Member Avatar for jbaz

Cannot perform either, what can I do?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by egboy

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Short diagnostic summary that follows 's request for more detail: the two most common causes of both ScanDisk and System Restore failing on Windows Me are file-system corruption (bad sectors, cross-linked files) and a corrupted System Restore store. Low free disk space or third-party disk/backup tools (antivirus, Norton/SystemWorks-style utilities) can also prevent these utilities from running cleanly.

A practical troubleshooting checklist:

  • Boot to Safe Mode (press F8 at startup) so third-party drivers/services are minimized; try System Restore and ScanDisk from the Accessories -> System Tools menu. Safe Mode often lets these utilities run when normal boot fails.
  • If System Restore refuses to start or reports corrupted restore points, remove the current restore store so Windows can recreate it. From Safe Mode rename the folder C:\WINDOWS\System32\Restore to something like Restore.Old. Warning: this loses existing restore points but often fixes a corrupted store.
  • If ScanDisk reports errors it cannot fix while Windows is running, run it from bootable media (Windows 98/Me startup disk or MS-DOS/boot CD) and let it repair the file system. Running chkdsk/ScanDisk from outside the mounted Windows partition is safer for serious disk repairs.
  • Check free space and temporary files; System Restore needs some free space to operate. Temporarily disable or uninstall third-party disk utilities or real-time protection that might intercept disk I/O. Always back up important files before running repairs that change disk structures.

If these steps fail, the safest next move is a full data backup followed by repair/reinstall or an upgrade off Windows Me (as suggested) — Me is long out of support and long-term reliability will improve on a supported OS. This expands on earlier replies and gives a short, ordered plan to try before considering reinstall.

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Member Avatar for DMR

A little more information would help us.

What exactly happens when you try to perform the tasks?
Do you get any errors? If so, what are they (exactly)?
Has anything happened to the system lately that might contribute to the problem (crash, installation of new software, etc.)?

Member Avatar for Zachery

You will need to run windows update and get the latest patches, for ME, i highly HIGHLY suggest getting off of Windows ME as soon as humanily possible.

Member Avatar for DMR

...i highly HIGHLY suggest getting off of Windows XP as soon as humanily possible.

I really do hope you meant "onto" there Zachery... :cheesy:

Yeah- ME is a dead-end OS, not to mention the fact that it's got problems out the wazoo.

Member Avatar for egboy

thanks boy

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