Backing up the wrong tree?

[AnyMonkey]

Hiya,

I am running Windows Microsoft Home Premium. My weekly scheduled system backup has been failing since mid December 2008. The message I get is:

"The backup did not complete successfully.
An error occurred. The following information might help you resolve the error:
Access is denied. (0x80070005)"

This failure is soon followed by my ZoneAlarm anti-virus software picking up on "Exploit.Java.ByteVerify"

I delete this "virus" as per instructions.

I have manually intiated a backup which also fails.

I have used restore points dated before this problem began, to no avail.

I have Googled looking for solutions, and have found similar, but not identical problems. And I am not technically informed enough to try a solution if the problem does not exactly match mine. Too risky!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rive0108]

Couple things:
1. Scan and clean your system here:Free ESET Online Antivirus Scanner
2.Check your Drive(s) for errors

You may have corruption that only a reinstall of Vista will fix

 

[AnyMonkey]

Thank you, rive0108, for your reply.

Unfortunately I cannot get the ESET Scanner to work. It tells me "Administrator rights required". I am using an administrator account, and have ticked all the permission buttons up until the Initilization of the scanner, which is where it grinds to a halt.

 

[rive0108]

try disabling UAC. Sounds like you have a corrupted User Account.
If you do not have the necessary permissions, then you will need to use system restore through the advanced recovery options after restart (boot off Disk), or reinstall your O/S.

Try this:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html?ltr=R

 

[AnyMonkey]

Thanks again,

I am away from my computer for a couple of days, but will follow your advice on my return.

 

[AnyMonkey]

Thanks again rive0108,

I am sure your suggestions are the best way forward, but after looking at the tutorial you linked to carefully I felt I was a bit out of my depth.

Instead I created a restore point with only certain selected folders, which seemed to work okay.

Probably a wimpy and sloppy solution.

But thanks once more for your suggestions.