I have an error message with System restore-And Windows Update says updates have never been installed-when they have been.What could be the problem?

You do know you can remove all but the last Restore point using Disk Cleanup?

It seems you are basically hacking the system by doing what you suggest. Maybe it has left your system in an unreliable state.

I would suggest you remove all prior restore points to see if it helps.

No,on Windows 7 and Windows XP you can delete all of the restore points,including the most recent one. By turning off System Restore and then turning it on again. But you should then create a new restore point manually,which is easy.

If you have got Windows 7 or Windows XP,take at look at your settings. It should be there on your computer.

But as for my problem,I did click on those links that some other members here gave me. But to fix the problem,it involves going into the registry and editing or deleting some keys. And with my limited experience,I know if I do that I could make the problem worse. As if you alter or delete the wrong registry keys,Windows is out of action.

As I said,System Restore is working as normal, but I just get that annoying error message. So I could either just use the computer as it is, or do a restore to factory condition. Andrea Borman.

Originally Posted by Andrea Borman

So I could either just use the computer as it is, or do a restore to factory condition. Andrea Borman.

One last try and then I give up.
Seems to me that if you are really contemplating a factory reset then it wouldn't do any actual harm to attempt to use some of the suggestions contained in this thread.
Like saltgrass has suggest, remove all existing restore points reboot and create a new one manually and see if the error persists. OR.....
and I would certainly try it before I resorted to a factory reset that would also include a subsequent upgrade, the registry edit and file deletion that I referenced in an earlier post here "Could not create the scheduled task for the following reason: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (0x800700B7)." system restore error ~ Solvers.
Create a manual restore point before performing any such edits and if everything works as planned, great. If not use the system restore point (F8->System Recovery Options) that you just created to get back to pre-edit registry condition.

What files are changed during a system restore?
System Restore affects Windows system files, programs, and registry settings. It can also make changes to scripts, batch files, and other types of executable files created under any user account on your computer.

SOURCE: System Restore: frequently asked questions
Additionally, to protect yourself against such issues in the future I would strongly suggest;
A. Creating a system image either with the built in backup utility or third party software (Google for free options) and keep it reasonably current on an external USB hard drive.
B. If you haven't already, create a Bootable Windows 7 (install media) USB thumb drive to help with advanced recovery option in the event that you can no longer access those options from your own hard drive. How To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7 - How-To Geek

Originally Posted by Trouble

One last try and then I give up.
Seems to me that if you are really contemplating a factory reset then it wouldn't do any actual harm to attempt to use some of the suggestions contained in this thread.
Like saltgrass has suggest, remove all existing restore points reboot and create a new one manually and see if the error persists. OR.....
and I would certainly try it before I resorted to a factory reset that would also include a subsequent upgrade, the registry edit and file deletion that I referenced in an earlier post here "Could not create the scheduled task for the following reason: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (0x800700B7)." system restore error ~ Solvers.
Create a manual restore point before performing any such edits and if everything works as planned, great. If not use the system restore point (F8->System Recovery Options) that you just created to get back to pre-edit registry condition.

SOURCE: System Restore: frequently asked questions
Additionally, to protect yourself against such issues in the future I would strongly suggest;
A. Creating a system image either with the built in backup utility or third party software (Google for free options) and keep it reasonably current on an external USB hard drive.
B. If you haven't already, create a Bootable Windows 7 (install media) USB thumb drive to help with advanced recovery option in the event that you can no longer access those options from your own hard drive. How To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7 - How-To Geek

You are right. If I did try those tips from the other website that you linked me to,that involves altering some of the registry keys. The worst thing that can happen is Windows might not start if I do it wrong. And then I would just press the F 11 key to boot into my recovery partition.To do a system recovery factory restore.

And the good thing with my HP netbooks is that there are 2 factory restore options. One is to do a complete factory restore that puts back all of the HP branded software that came installed with my netbook.

