" option (from the left-hand side menu) > Create button. 

[bob3160]

System Restore and restore points aren't really that reliable.
I personally prefer using RollBack RX - https://horizondatasys.com/rollback-rx-time-machine/rollback-rx-home/

[Cluster-Lizard2014]

We've disagreed on that here before.

It might not be the most reliable method of returning a PC to a previous condition but it works more often than not, you can put in a restore point manually in seconds and many programs use it before installing or updating. Lets not forget Windows Updates also uses it.

So it is best that nothing interferes with its functioning because it is a useful safety net.

However after reading about that RollBackRX thing it does look like a good alternative option or an additional one, which would probably be how I'd use it.

Thanks for the useful info.       

[DavidR]

The problem is that the System Restore doesn't cover everything so it is an imperfect tool to start off with.

[bob3160]

We've disagreed on that here before.

It might not be the most reliable method of returning a PC to a previous condition but it works more often than not, you can put in a restore point manually in seconds and many programs use it before installing or updating. Lets not forget Windows Updates also uses it.

So it is best that nothing interferes with its functioning because it is a useful safety net.

However after reading about that RollBackRX thing it does look like a good alternative option or an additional one, which would probably be how I'd use it.

Thanks for the useful info.     

Systemrestore takes a long time to create a restore point and it tkes even longer to restore one of those restore points.
Many times, when you depend on that restore pint, it doesn't work.
RollBack RX on the other hand only takes seconds to create and to restore and it has additional functions that Systemrestore does not have.
I've used it for about 1 year on 4 different systems. It's never failed when I needed it.
When you're doing a lot of beta testing and also use the newest windows 10 beta as soon as it's a
vailable, a dependable rollback is imperative.
I do regular image backups but, have never needed thm since Rollback has always done it's job.
( I don't work for them or get anything out of praising their product. )

[Hopper15]

I temporarily disable my Avast shields and do the same with Malwarebytes before I do a system restore. For the most part things go through without any problems.

It only takes like two minutes to create a restore point on my PC and about 25-30 minutes for the system restore to complete. Not sure what Bob is talking about there but every PC is different.   

[Michal256]

Systemrestore takes a long time to create a restore point and it tkes even longer to restore one of those restore points.
Many times, when you depend on that restore pint, it doesn't work.
RollBack RX on the other hand only takes seconds to create and to restore and it has additional functions that Systemrestore does not have.
I've used it for about 1 year on 4 different systems. It's never failed when I needed it.
When you're doing a lot of beta testing and also use the newest windows 10 beta as soon as it's a
vailable, a dependable rollback is imperative.
I do regular image backups but, have never needed thm since Rollback has always done it's job.
( I don't work for them or get anything out of praising their product. )

Long time to create a restore point? On my system it usually just take a few seconds to generate a shadow copy, and then it remains in running in a background, keeping an old version of all files on your drive. Restoring from the old restore point might take a while, depending on your system, but usually I find it quite reliable. You can also use your snapshot to restore older version of personal files on that drive, although for some reason Microsoft limited this functionality in Windows 10 (older snapshots does not show up in file history). Regardless, it's still possible to create a link to older snapshot anywhere in the system, from where you can restore older versions of any file in your system manually (personal documents, application data, everything).

So far I only ever have 1 situation, where system restore was causing issues. It was related to the faulty windows update. Perhaps this might remediated by postponing any kind of feature updates on your OS, until it is known to be quite stable and reliable. You probably don't install the latest updates to any external restoration tools on the same day they become available, if you want them to remain fully reliable.
Most of the users would have the latest feature update installed for them only several months after release though, so this should not really be an issue.

In past I also recall Avast causing issues with system restore, but I think disabling or temporarily uninstalling it, should resolve the issue.

In any case, regardless of how many users are using which restoring functionality, Avast is here to protect your computer from external threats, or to make you aware of the threat. It is not supposed to block any attempt of manual restoration, via built-in OS feature. If this is the case, it should be investigated.
Quite frankly - just because many people might be using different means to

[Cluster-Lizard2014]

With a SSD and a shortcut to the System Protection page indeed a restore point can be created manually in thirty seconds or less. Its standard practice for me as part of my weekly updates and maintenance regime and has saved me many times when something has gone awry. Usually that's a failed program update which then causes secondary problems.

That happened recently with an encryption tool which post updates to several other programs started, consistently, requiring two attempts to launch it.

Reinstall didn't work and I couldn't find any information about what might be causing it. System Restore rolled back to a point before the problem (whatever it was - I still have no idea) and resolved it immediately.     

With a SSD using a restore point is not much slower than rebooting the PC either.

Agreed Restore Points does not backup everything but I only have it set up to restore the primary drive. Its fine for that most of the time. My data/docs etc are backed up by other means regularly.     

[bob3160]

Your computer, your choice. Advice is free, the program is free and, so is taking or rejecting it.

[Cluster-Lizard2014]

I think I indicated it sounded interesting and that I thought other users, including myself, might actually find it a useful option, complimenting System Restore.

Still that doesn't stop my sincere belief, expressed several times over the years here, that no third party program should interfere with System Restore and its operation without exceptionally good reasons.   

[DavidR]

<snip>
Still that doesn't stop my sincere belief, expressed several times over the years here, that no third party program should interfere with System Restore and its operation without exceptionally good reasons.   

For the most part it is because it is trying to do things with its installation and that is where the self-defence module comes in.  Otherwise what it to stop other malware doing something similar.

[Cluster-Lizard2014]

There's a difference between stopping something that might spread a problem if the PC had malware and blocking or making the System Restore option more difficult to enable at all times.

Any system back up software is going to be just as much a potential risk in those circumstances. Is AVAST is interfering with their operation in the same way ie. whether the system is infected or not?   

 

[bob3160]

There's a difference between stopping something that might spread a problem if the PC had malware and blocking or making the System Restore option more difficult to enable at all times.

Any system back up software is going to be just as much a potential risk in those circumstances. Is AVAST is interfering with their operation in the same way ie. whether the system is infected or not?   

I don't have any problem allowing the system restore function to work. I personally no longer have any use for that function.