Windows 7 Cannot System Restore Error: 0x80070570

[Claythorne]

I bought my HP Pavillion dm4 about a month ago and until recently, it had been working great and really fast while on the internet. Then lately, it started to load normal pages at half its speed, taking time to even load google. When playing MMOs like World of Warcraft, I was a lot laggier than i normally am, dropping framerates by 30-40 per second, even though my task manager said nothing else was running in the background. I thought something was wrong and my suspicions were correct after i found my WoW account to be hacked. I managed to recover my account and change the user/pass but my computer was still slow so i suspected that it was a virus. I uninstalled Norton Antivirus because it couldnt pick up on anything and got Sunbelt Vipre to try and solve the issue. Unfortunately, Vipre didn't pick up on anything either. I wanted to try to System Restore to remove any sort of keylogger or virus that was causing my computer to be so slow and hack my accounts. But when I tried to do the restore, picking the nearest restore point, it was stuck at "Initializing System Restore..." for nearly 3 hours. I had to hard reset the computer and try again at a different restore point, but I got the error message, "System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's systems files settings were not changed. The file or directory is corrupted and undreadable (0x80070570)." Then after clicking Run System Restore it gives me the error message "There was an unexpected error: Catastropic failure (0x8000FFFF)" I've also tried the following:

-CheckDisk in safe mode, using command prompt as admin, and checkdisk at startup (this one took the longest, nearly 4 hours, and when i woke up the next morning i hadnt seen any changes)
-Defrag in safe mode and normal (either way it would get stuck on 79% Analysis and then freeze), I managed to get defrag to work after a few resets and after disabling my antivirus/firewall. Still it did not make a difference and I was still unable to System Restore.
-SFC using command prompt as admin

Please help as I really cannot afford to buy another computer and other than the fact that it is running at half its speed and cannot system restore, the computer is able to function normally.

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you've gone through quite a few troubleshooting steps already to address the slow performance and potential malware issue on your HP Pavilion dm4 laptop. Let's explore some further steps you can take to diagnose and potentially resolve the issues you're facing:

Virus and Malware Detection:​

1. Malwarebytes Scan: Malwarebytes is a popular anti-malware tool that can help detect and remove malware that other antivirus programs might miss. Try running a scan with Malwarebytes to see if it detects any threats.
2. Windows Defender Offline Scan: Windows Defender offers an offline scan feature that can help detect and remove persistent malware that may be interfering with normal scans. You can run an offline scan using Windows Security settings.

   Performance Optimization:​

3. Startup Programs: Check your startup programs and disable unnecessary ones that might be consuming system resources. You can manage startup programs through Task Manager.
4. Resource Monitor: Use the Resource Monitor tool in Windows to identify any processes that are consuming an unusual amount of resources. It can help pinpoint what's causing the slowdowns.
5. Driver Updates: Ensure that all your drivers, especially graphics and network drivers, are up to date. Outdated drivers can sometimes cause performance issues.

   System Restore Alternatives:​

6. Reset This PC: If System Restore continues to fail, you can consider using the "Reset this PC" feature in Windows. This allows you to keep your files but reinstall Windows, which can help resolve software-related issues.
7. Backup and Clean Install: If all else fails, consider backing up your important data and doing a clean install of Windows. This can effectively remove any persistent malware or system corruption.

   Additional Considerations:​

   • Data Backup: Make sure to back up all your important data regularly to prevent data loss in case of system issues.

• System Health Check: Consider running hardware diagnostics to ensure that there are no underlying hardware issues affecting your system's performance.
• Professional Help: If the issues persist, seeking help from a professional technician or HP support may be necessary to diagnose and resolve more complex issues. By following these additional steps, you may be able to address the performance issues and system restore errors on your HP Pavilion laptop. Let me know if you need further assistance with any of these steps!