Windows · medium · Recovery, imaging & repair

System Restore has no restore points, or restore fails

Protection is off, the shadow copy storage has been consumed, or the Volume Shadow Copy service cannot create a snapshot.

What you see

The restore point list is empty, or a restore runs and reports it did not complete successfully, most often with 0x80070091.

What is actually wrong

System protection is disabled by default on many installs. Where it is on, the allocated shadow storage is small and older points are dropped silently. Third-party disk tools and some antivirus break the VSS writers outright.

Codes and articles

0x800700910x810002030x80042302System Restore did not complete successfullyno restore points

Fixes (2)

Turn protection on and give it enough space

Elevated PowerShell15 minuteslow riskreversible

There are no points at all.

Check whether protection is on and how much space it may use.

PowerShell

Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-Table SequenceNumber,Description,CreationTimevssadmin list shadowstorage

Enable protection for the system drive.
PowerShell
```
Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive 'C:\'
```
Give it a workable allocation. The default is often too small to hold more than one point.
Command Prompt
```
vssadmin resize shadowstorage /for=C: /on=C: /maxsize=10%
```
With a tiny allocation, creating a new point silently deletes the previous one, so there is never more than one and it is always from five minutes ago. Ten per cent of the drive typically holds several weeks.

Create a point now and confirm it appears.

PowerShell

Checkpoint-Computer -Description 'Manual baseline' -RestorePointType MODIFY_SETTINGS

Note that Windows limits manual points to one per 24 hours by default, which is why a second Checkpoint-Computer appears to do nothing.

Confirm it workedGet-ComputerRestorePoint lists the new point.

PowerShell

Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-Table SequenceNumber,Description,CreationTime

If you need to undo itDisable-ComputerRestore -Drive 'C:\' turns it off again and deletes the points.

Repair the shadow copy service

Elevated PowerShell40 minutesmedium riskreversible

Points exist but a restore fails, usually with 0x80070091.

Check the writers. Anything not Stable is the fault.
Command Prompt
```
vssadmin list writers
```
Restart the services that own the failed writers rather than rebooting blindly.
PowerShell
```
Restart-Service VSS,SWPRV -Force
```
0x80070091 during a restore means "the directory is not empty" and is nearly always the WindowsApps folder. Run the restore from Safe Mode, where the Store apps are not running.
This specific code has one specific cause and one reliable answer. Attempting it repeatedly from a normal boot will keep failing at the same folder.
Boot to Safe Mode and run the restore from there.
Command Prompt
```
bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimalshutdown /r /t 0
```
Remove the safe boot flag afterwards — this is important, or the machine stays in Safe Mode.
Command Prompt
```
bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safebootshutdown /r /t 0
```

Confirm it workedThe restore completes and vssadmin list writers shows every writer Stable with no error.

Command Prompt

vssadmin list writers | findstr /i "Writer name State Last error"

If you need to undo itAlways clear the safeboot flag as shown, or the machine will only boot into Safe Mode.

Related faults

Where this stops. This write-up was written and checked by hand. It says what each step changes, how to confirm it worked and how to reverse it, and anything destructive is flagged before you reach it. If it does not match what your machine is doing, search the Support Centre for the exact code or message — and when something needs a person, get in touch.