System restore points are unavailable after you restore the Software registry hive on a Windows XP-based computer

Consider the following scenario. On a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, you restore the Software registry hive. Then, you try to use a system restore point to restore the system to an earlier working configuration. In this scenario, you notice that the previous system restore points are unavailable.

After you restore the Software hive and then restart the computer, a new restore folder for system restore points is created in the System Volume Information folder. However, information about the previous system restore points still resides in the old restore folder.

To resolve this issue, copy the system restore information from the old restore folder to the new restore folder. To do this, follow these steps.

Note To perform the following procedure, you must be logged on as an administrator or as a user who is a member of the Administrators group.

1. Use the procedures in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to the System Volume Information folder:
   309531  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/ ) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder
2. Start Windows Explorer.
3. Double-click the drive on which you installed Windows XP.
4. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} subfolders, such as _restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}.
5. The _restore{GUID} folder that has the current date is the new restore folder. Open a _restore{GUID} folder that was created on a date just before the current date.
6. In the older _restore{GUID} folder that you opened in step 5, copy all the folders that are named "RPn."
   
   Note The n placeholder represents a numeral.
7. Paste these folders into the current _restore{GUID} folder.
8. Undo the procedures that you performed in step 1 to prevent unauthorized access to the System Volume Information folder.