Finally able to create a restore point. Firstly was able to run services. Not sure what changed here but something nudged into action.
Original error message when trying to create a restore point:
The Volume Shadow Copy service used by System Restore is not working.
In Services,
Volume Shadow Copy was set to
Automatic but would not start.
What I found on the net was this:
I tried many solutions and the problem persisted. Then I stumbled across another important Service in Services.msc:
"Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider".
Properties: Automatic startup, apply and the Start. This finally fixed Volume Shadow Copy Service.
On my machine this service had clearly reverted to manual, probably with all the faffing about. Just thought I'd mention this fix.
Now if I had just used "Superantispyware" in the first instance. Or, of course, been more careful.
