How to do a System Restore

A system restore is a Windows Operating System feature that allows the user to reverse settings and actions that resulted in undesirable outcomes. A system restore is highly beneficial to the user as it quickly and efficiently reverses changes made to the Windows Registry, partition, or operating system, thereby eliminating the need to manually undo changes and retrieve deleted files. A system restore is most beneficial in situations that involve virus or other malicious software removal, software installation or uninstallation, or other major changes to the Windows Operating System.

How to Perform a System Restore

A system restore can be performed after an undesirable change has been made to the Windows Operating System. In order to perform a system restore, a “restore point” must be made prior to the event. In most cases, the Windows Operating System or an external application automatically makes a restore point before changes to the operating system are made.

A restore point consists of a full copy of the computer’s registry along with various system files required to restore the computer. Some events that will trigger automatic restore point generation include installing operating system updates, installing new drivers, updating software, and when major software programs are installed or updated. The latest versions of System Restore will also preserve data and media files store in the “My Pictures, My Music, and My Documents” folders in order to prevent inadvertent deletion of personal files.

To perform a system restore follow these steps:

Step 1 – Choose the “Start” and “All Programs” menu buttons.

Step 2 – Select the “Accessories” and “Systems Tool” options followed by clicking the “System Restore” menu choice.

Step 3 – Choose the “Restore My Computer to an Earlier Option” menu choice on the opening dialogue screen.

Step 4 – Select a day on the calendar or a bulletized option to restore the computer.

Step 5 – Choose the “Next” menu button on the subsequent screen to continue with System Restore.

Step 6 – Restart your computer after System Restore has completed running, and your computer will be restored to the point.

How to Create a System Restore Point

Although Windows automatically creates System Restore points, you can also manually generate one. In order to do so, conduct the following steps:

Step 1 – Open the System Restore application per the steps stated earlier in this text.

Step 2 – Choose the “Create a Restore Point” menu option on the initial program dialogue box followed by the “Next” menu button.

Step 3 – Enter a descriptive filename for the restore point followed by the “Create” menu button.

Step 4 –  To continue with finalizing the restore point generation, follow the default menu prompts on the subsequent dialogue boxes.

Applications

There are many different situations that require users to create a restore point or perform a system restore. If a user runs an anti-virus software that detects multiple viruses, many of the viruses may be eradicated immediately. However, some viruses may linger on the computer because they have embedded themselves into the Windows Registry or another sensitive location in order to make removal more difficult for the anti-virus software. In this case, the anti-virus software automatically creates a system restore point, restarts the computer, and attempts to remove the viruses as soon as the computer starts up. While the anti-virus software usually eliminates the virus, the virus may have already corrupted the files it infected. To restore the original data to those files, the user can perform a system restore. This is also true for any other application that a virus or another malicious software may have affected.