System Restore Error Code: 0x81000203

Anonymous
2009-11-24T08:06:52+00:00

When I open system restore tab from system properties where we can switch system restore on or off it says Sys restore unexpectected error occur . Cannot scan drives The error code is as above > OS is Win 7

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2011-05-15T09:52:22+00:00

This problem persist @ users who had instaled TuneUp Utilities 2009 / 2010 / 2011, 

TuneUp Utilities 2009 / 2010 / 2011 Turbo Mode block system protection / restore.

Which Turbo Mode is on, turn off Turbo Mode and go to Windows / Control Panel / System and Security / System Protection and these not anymore " error code 0x81000203 "

Problem fixed.

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Anonymous
2009-11-24T23:41:17+00:00

Hi svk1234,

Thanks for posting in Microsoft answers!

Check if Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider service is disabled.

This behavior is by design. Disabling System Restore will limits the ongoing usefulness of System Restore on the computer.

To re-enable, please try:

  1. Open gpedit.msc from Start Search box.
  2. Navigate to the following branch.

Computer Configuration\Administrative Template\System\System Restore.

  1. In the right pane, please configure the “Turn off system restore” policy. Please set it to Not Configured.

See the following link for similar issue : http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprosecurity/thread/0f2eebbe-6cdf-4ecc-93af-9249b7339ec9

Hope this helped

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-24T12:56:57+00:00

    Thank you! this worked for me. I wonder if Tuneup Utilities is aware of this obvious bug?

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-24T21:10:33+00:00

    Yes, that's exactly what the problem was.  It was TuneUp Utilities turbo mode.  As soon as I turned off turbo mode, the error vanished and system restore worked like normal again.  Finally found the solution after 3 days of searching, aggravation and confusion.  The tech team for my CPU company couldn't even figure that one out, they just gave me the typical reply "do a system recovery" or "send your CPU to us so we can fix it for you" which seems to be the standard answer instead of a simple "we don't know what to tell you".  Thanks for posting this up, TuneUp Utilities would have been my last guess as to what was causing the problem; but it certainly was.  The makers of TU should start warning people that their program will disable system restore if turbo mode is activated.  Now I can get back to what I need to do.  Thanks again for the post, this was really helpful.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-25T10:20:19+00:00

    Hi PhobosMod,

    Thank you for sharing your suggestions with us. I am sure your suggestion would help user facing similar issues.

    krlehman57, I'd suggest you put your computer in a clean boot state and check if the issue persists.

    Note: Follow step 7 to restart your computer as usual.

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