And the second recover option minimized image restore,puts it back to factory condition. with a clean install of Windows and all of the essential software,IE8, WMP, etc, and drivers to run Windows and my computer. But without most of that unwanted branded HP software.

But of course I will get back Windows 7 Starter not the Windows 7 Professional I upgraded to. Because the netbook came with Windows 7 Starter and that is the image that the makers put on the recovery partition. So I will then have to upgrade again using my product key that I have got written down in my diary. And I will have to download and install the service pack 1 again. Because my Windows 7 did not come with any service packs either,just Windows 7 Starter.

But at least on this netbook and on my others,I do have the recovery partition. Which is the means to restore to factory condition and reinstall Windows.

But last week I was stupid enough to buy a second hand Windows Vista laptop. Because I wanted to try windows Vista. As I bought the last 2 Windows XP netbooks in the stores that were new. And I like both Windows XP and Windows 7. And I have got most of the Windows Vista software Windows Movie Maker 6 and 2.6,Windows Calendar,Windows Sidebar(vista sidebar) and Windows Mail. All of which is working,even though I don't know how to use the Windows Mail email client.And also I have WMP 11 for Windows 7,but I can get WMP 12 back any time by turning WMP 12 on again in turn Windows features on or off.

But the second hand Windows Vista laptop that just came with Windows Vista Home premium with NO SERVICE PACKS INSTALLED. So that laptop must have been made in 2006-2007 when Windows Vista first came out.

But because something went wrong and I had the blue screen of death.And I could not even access the recovery partition. I took it to a repair centre. And to my horror the computer engineer told me,he could put a new hard drive in but he would have to reinstall Windows Vista. But because it is a new hard drive he would not be able to create a recovery partition. And that I would have to create my own recovery disk,which I don't know how to do. And none of my friends know either.

Which means that every time some thing went wrong with that laptop. I would be faced with the inconvenience of having to run down to the repair shop. And the computer repair man would have to reinstall windows for me. Which he said he would do free of charge as I pay for teck support with that company. But I will not be able to restore to factory condition on that laptop,which is silly. As Windows is unpredictable and some times there is no other way but to reinstall Windows or do a factory restore. As I don't have a Windows CD.Because netboks don't come with it. And the second hand laptop did not either,even though it had a DVD drive.

But I found Windows Vista to be very slow unlike Windows 7 and windows XP which are fast. It took 3 hours to install over 100 first time updates on Windows Vista. It was slow to boot,slow to restart and slow to do everything.

So Windows Vista is NOTHING like Windows 7 or Windows XP.And I found out afterwords that Windows Vista has a lot of problems and bugs that were never fixed.And I wish I had know that before I bought a Windows Vista laptop. Which was a big mistake.

And one of my friends said,if I have all of the Windows Vista software which is great running on Windows 7. And I don't have any problems on Windows 7. Why use Windows Vista,when you can run all of the Vista software on Windows 7. And have all of the benefits of Windows 7.He is right.

But the problem I have on my windows 7 netbook can be solved by doing a factory restore if all else fails.

But the truth is I DON'T know how to create a recovery image or disk. I really don't. I have not got a clue and my friends don't know either. Also if some one gave me a Windows CD,I would not know what do do with it.

I am just trying to explain that I don't know how to create recovery disks or how to reinstal Windows or install operating systems. I only know how to do a factory restore by pressing the F 11 key or FN F 10,models vary.

So when it comes to the crunch I have limited experience with computers. Andrea Borman.

Well,everything I tried failed. So I have given up and done a factory restore.Restored my computer to factory condition. And I have had to upgrade again from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Professional.Using my product key which I have kept written down. So I got my Windows 7 professional back. And I have reinstalled all of my software,web browsers,media players,etc, by downloading them from the Internet.

But this time, despite my best efforts, I could not install the Windows 7 Service Pack 1. And I have tried many times. But as Windows 7 works perfect out of the box. It does not need a service pack to run it. It works fine without it. So I am quite happy to carry on using my Windows 7 without the service pack.

