An unspecified error occured during System Restore. (0x80070091)

jakmi · 14 Mar 2017

Trying to 'Restore' system and keep receiving 'An unspecified error occured during System Restore. (0x80070091)'. I've looked at all solutions I can find, and they are all so complex for this old brain.

Is there a relatively simple solution to fix this?

Thanks so much!

My Computer:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5250U CPU @ 1.60 GHz
Installed Memory(RAM) 8.00 GB (7.89 GB usable)
System Type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor
Intel HD Graphics

• Amount of RAM 7.89 GB

• Amount of available hard drive space Used space 43.8 GB; Free space 421 GB

• Processor type and speed Intel 15-5250U (NUC) @ 1.60 GHz
64-bit OS x64-based processor

dalchina · 14 Mar 2017

Hi, as you will probably have seen if you searched the forum for that error number I started a thread on this topic which runs to >15 pages now. That alone suggests there's no easy fix- unless there is one listed there now.
System Restore fails: AppxStaging %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApp 0x80070091

For me, waiting a few weeks and trying again happened to work.

The simple solution, as system restore can fail for a variety of reasons, is not to use it. Instead, use a 3rd party roll-back program if you wish to, although using those can introduce complexities in normal Windows maintenance, that being the closest you'll get to system restore (e.g. Rollback RX maybe - I simply quote it as an example).

The option we strongly and repeatedly recommend- which is much more complete, but not equivalent to system restore, is to routinely use disk imaging e.g. Macrium Reflect (free).

That can help even if your PC is unbootable (other than hardware failures excluding disk failures); if your disk fails or becomes infected with ransomware.