Windows ME System Restore is being disabled

Question

For some reason the System Restore function is being set to disable. If I go into Control Panel -> System -> Performance - > File System -> Troubleshooting the box "Disable System Restore" is always checked. If I uncheck it, apply, and close out of control panel and do a restart it will be checked again. I even one time told it not to restart and went back into control Panel etc. and it was checked again. I don't know if this is related but just recently I started to get the message: "stmgr has caused in error in WINTRUST.DLL and will now close". I get this message whether booting in normal or safe modes. I verified that a MS patch concerning Windows ME System Restore problems and it is patch 290700.

Everything was working normal until I had a system crash a few days ago and upon rebooting scandisk had to fix several files. It seemed that after that point is when I started getting the message: "stmgr has caused in error in WINTRUST.DLL and will now close". This is what lead me into discovering the system restore problem. Is it possible that smgr.dll got corrupted in that crash?

If I go into msconfig there is a checked entry for *StateMgr which point to a file by the same name in to restore folder. If I uncheck this file in msconfig the reboot produces no error. I then renamed the file stmgr.exe that had the strange barcode icon and rebooted with *StateMgr checked in msconfig and it booted without error. I then tried to create a system checkpoint and it told me I needed to reboot. I did and tried again and got the same message. State Manager somehow has become corrupt. I have the CD labeled "For the Reinstallation of Windows ME" that came with the computer from Dell. Does anyone know if there is a repair function on the CD that may correct the problem?

newbeee · Answer

Hi there, I'm not sure if this will help, but interesting reading. Go to google.com, click groups and search wintrust.dll Seems that this has caused alot of unresolved and one resolved problem with WinMe. The one that I'm referring to is titled "stmgr error in WINTRUST.DLL" dated 1/8/05 Windows Me.

Good Luck,

newbeee

TomFar · Answer

NewBee

Thanks for the reply. It sure looks like an easy solution as opposed to reloading Windows ME. I did some Google searches of renaming that folder and found others found this to be the solution to their problems. I want to get a bunch of backups done prior to trying it so it may be a week or so before I do it but will post back with the results.

Thanks,

Tom

TomFar · Answer

Just to give everyone an update on this problem, I emailed the MS-MVP (Mike Maltby) concerning his solution. If you read near the end of the link, the rename of the catroot folder can have a drawback namely the loss of ME's ability to provide some or most of the System File Protection (SFP). Mike's theory was that that problem was caused by bad catmast and cathist files rather than the .cat files. These files are rebuilt whenever they find new .cat files. So we did the following and probably gained full SFP protection without reinstalling ME and was accomplished in a matter of minutes. Here are the steps:
record the size of file sfpdb.sfp
disable system restore via the control panel
rename folder c:\windows\system\catroot to c:\windows\system\catrootold
reboot
enable system restore via the control panel (this will rebuild the catroot folder and a subfolder with some basic info
and file sfpdb.sfp will get initially populated during the reboot)
reboot (at this time the "stmgr error in WINTRUST.DLL" should be gone)
record the size of file sfpdb.sfp (it is probably a lot smaller than what was recorded in step 1)
copy *.cat from the catrootold subfolder
to the catroot subfolder (DO NOT let the copy replace any existing files)
disable system restore via the control panel
reboot (if the stmgr error omes back you may need to move only a few files at a time
in case one of the *.cat files is bad)
enable system restore via the control panel (this should allow sfpdb.sfp to get fully populated on the reboot)
reboot
record the size of file sfpdb.sfp (it should now be the approximate size as recorded in step 1)
verify system restore functionality (the following steps will verify that system restore is functional)
create a shortcut to a file on the desktop
manually create a system restore checkpoint (Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System Restore)
delete the file shortcut from the desktop
restore the system to the new checkpoint (Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System Restore)
system will automatically reboot after restore
verify shortcut has been restored and working
verify checkpoint still available in restore (Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System Restore)
YOUR DONE

Hope that the shift from the paste didn't make it to hard to read but it was a totally successful process.

TomFar · Answer

Total amount of time to complete was less than 15 minutes versus most recommendations of reinstalling ME.

newbeee · Answer

:smileyvery-happy:YEAAAAA!!!  Glad to hear that it worked.  I know when all else fails, clean install is necessary, but I love a challenge.    I read alot of his responses. Happy computing, newbeee

Windows General

Windows ME System Restore is being disabled

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