How to use a Windows “System Restore” function

There are some points in using Windows System Restore (in Windows XP, I haven’t checked it in Vista). I have divided it into two parts, the first part is creating a restore point, and second is restoring from a previous restore point. System Restore is located in the Start Menu Program. You can access it through these steps, click on your “Start” menu à “All Programs” à “Accessories” à “System Tools” à “System Restore”. Alternatively, if you want to execute the program directly from windows explorer, you can find it in “%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe” (for example if you installed your Windows Operating System in C drive, it will point to “C:\WINDOWS\system32\restore\rstrui.exe”).

1. Create a restore point
   1. Open the system restore menu.
   2. There will be three options, choose “Create a restore point” and then choose “Next” button.
   3. After that, you can enter the restore point description for your computer at that time and then choose “Create” button.
   4. Windows will create your restore point. Choose “Close” button if you want to close System Restore, or choose “Home” button if you want to do something else.
2. Restore from a previous restore point
   1. Open the system restore menu.
   2. There will be three options, choose “Restore my computer to an earlier time” and then choose “Next” button.
   3. Now you will see some kind of calendar page consisting restore points that you/your computer have created.
   4. Choose the date if you want to restore your computer to previous state (if your computer has an error on May 4^th, and you want to restore it before it has an error, for example in April 29^th, you can choose the date from the calendar). Choose “Next” button if you already finished.
   5. Confirm your restore point selection in the next window, and if it is right, you can choose “Next” button, and Windows will restore your computer to previous state.
   6. If that restore action still can’t fix your computer state, you can choose another date, or you can choose “Undo my last restoration” from system restore main window, and choose “Next” button.

Common questions about Windows System Restore

Q: Will system restore changed my documents too?

A: No, system restore just like it’s name, just restore the system and not the documents you have created after the restore point.

Q: How can I set the system restore? Are there any options for it?

A: You can change the setting for system restore in the main/first window of system restore. You can change the setting of system restore by clicking on “System Restore Settings” on the left part of the window.

~ by Pandu on May 5, 2008.