Cannot create restore point - error any time I open System Protection

Hi gang,
Haven't been on here in awhile - good news cuz my computers have been behaving. All good things shall pass.

I've not been able to create a restore point recently.
I've attached a screenshot of the error, and the windows error is 0x81000203 appears. This started about 3 weeks ago, and I haven't made any significant changes. Only thing I've done is install and remove a few programs.
I can't even get into the part of sys restore that lets you look at your restore points or configure them. The odd thing is, I use Revo Uninstaller and it creates a restore point before it uninstalls a program. I'm always right in front of the screen when I'm running Revo and it has never given any errors when it's creating a restore point. So it may have a way of creating a restore point that gets around the error that keeps stopping me.
I appreciate any thoughts, ideas.

Thanks,

All disk drives in Windows have a hidden folder called "System Volume Information" at the root of the drive(s). The SVF folder is where system restore(s) are stored. Perhaps one of the folders got corrupted and the properties is having problem populating the info.

Turn on the folder option to show hidden files/Folders and use: TreeSize Free Portable | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
to examine each folder to see the size, report back any unusual file size.

Topgun,

I finally got a chance to try what u suggested, and I didn't find any probs. So I just finished a full backup of my laptop and I'm going to run some disk utilities that I have and see if that finds anything. I sure hope so, otherwise I see another reinstall of Windows 10 in the near future!!

Thanks for the suggestion

hooked said:

Topgun,

I finally got a chance to try what u suggested, and I didn't find any probs. So I just finished a full backup of my laptop and I'm going to run some disk utilities that I have and see if that finds anything. I sure hope so, otherwise I see another reinstall of Windows 10 in the near future!!

Thanks for the suggestion

Many of the regulars here prefer to use image backups using Macrium Reflect. You can use differential (Free version) or incremental images (not in Free versions) to rollback pc as well.

I have give up using system restore as it often seems to be flakey anyway.

Hi hooked,

Looking at your screenshot, I can see what happens if "Volume Shadow Copy" service is disabled.
Default setting for this service is "Manual".

You may open "Services" (hit Win-key and type in: services) and if "Volume Shadow Copy" service is "Disabled" you should set it (right click-->Properties) to "Manual".

Werby,
Thanks for the tip. Hey, I don't have a solution yet, but I'm learning new things. My VSS is set to Automatic in Srvices, but it's not running. So, if it's normally set to manual, do u know what would usually trigger it to start?
You might be onto something if it's set to Automatic, and not running - something might be preventing it from starting. So I clicked on Start, and it started without a prolem. Then looked at the dependencies and all of those are set to Auto and running.....Drilled down to each Dependency to see Their dependencies and and they were all running.

I don't know about the rest of you Win 10 Pro people, but I have a homegrown deskktop that I built - pretty high end, and a decent Dell laptop also running Win 10 Pro, and I'd say that I've reinstalled Windows at least 4 times on each computer. For various reasons - PC would just start running flaky, slow as molasses, or drivers wouldn't update/install, you name it. I have even seen Windows promos on various sites that say " Hey, you wanna speed up your PC?? Just do a clean install of Windows!... And it was a Microsoft promo. WTH does that tell u? I stayed on XP for a very long time, probably 8-9 years, maybe more. The only time I reinstalled it was when I built a new PC. I'd be curious to hear what u guys have experienced with that.
Yesterday I ran a Seagate drive test, the medium test and it finished error free. I guess today I'll run the full test - takes several hours. I used to have several drive utilities on my desktop, because I went thru 3 brand new drives that went out after less that 2 or 3 months. Two Western Digital (a high end internal and an external Passport Ultra) and a Seagate Backup Plus External. But after I finally got past that run of crappy drives, I uninstalled most of my Drive Utilities, and now I just have the programs that came with my drives. I'm sure there is a better utility out there for free.Do any of you have another disk testing utility (free) that you would suggest instead?

Thanks

hooked said:

...So, if it's normally set to manual, do u know what would usually trigger it to start?...

If an app (like System Restore or Win Backup) needs that service, it will run automatically either on "Manual"(def) or "Automatic" startup type.

Now, because your problem still persists, I'd suggest one more try before an in-place upgrade or clean install: Boot with a different OS (like Ubuntu/Linux) from an external USB disk or flash and delete "System Volume Information" folder. Then Windows on boot, will create a new one and probably your problem will be solved. If not, I'd suggest an in-place upgrade or clean install.

Of course, 4 times of Win installation with problems, drives me to suppose that your PCs have problems.
IMO, Windows 10 is the best, more stable and fastest system MS has ever made, if there are no hardware problems. I use a 10-maybe more-years old laptop and I can see it running faster than the first use, on Win 7. That persists for all -old or not- PCs I have Win 10 installed (more than five).

Note: On latest release of Win 10 (1803), System Restore does not work (it cannot finish restoring) and we hope MS fix it soon.