Windows 10: Going to a system restore point deactivated my windows

I just built my first PC, and had activated a copy of Windows 10 Pro on it. As I was setting it up, I ran into a software issue had had to restore a working point in the system, before I had activated windows 10 Pro. Once getting back onto this version of my computer, the license was deactivated, and I cannot reactivate it. On the activation page of setting it says "Windows reported that the hardware of your device has changed. Error code: 0xC004F211" I have changed no hardware on ym system, and only went to a restore point.Clicking troubleshoot and following the instruction only tells me "We

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How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

Windows 10 64-bit.
When I click "show more restore points" in System Restore I see a bunch of old "system image restore points" that were deleted in past and do not correspond to any currently active restore points. Clicking any of these old restore points, I simply get an error message saying they could not be found, and to select another restore point instead.I would like to delete these restore points listings but have been unable to do so.
So far, I have tried steps mentioned below without any luck :

Disk Cleanup through (C Properties
Disable System Protection (OFF and ON) in System Protection for OS (C
Disk Space Usage to minimum (slider button all the way to the left then 'Delete all restore points for this drive'),
Delete all shown Restore points in CCleaner (the problem ones do not show here),
Reset Windows Backup to Default in Windows 10 with 'Reset_Windows_Backup.bat' utility.

Any suggestions highly welcome.

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

I know of no easier way to delete them, so here are the instructions.

Delete System Image Restore Point from System Restore in Windows 10

A System Image restore point is describe as type 'Backup'.





First, go to Settings > Backup & Restore > Recovery and select the 'Restart now' button in Advanced Start-up.





When you get Advanced Start-up, select Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then Command Prompt.





You will be asked to choose an administrator account and supply it's password, then the Command Prompt will open.

Type the commands DISKPART then LIST VOL and EXIT to see a list of all drives, in this example the Windows system is on the C: drive, yours may have a different letter. Whatever the letter is, type it followed by a colon to switch to that drive, in this example I typed C:





Then use the CD (change directory) command CD System Volume Information\WindowsImageBackup

Use the DIR command to check you are in the right folder, then use DEL to delete the contents of each of the Catalog and SPPMetadataCache folders.





Youn can now close the command prompt window (or type EXIT) to restart the PC and go back to Windows.

All System Image Restore points of type 'Backup' will now have gone.

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

AndreTen - I have tried Disk Cleanup but unfortunately the problem entries did not go away.
I feel certain Bree (VIP Member) has identified the correct cause of this problem as above and his adviced solution should also do the trick.

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Bree - Thank you. I must admit that I did use 'Create system image' a few times in 'Backup & Restore (Windows 7)' instead of 'Backup now' and these ghost entries relate to those actions. You have rightly identified the cause of this issue.
It is crazy that Microsoft has put two different backup options causing the issue of these ghost restore points.

Regarding your advice on how to rectify the issue - I must add that I am not very computer savvy and feel reluctant to use Diskpart utility etc to delete 'WindowsImageBackup\SPPMetadataCache' and 'WindowsImageBackup\Catalog folders' from within 'System Volume Information' folder with command Prompt as I fear damaging the pc by making any mistakes, as I have never done this before.

Please advice if there may be another simpler method to delete the above folders OR if you are able and have time to post a step by step instructions (with pictures if possible) on how to follow your advice. Much appreciated.