Windows 10 – System Restore Doesn’t Work: Troubleshooting Guide

system-restorewindowswindows 10

Here is the error message:

System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.

Details:

System Restore failed while restoring the directory from the restore point.
Source: AppxStaging
Destination: %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps
An unspecified error occurred during System Restore. (0x80070091)

Screenshot of error message

What I've tried so far:

  • chkdsk /f /r C: (didn't work)
  • tried running in safe mode the system restore (didn't work)
  • tried with another system restore point (didn't work)

Best Answer

This happened to me after I updated my Lenovo's drivers and had issues with driver power states. I was able to perform a restore by doing the following:

  1. Boot into command line mode (search Advanced Startup in windows settings)
  2. C:
  3. cd C:\Program Files
  4. attrib WindowsApps -h this removed the hidden attribute
  5. rename WindowsApps WindowsApps-renamed
  6. exit
  7. restore the system to the desired restore point
  8. reboot normally or continue to windows

When the restore is complete, a previous version of WindowsApps will have been restored.

To then go back and delete WindowsApps-renamed:

  1. win+x
  2. a to open an Administrator Command Prompt
  3. cd C:\Program Files
  4. takeown /f WindowsApps-renamed
  5. rmdir WindowsApps-renamed /S
Related Question