{"id":31266,"date":"2022-12-25T11:29:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-25T05:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=31266"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:12:03","slug":"0x81000203-vss-system-restore-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/0x81000203-vss-system-restore-error\/","title":{"rendered":"[Fix] System Restore Encountered an Error 0x81000203"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you open the System Properties dialog (sysdm.cpl<\/code>) and click System Protection, the error 0x81000203<\/code> occurs. Here’s the full error message verbatim:<\/p>\n

There was an unexpected error in the property page:\r\n\r\nSystem Restore encountered an error. Please try to run System Restore again. (0x81000203)\r\n\r\nPlease close the property page and try again.<\/pre>\n
\"system<\/p>\n
Under “Protection Settings” the “Available Drives” field may show “Searching…” and the disk drives don’t appear.<\/p>\n
\"system<\/p>\n
Also, none of the vssadmin.exe<\/code> console commands work. Running the list vssadmin<\/code>shadowstorage<\/code> or vssadmin<\/code>resizeshadowstorage<\/code> commands would return the following error:<\/p>\n
No items found that satisfy the query.<\/pre>\n
The Application event log shows the following events:<\/p>\n
Log Name: Application\r\nSource: VSS\r\nEvent ID: 12293\r\nTask Category: None\r\nDescription:\r\nVolume Shadow Copy Service error: Error calling a routine on a Shadow Copy Provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}. Routine details IVssSnapshotProvider::IsVolumeSupported() failed with 0x8000ffff [hr = 0x8000ffff, Catastrophic failure].\r\n\r\nLog Name: Application\r\nSource: VSS\r\nEvent ID: 12289\r\nLevel: Error\r\nDescription:\r\nVolume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error DeviceIoControl(\\\\?\\Volume{992b5b8c-3b45-4b15-b42f-ce2612d6e01a} - 00000000000002EC,0x00530024,0000000000000000,0,0000013564406940,4096,[0]). hr = 0x80070001, Incorrect function.<\/pre>\n
Log Name:      Application\r\nSource:        VSS\r\nDate:          \r\nEvent ID:      8194\r\nTask Category: None\r\nLevel:         Error\r\nKeywords:      Classic\r\nUser:          N\/A\r\nComputer:      VOSTRO-3470\r\nDescription:\r\nVolume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error querying for the IVssWriterCallback interface.  hr = 0x80070005, Access is denied.\r\n. This is often caused by incorrect security settings in either the writer or requestor process. \r\n\r\nOperation:\r\n   Gathering Writer Data\r\n\r\nContext:\r\n   Writer Class Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}\r\n   Writer Name: System Writer\r\n   Writer Instance ID: {0497fa39-8e7d-4530-a1d9-7786ba65a73d}\r\n<\/pre>\n
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Additionally, when you upgrade your Windows Edition via Settings, you may receive the error 8004230F<\/code>:\"8004230f<\/p>\n
Windows can't activate Windows on this device right now. You can try activating again later or go to the Store to buy genuine Windows. (0x8004230f)<\/pre>\n
The error 8004230F<\/code> “VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR” is a VSS error (instead of an activation error code). The error occurs because the upgrade process cannot create a Restore Point. Here’s the corresponding event log entry:<\/p>\n
Log Name:      Application\r\nSource:        System Restore\r\nDate:          \r\nEvent ID:      8193\r\nTask Category: None\r\nLevel:         Error\r\nKeywords:      Classic\r\nUser:          N\/A\r\nComputer:      VOSTRO-3470\r\nDescription:\r\nFailed to create restore point (Process = C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\SystemSettingsAdminFlows.exe EnterProductKey; Description = Upgrade your edition of Windows; Error = 0x8004230f).\r\n<\/pre>\n
To fix the issue, follow the steps in the “Resolution” section below. It should restore the System Restore functionality.<\/p>\n
Note:<\/strong> As a workaround, you can disable System Restore to let the upgrade process complete successfully.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Running the vssadmin list volumes<\/strong> command-line may throw the following error:<\/p>\n
(IVssSnapshotProvider::IsVolumeSupported() failed with 0x8000ffff [hr = 0x8000ffff f, Catastrophic failure]).<\/pre>\n
When the above symptoms occur, third-party shadow copy tools, such as Shadow Explorer<\/a>, ShadowCopyView<\/a>, or PreviousFilesRecovery<\/a>, will not work.<\/p>\n
Cause<\/h2>\n
The above issue happens if an uninstaller has deleted the UpperFilters<\/code> registry value under the Storage Volume Class GUID. The registry value should have volsnap<\/strong><\/code> as the value data.\u00a0Kaspersky’s Antivirus uninstaller tool and AOMEI Backupper are known to cause this issue.<\/p>\n
This error can also happen if one or more of the following services are disabled:<\/p>\n