But the main thing is that now that I have done the factory restore,System Restore is back to normal.No more error messages. Andrea Borman.

Get the windows update readiness tool and run that. Then do the service pack as you do need it as it supplies quiet a few security updates.

Well,when I installed the service pack a few months ago.But that was BEFORE I installed some new programs. But since that time I have installed the following new programs-Classic Shell,which comes with Classic Explorer,Windows Movie Maker 6,Windows Sidebar,(Vista Sidebar)Agent Ransack,a file search tool in Windows Explorer. But please note the programs I have listed here were installed AFTER I installed the service pack,not before.

But Windows Mail,Windows Calendar,Windows Movie Maker 2.6 and WMP 11 were installed before I installed the service pack.But the service pack still installed,so it is not those programs that are stopping it installing. And then Classic Shell,Vista Sidebar,Agent Ransack and Windows Movie Maker 6 came about a month AFTER the service pack was installed.

But this time,after I did my factory restore,I installed all of my programs first. And then after all of my first time updates were installed. I tried to install the service pack from Windows update. But it failed, and so I tried downloading the service pack from the Internet. But still it won't install.

So I was directed to the website from the error message I got. And I downloaded and ran that same tool you told me about. And after that,I tried again, several times to install the service pack. But still no luck, it won't install.

So after that, I tried uninstalling Classic Shell,Agent Ransack,Windows Movie Maker 6 and Vista Sidebar. As these were the programs I installed AFTER I installed Service Pack 1 on my computer,the first time I installed the service pack. Months ago before the factory restore,I did 2 days ago,removed the service pack. Because it restored my computer to factory condition. And the service pack was not on there when I bought the computer.

So I thought, if I uninstalled those programs that might be stopping the service pack from installing. And the service pack would then install,like it did the first time,months ago. And after that I could reinstall my programs again.

But still the service pack would not install. And after several more attempts and running that update tool, I gave up.So now Classic Shell and my other programs I removed are back on my computer. And I still get updates. But I cannot install the service pack.

So I think it does not like one or more of my software, I told you about in the list, on my computer. So I think it could be that the Classic Shell,or Agent Ransack, or some other software, that I have installed is blocking or interfering with the installation of the service pack.

And even when I tried uninstalling it and running C Cleaner,the entries are still on the registry. As when you uninstall a program,you don't get rid of it completely.

But I don't understand why any of those programs should stop the installation of the service pack. And I don't want to do another factory restore.

Has anybody else had this problem? Andrea Borman.

How are you trying to install the service pack thru windows update or the standalone installer?

Well,I have tried both. First I tried to install the service pack through Windows update,that failed. Now I have tried to download the service pack from the Microsoft website,that failed. Despite the fact that I ran the Microsoft Fix It Tool and the Windows update repair tool.

So the service pack won't install. And I think that one or more of those programs I mentioned could be blocking the installation of the service pack. But you can use Windows 7 without the service pack.

And it is not my upgrade that is the problem as Windows is activated. I have checked that as well.

So could I be right? Is Classic Shell or one of my other programs I have installed the reason why I cannot install the Service pack?

The solution to that would be, to install the service pack first BEFORE I install any programs. Like I did the first time a few months ago. But then,if they make a Service Pack 2, then I could still have the same problem. As those programs will be installed after service Pack 1.

Meaning that if I wanted to upgrade to Service Pack 2. I would have to do another factory restore and install both Service Pack 1 and 2 before I installed Classic Shell and my other software.

Microsoft need to make the Windows 7 Service Pack compatible with all of those programs I mentioned As it seems they may be stopping the service pack from installing. But apart from that those programs work great on Windows 7.

A lot of Windows 7 users are running Windows Movie Maker 6, Vista Sidebar, which are for Windows Vista, but work on Windows 7. As does Windows Mail,and,Windows Calendar. And I downloaded them all from the Internet.

And also Classic Shell and Agent Ransack are for Windows 7. It's just that the Service Pack does not like them, it seems. Andrea Borman.