Easily Fix You must Enable System Protection on this Drive Error

While attempting to use the System Restore, a lot of users come across the “You must enable System Protection on this Drive” error. In this article, we have listed different solutions and workarounds that will help you to completely fix this and be able to promptly restore your system to an earlier date.

Windows is known for its error messages and general glitches. More so than some other options available in the market but due to its ease of use and widespread adaptability, it is still used by a lot of people. Make sure to read through the entire article to properly establish why this error is triggered in the first place and then be able to fix it.

Fixing you must enable system protection on this drive system restore issue:

Solution 1: Enable System Protection 

You can use Windows own Command Prompt or majorly known as CMD to enable the system protection. For this you need to follow these steps:

1. In the Cortana search bar near the Start window type in “Command Prompt” and right-click on it from the list of search results to select “Run As Administrator”.
2. When the Command Prompt window opens up type in the following command and press “Enter”:

   net start vss

3. Now enter the second command and make sure to hit “Enter” afterward.

   rstrui.exe /offline:C:windows=active

4. Once done, close the window and “Restart” your computer now.

Note: If your computer doesn’t boot you can still get into the command prompt window and then type in the above-mentioned commands by following this procedure:

1. When the “Windows Recovery” menu opens up select “Troubleshoot”.

   

2. Then head into the “Advanced Options”, select “Command Prompt” in the next menu and type in the above commands respectively.

Solution 2: Rename Registry Files

You can try renaming some registry files to reach the same results as above and for this follow these steps:

1. Open “Command Prompt” as an “Administrator” from the Cortana search bar near the Start menu.
2. In the command prompt window type in the following command and hit “Enter”:

cd %systemroot%system32config

3. Now enter the second command and press the “Enter” key again:

ren SYSTEM system.001

4. Next, type in the last command and hit “Enter” again:

ren SOFTWARE software.001

Solution 3: Turn ON System Protection Settings In Windows

1. Press the “Window + X” keys together on your keyboard and from the pop-up menu choose to select “Run”.
2. In the Run prompt type in “sysdm.cpl” and press “Enter”.

   

3. In the pop-up System Properties window choose to select the “System Protection” tab from the top.
4. Now select the “Configure” button below the “Protection Settings” section and in the following window select “Turn ON System Protection”.

   

5. Apply all the changes made and then hit the “OK” button.
6. Now perform your task again and check if you are prompted with you must enable system protection on this drive windows 10 command prompt error message or not.

Solution 4: Restart the System Protection Settings

This error can sometimes also resolved by restarting the System Protection Settings on your computer. Follow the below-listed steps in this regard:

1. Open the “Command Prompt” window as an “Administrator” from the search bar near the Start menu.
2. In the command prompt window type in the following commands and make sure to press “Enter” after each:

net stop vss

net start vss

3. Once done close the window and then check if system restore you must enable system protection on this drive issue got fixed.

Solution 5: Enable System Protection Using Windows PowerShell

You can also perform “Solution 3” using the Windows PowerShell tool by following these steps:

1. On your keyboard press the “Window + X” keys together and from the pop-up menu choose to select “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
2. When the PowerShell window opens up type in the following command and make sure to hit the “Enter” key after each command:

   enable-computerrestore -drive "c:\"  
   vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=c: /for=c: /maxsize=5%
   checkpoint-computer -description "Done"

3. It will take a few seconds to process and once done close the PowerShell window.

Solution 6: Restart the System Protection Service From Services

1. Open the “Run” dialog box using the “Window + R” keys together on your keyboard and in the pop-up Run prompt type in “services.msc” and press “Enter”.

   

2. When the “Services” window opens up scroll down in the right pane services list to locate “System Protection” service.
3. Once located right-click on System Protection Service and select “Properties” from the drop-down menu.
4. In the pop-up window find the Stop option, click on it, and after waiting for a couple of seconds click on the “Start” button.
5. Also, make sure the Startup type is set to Automatic, apply all changes, and click on “OK”.

Follow the above-indexed solutions in order to get rid of the error successfully but if the problem still persists then feel free to Contact Us here.