System Restore does not work and returns the following error 0x80070005:__

Thanks for your reply.

Your suggestion worked and I restored to an earlier time, but it has not solved the issue.

As the restore did not correct my initial problem, and as I had put everything back in its place, having restored networking and reloaded Zone Alarm etc., I immediately tried another restore that failed - I half expected it to!

So, the bottom line states that if I need to do a restore in future, I have to disconnect my pc from the network, uninstall Zone Alarm, run restore in Safe Mode, and after checking whether or not the restore has been satisfactory, put it all back together again, quite a lot of work. When you consider that Sytem Restore is more likely to be run by newer users of computers, telling them to uninstall their security system is like opening the lid of Pandora's box and will create yet more unwelcome issues.

This does not make sense and is simply not practical. A computer is a tool and not a glorified Media Centre. As such Windows should be honed to suit the user's needs. Because System Restore works quite adequately on XP and Vista machines that run Zone Alarm there is obviously a compatibility problem with Windows 7 and Zone Alarm, and also possibly with other proprietary security systems. You are aware of this because your error message clear points to this problem.

No doubt other readers of this forum may not have used System Restore yet, but judging from my experience, there is a lot more to follow on this issue. Don't stand near the fan.

Thanks for your assistance, which is welcome, and received with open arms but please sort out Windows 7.

I have the same problem.  I get the error whether I have my Norton 360 active or disabled.  I can run recovery from my system image disc but system restore just won't work.  It continues to create restore points during auto-update, I just can't recovery to earlier times - it fails every time. 

Do you or anyone have any ideas when or how this issue is going to get fixed?

Ha! PROBLEM SOLVED. On my machine at least. My new computer came with a free 60 days of Norton anti-virus. It ran out a few weeks ago, but I’ve been annoyed by continual little pop-up reminders that I need their protection. So I decided to root out the Norton program and drive a stake through its heart. I went to Norton Uninstall on my Start Menu, selected the more drastic of the two types of Uninstall I was offered. After uninstalling it, I restarted the computer as directed. Once it was back on, I attempted a System Restore and got the magic words SYSTEM RESTORE COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY for the first time in two months. It was the residual Norton program that prevented my previous attempts to use System Restore.

So take a look around and see if Norton or McAfee or some other security company still has its fingers on your hard drive, even though you think they‘re turned off or expired. And sorry about all the whining in the previous post. Hopefully this contribution will help others.

My sincere thanks to the persons above who were airing complaints about Norton being incompatible with Windows processes.

I'm not even using a commercial anti-virus program. I use Microsoft's Security Essentials. I turn it off (that is, I shut off the "real-time protection" in that program), but I still cannot complete System Restore and I once again the dreaded 0x80070005 message.

On my old machine, a Dell Dimension running Windows XP, I was able to readily do a System Restore in minutes to remove spyware or pop-ups or even an actual virus program: by disconnecting from the internet and then returning my computer to the same shape it was in a couple days earlier, before any symptoms of the bug had developed. I never even needed a commercial anti-virus program, in five years. The Microsoft protection, updated regularly, was always enough--helped out now and again with a System Restore that dumped whatever bug I had picked up on the net.

So now, with a brand new HP running Windows 7, I can never complete a System Restore and I always get the dreaded 0x80070005 message. There is also a suggestion, in the error message, that my anti-viral program might be blocking the System Restore process. So I've shut down the real-time protection of my Microsoft Security Essentials program, and still no luck with System Restore. Same dreaded error message. 

(And I don't want System RECOVERY, which is for a failing computer in need of serious software repair. I want System RESTORE. If it's not working from the System Tools menu in the Start-Up menu list, why would getting to it by way of major surgery make it work any more successfully? I know you can supposedly get to System Restore by going into System Recovery Options menu, but I don't want to uninstall all my programs and virtually reformat the hard drive by reinstalling the operating system. I don't have a problem with the operating system. I just have a computer that's very slow to load internet pages. And yes, I'm dumping my cache probably three times a week.)

Those System Recovery Options are too drastic for me: it says I can lose files and all the programs I've installed since I got my machine. I wouldn't touch them. I sure do miss my old System Restore capability. It was like blowing out some water-contaminated gasoline and filling up with high octane. Back up to full speed in minutes. Kept me happy for years