How do I use Windows System Restore?
Answer
If something has happened to your computer recently that caused it to fail, you may be able to fix it by running Windows System Restore to put your computer back to the way it was at some point in the past.
Windows creates "restore points" automatically once a week (you may manually create one at any time), which are snapshots of your Windows system files, certain program files, registry settings, and hardware drivers.
- MAKE SURE TO HAVE A BACKUP OF YOUR PERSONAL FILES BEFORE RUNNING A SYSTEM RESTORE.
- Some programs won't work properly until you re-run their installers, so make sure you have access to programs you need to re-install them.
- System Restore will not remove viruses or malware. Make sure to install and run anti-virus and malware software.
Turn on System Restore
Make sure System Restore is turned on.
- Click "Start," type "restore," and then click "Create a restore point."
- On the "System Protection" tab, in the "Protection Settings" section, turn on protection for a drive in the list and click "Configure."
- In the "System Protection" dialog box that opens, click the "Turn on system protection," adjust the "Max Usage" to the amount of hard drive space you want System Restore to be able to use, and click "OK."
- Use the slider to select how much disk place you want to use for system restores. The more space you allocate, the more restore points it can keep. Since, in most cases, you're only interested in recent restore points, having a great number of possible points is probably not that important. If you need the disk space, you can decrease the setting by moving the slider to the left, then click “OK.”
To use Windows Restore
- Click the “Start” or “Windows” button in the lower-left corner.
- Click “Control Panel.”
- Click “System.”
- In the System Properties dialog box, click the "System Protection" tab.
- Here you may "Create a restore point right now..." or "Configure restore settings..." or perform a "System Restore."
- To "Restore your computer to the state it was in before the selected event," click "System Restore" as above.
- You will be shown a list of restore points to choose from. Select one, and click "Next."
- Confirm your restore point and click "Finish."
- The process will take a while to copy files. It should restart your computer when it is finished, and hopefully your computer will work normally after that.
If you have questions, please email help@carthage.edu.