I am missing the system restore option

I am missing the system restore option. I have went to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools but it is not in there. I have tried Start>Help and Support>Undo changes to your computer with System Restore. I clicked on it but nothing happens. Any suggestions on what to do?

Hello Jaymee.

Please read here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302796/

Follow the recommendations in the Advanced section. Let us know how it turns out.

Methods 1,2 & 3 worked and Methods 4 &5 didn't. For Method 4, I ran eventvwr.msc /s but there was no "sr" or "srservice" under the sources tab. For Method 5, I tried running it on safe mode, but as it was loading, I got a blue screen of death IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. The reason why I need the System Restore option is so I can create a new Restore Point and delete all the previous ones.

To delete all the previous restore points you need to temporarily disable system restore. That is done in control panel -> system -> system restore. Re-enable system restore once you delete your restore points. To create a new system restore point you need to run the system restore GUI. Try clicking start -> run -> and typing rstrui.exe and pressing ENTER. Does the system restore utility start?

When I go to Run and type rstrui.exe I get an error saying: "Windows cannot find 'rstrui.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search"

Try reinstalling the system restore utility as found here: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/repairsr.htm

I've had many problems with this Vista 'system restore thing'. If one thing should be working properly, it should be this. Usually, after reinstalling my OS, system restore stops functioning after a few months. I gave up on this unreliable tool. It should be a full-proofed tool, a last resort, but it seems like a big joke to me.
Recently I bought this program: 'Rollback Rx', which is pretty much the same as system restore, but much more reliable. You also have more control over the snapshots it makes (which ones you keep, which ones you throw away, …) and you can switch back and forth into time. To me it is a very decent program, just in case I screw up something, and because I cannot rely on Microsofts system restore.

I don't work for this company and I don't put up a link to their website (because I don't know if this is allowed on this forum). Just google it, if it could be of any use. For me, I did not know that some programs like this existed, so that's why I post this here.

It's not a high-tech answer, but it might be of any use for the frustrated.

Many greetings!!

I am stuck on step 4. It asks for sr.sys and I find it in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles. It then asks for srfame.mmf and I cant find it. A website said it should be in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\RESTORE but it's not there.