System Restore on Vista

[Nikilet]

I purchased, installed and ran Captain Optimizer. It showed 10 drivers out of date and they were all USB so I went ahead and let it update them. The whole process went smoothly. However, after running this program my System Restore is very unresponsive. If I wait long enough and do not do anything else, it will eventually create a restore point.

But If I do anything else while it's running, even play a game of Solitaire, computer will freeze. It will come out of it eventually, again, if I wait long enough.

Could this have anything to do with drivers?

I don't want to shut it off and restart it just now because I'm thinking about doing a System Restore to before I installed this program.

Can anyone help?

2 GB RAM / Avast Internet Security 6 / on demand scanning with Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware / WinPatrol / Registry Commander / free CCleaner / Diskeeper

 

[Dwarf]

This program, and many others like it, are pure snake-oil and considered as a waste of money. Your best source for drivers is directly from the hardware manufacturers themselves, who provide these for free. Just make a note of the hardware in your computer and then visit the appropriate manufacturers website to obtain the latest driver. Some also have an archive of previous drivers if the latest one doesn't work with your computer.

 

[richc46]

Use this information in conjunction with the advice given by Dwarf and you will be all set. Good luck

How to Find Drivers
search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- visit the web site of the manufacturer of the hardware/program to get the latest drivers (DON'T use Windows Update or the Update driver function of Device Manager).
- if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone - will help you search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- - if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone will try and help you locate the appropriate program.
- The most common drivers are listed on this page: http://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html
- - Driver manufacturer links are on this page: http://www.carrona.org/drvrdown.html
and here
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/the-vista-master-driver-list/
To remove any left over driver remnants, especially from graphics cards, use driver sweeper
www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/
You can also locate information about your driver using this information
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96442-device-manager-finding-unknown-devices.html

If you feel that a System Restore is needed, go back a few days before you installed the problem software. http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html

 

[Nikilet]

I sincerely appreciate the information provided by both of you, but what about my System Restore?

I'm not even sure it is the drivers causing this problem. And in fact, this program has a deal where you can back up your drivers before applying their fixes, which I did. I used that backup to restore my drivers to their previous state, but I don't think it helped the situation with System Restore.

Can anyone address why this program might have become unresponsive and give me a line on anything I might check out or do to make it better?

 

[richc46]

Well the first thing I would try is a clean boot
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
If the clean boot allows the computer to work properly, follow the procedure to find the true cause

 

[Nikilet]

According to the instructions given on that link you proivde, I'm not ready to do this because it may remove restore points and I may want to go back to the point in time before I installed the optimizer and do a restore.

 

[Nikilet]

I want to add a little here. Nothing else is sluggish. It is only the System Restore. Once I click to "Create" the restore point, it's slower than molasses in January to accomplish this task, and I can't do anything else at all until it's done or it will freeze everything. When it has frozen, it has come out of it without forcing a shutdown or anything, but it takes awhile.

What could have happened that affects only the System Restore this way?

 

[richc46]

The clean boot may answer that. It is my thought that it is something that starts during the boot process that causes the problem. I feel that a clean boot is the only way to test that premise.
If you are reluctant to use the clean boot, that is up to you.
I just suggest, I do not make the final decsion with the consequences good or bad.