How to Use System Restore on Windows 7

When the computer crashes but you can’t fix the problem, using System Restore is the most appropriate method. The System Restore function on Windows 7 allows the computer to return to a time before the error occurred. You can use System Restore in the following situations: getting an error while installing a new operating system, new hard drive or software.

Table of Contents

Performing System Restore

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Learn how System Restore works. Any time you change settings on your computer, Windows creates a System Restore point. Basically take a snapshot of the computer before making changes (installing or removing programs, updating hard drives, etc.). If something goes wrong with a change, you can use a System Restore point to bring your computer back to where it was before the change without worrying about data loss.

System restore doesn’t affect your personal files, but it doesn’t hurt if you back up your files just in case. Click here for instructions on how to quickly back up important files.
If the computer won’t boot into Windows, read the troubleshooting section.

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Generate a drive reset password (optional). You are advised that if you recently changed your password, the recovery process may restore your old password. Refer to the article on how to create a password to reset the drive.

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Click on the Start menu and type “system restore”. Select “System Restore” in the list of search results.

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Select the restore point you want to use. Windows suggests the most recent restore point. If you need to select an older point, click the Next > (Next) button.

Check the “Show more restore points” dialog box to see all available restore points. There may not be many options because Windows automatically deletes the restore point to make room.
Each restore point will have a short description of the change that made the point.

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Click the button . Scan for affected programs after selecting a restore point. This allows to display all programs and hard drives that are reinstalled or removed when performing a system restore at this point.

Any programs installed after creating a restore point will be removed, while those that are removed will be reinstalled.

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Preview the restore point before you do it. Before performing a system restore, preview the changes one last time. Click the Finish button to begin the restore process.

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Wait for the restore to complete. After confirming you want to restore, the computer will restart and proceed with the recovery process. This process takes about a few minutes.

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Confirm successful restore. Once the restore is complete, Windows will start and a successful recovery message will appear. Check your computer to see if the recovery has fixed the error. If not, you can try an older restore point. ^{[1] X Research Source}

If System Restore has made your computer worse or you want your computer to return to an unrecovered state, you can cancel the most recent restore by running the System Restore tool again and then selecting “Undo System Restore” (Uninstall System Restore).

Troubleshoot

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Make sure to enable System Restore. To use System Restore, you must enable it on your computer. If the feature still doesn’t work, you should check if it’s enabled.

Click the Start menu, right-click Computer, and then select “Properties”.
Click the “System protection” link, then select the hard drive you want to run System Restore on.
Click Configure… and remember to enable “Turn on system protection”. ^{[2] X Trusted Source Microsoft Support Go to Source}

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Run System Restore in Command Prompt if Windows won’t start. You can run the System Restore tool from the Command Panel if the Windows cannot start error occurs.

Restart the computer and hold down the F8 key. This opens the Advanced Boot Options menu.
Select “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” from the Advanced Boot Options menu. Windows will download the important file and take you to the Command Panel.
Type rstrui.exe and press Enter. This allows the System Restore utility to start. Follow the instructions above to restore your computer. When performing a system restore in Safe Mode, you cannot cancel the operation.

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Turn on the Check Disk utility to check for problems with the hard drive. A failing hard drive can stop the System Restore process. Check Disk is likely to fix this problem.

Click Start, right-click Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
Type chkdisk /r and press Enter.
Confirm reboot. Check Disk will work before Windows starts and scans for errors. It will try to fix the errors found.

Create a System Restore Point

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Click the Start menu, right-click “Computer” then select “Properties”. You can create a System Restore point yourself, which is beneficial if the system is doing well and you need a correlation point to restore from if something goes wrong.

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Select “System protection” in the left pane. This allows opening the System Properties window and accessing the System Protection tab.

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Select button . Create… (Create). You are asked to enter a short description for easy spot identification later.

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Wait for the restore point to be created. This process may take several minutes.

Restore points come in many sizes, but by Windows default, it takes up 5% of hard drive space. Older restore points are automatically deleted to make room for new ones.

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Manually delete the old restore point. If you want more free space or worry about the restore point failing, you can delete the entire old restore point.

Open the System Protection tab in the “System Properties” window (see Step 1 of this section).
Click Configure… and select Delete to delete all restore points. Note that all freed space will also be used up when creating a new restore point.

Troubleshoot

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Disable your anti-virus program if you can’t create a restore point. This program may cause conflicts during restore point creation. If you can’t score, disabling your antivirus is the fastest way to fix the problem. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

You can disable the antivirus by right-clicking the program’s icon in the System Tray and then selecting “Disable” or “Stop”.

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Try creating a restore point in Safe Mode. If something on Windows is causing the problem, you can fix it by creating a restore point in Safe Mode.

To access Safe Mode, restart the computer and hold F8. Select “Safe Mode” in the Advanced Boot Options menu.
Follow the steps above to create a restore point in Safe Mode.

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Make sure there is enough space to create a restore point. If there is not enough free disk space on the computer, you cannot create a restore point. Windows will not create a restore point on hard drives smaller than 1GB.

Click Start and then select “Computer”.
Right-click on the hard drive where Windows is installed (usually the C: drive) and then select Properties.
Make sure the drive has at least 300MB of free space. Usually you should leave at least 2-3GB free.

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Try resetting the Windows Repository (Windows Repository). Doing this may fix the problem of not creating a restore point.

Restart the computer and hold F8. Select “Safe Mode” in the Advanced Boot Options menu.
Select the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and then select “Run as administrator”.
Type net stop winmgmt and press Enter.
Click Start and then select “Computer”. Navigate to C:WindowsSystem32wbem and rename the repository to repositorypd .
Restart the computer and access Windows as usual. Click on the Start menu, right-click and select Command Prompt and then select “Run as administrator”.
Type net stop winmgmt and then press Enter. Then type winmgmt /resetRepository and keep pressing Enter.
Restart the computer one last time and try to create a restore point.

Warning

Remember to save open files and close all programs. Do not interrupt the System Restore process.

Steps

Performing System Restore

Troubleshoot

Create a System Restore Point

Troubleshoot

Warning

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