Skip to main content

Using Windows 7 or Vista System Restore

Windows 7 and Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up registry and system files whenever you install new software or drivers. This feature is useful when you install evil software that makes your computer run really slow. But don’t worry, System Restore won’t remove Windows Vista.
Using System Restore in Windows
There are two places that you can use the system restore feature from. From within Windows, you can just type restore into the Start menu search box, and you’ll immediately see System Restore at the top of the start menu:
systemrestore.png
Or you can type rstrui into the search box and hit enter. Your choice.
You will immediate see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point. You can select “Recommended restore”, and just click next, or you can choose a different restore point.
 systemrestore2
If you do choose a different restore point, you will see a list of restore points that you can choose from. How many times have I typed the word choose at this point?
You’ll notice in the screenshot below that the last thing I did was install Virtual CloneDrive to mount ISO images, but right before that I installed the NVIDIA drivers.
systemrestore3
Click one of them, and you will have to confirm and then restart your computer to roll the system back.
 systemrestore4
Note: For best results, you should run System Restore from safe mode.
If you receive an error while restoring, then use it from safe mode and it should work fine. To get into Safe mode, you can reboot and use the F8 key right before Windows starts up.

If Your System Won’t Boot
If you can’t even get into windows, you can boot off the installation dvd, and choose the “Repair your computer” option on the lower left hand side. If you don’t have an installation/repair disc, you can make one with these instructions.
Click next on the next screen, and then choose System Restore from the System Recovery dialog. It will take a few seconds to come up, and you will see the same screen that you would see in Windows:
systemrestore5
Click next, and on the next screen select the drive that your copy of Windows 7 or Vista is installed on.
Click Finish, and Windows will roll back to the previous restore point. Really pretty simple stuff.
Conclusion
I’d absolutely recommend keeping the system restore feature on in Windows 7 or Vista.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Use Portable VirtualBox to Take Virtual Machines With You Everywhere

Install Portable VirtualBox to an External Drive First, get started by downloading the Portable VirtualBox installer from vbox.me . Run the downloaded file and extract it to an external drive or wherever else you want to store your portable VirtualBox system. You can always move it later, if you like. Launch the Portable-VirtualBox.exe program from here and you’ll be prompted to download and install VirtualBox’s program files on your external drive. The tool can automatically download VirtualBox’s files for you. After it does, click the OK button to unpack them. If the full version of VirtualBox is already installed on your computer, you won’t see this screen and VirtualBox will just open instead. You’ll want to uninstall VirtualBox first or set this up on a computer without VirtualBox installed. Launch the program again after it finishes unpacking files. After you agree to a UAC prompt , you’ll see the standard VirtualBox window. A VirtualBox system tray icon...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tiny 11 - A Lightweight Windows 11 that can run on 2GB RAM and requires less harddisk space.

  In terms of Windows 11, its   system requirements   are high since this system requires at least 4GB RAM, 64GB storage space, enabled TPM & Secure Boot, a high CPU (1 GHz or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor), etc. compared to any old Windows operating systems. If you have an old or lower-end PC, Windows 11 is not a good option to install since many issues like random crashes, blue screen errors, etc. could appear on the unsupported hardware. Overview of Tiny11 If you want to run Windows 11 on your old computer with low RAM and disk space, Tiny11 appears in public. It is a project from NTDev and Tiny11 is a Windows 11 tiny edition. This edition is based on Windows 11 Pro 22H2 and includes everything you need for a comfortable computing experience since this tool doesn’t have the bloat and clutter of a standard Windows installation. Tiny11 Requirements In terms of Tiny11 requirements, a scant 8GB of storage and just 2GB of RAM are requ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Create a Restore Point for Windows 7 or Vista’s System Restore

If you are thinking of installing an application but aren’t quite sure what it’s going to do to your computer, I would absolutely recommend creating a restore point before you install that application, and here are the steps to do so. Note that most application installs automatically create a restore point, but you can do this if you are really worried. Open up the Start Menu and right-click on “Computer”, and then select “Properties”. This will take you into the System area of Control Panel. Click on the “System Protection” link on the left hand side. Now select the “System Protection” tab to get to the System Restore section. Click the “Create” button to create a new restore point. You’ll be prompted for a name, and you might want to give it a useful name that you’ll be able to easily identify later. Click the Create button, and then the system will create the restore point. When it’s all finished, you’ll get a message saying it’s completed successf...
Post a Comment
Read more