The System Restore
utility provides controlled access to snapshots created by the System
Protection feature. It can't perform miracles—it won't bring a dead
hard drive back to life, unfortunately—but it can be a lifesaver in any
of the following situations:
You install a program that conflicts with other software or drivers on your system.
If uninstalling the program doesn't cure the problem, you can restore
your system configuration to a point before you installed the program.
That should remove any problematic files or registry settings added by
the program.
You install one or more updated drivers that cause performance or stability problems.
Rather than using the Roll Back Driver command in Device Manager, use
System Restore to replace the new, troublesome driver (or drivers) with
those that were installed the last time you saved a restore point.
Your system develops performance or stability problems for no apparent reason.
This scenario is especially likely if you share a computer with other
family members or coworkers who have administrator accounts and are in
the habit of casually installing untested, incompatible software and
drivers. If you know the system was working properly on a certain date,
you can use a restore point from that date, undoing any changes made
since then and, if all goes well, returning your system to proper
operation.
Warning:
Don't count on System Restore to protect you from viruses, worms,
Trojan horses, and other malware. Use a reliable and up-to-date
antivirus program.
1. Using System Restore
The quickest way to get to System Restore is to type rstrui at a command prompt. Here are a few alternatives:
Open the Start menu, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and click System Restore.
On the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box, click System Restore.
In the Start menu search box, type restore and then, in the list of search results, click the System Restore shortcut under the Programs heading.
Open Control Panel, type system restore in the Search box, and click Restore System Files And Settings From A Restore Point.
If
you're running under a standard user account, you'll need to enter an
administrator's credentials in a UAC dialog box to continue.
When the System Restore wizard
appears, it might recommend the most recent restore point. To see a
complete list of available restore points, select Choose A Different
Restore Point and click Next. If the restore point you're looking for
is older than the oldest entry in the list, click Show More Restore
Points to see the complete, unfiltered list, as shown in Figure 1.
What
impact will your choice of restore points have? To see a full list of
programs and drivers that will be deleted or restored, select the
restore point you're planning to use, and then click Scan For Affected Programs. That displays a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 2, highlighting every change you've made since that restore point was created. This capability is new in Windows 7.
After selecting a restore point, click Next to display a confirmation dialog box like the one shown in Figure 3.
The summary shown here lets you know which drives will be affected and
gives you a chance to create a password reset disk—an important
precaution if you've recently added or changed a password for your user
account.
When you're satisfied, click Finish. That takes you to one more
confirmation prompt, advising you that the restore process must not be
interrupted. Answer Yes, and the system creates a new restore point,
and then begins replacing system files and registry settings with those
in the previous restore point you selected. As part of the restore
process, your computer will restart and various messages will appear,
all counseling you to be patient and not to interfere with the
goings-on.
When System Restore reinstates a previously saved configuration using a restore point, your data
files—documents, pictures, music files, and the like—are not tampered
with in any way. (The only exception is if you or a program created or
saved a file using file name extensions from the list of monitored
extensions, as described in the previous section.) Before System
Restore begins the process of returning your system to a previous
restore point, it creates a new restore point—making it easy for you to
return to the present if this time machine doesn't meet your
expectations.
When the process is complete and you have logged back on to Windows 7, do some testing
to see if the restoration has improved the stability of your system. If
it has not and you want to return the system to the state it was in
before you restored it, retrace your steps to System Restore. At or
near the top of the list of available restore points, you will find one
labeled Undo: Restore Operation. Choose that one and you're back where
you started.
2. System Restore Do's and Don'ts
You don't have to be a science fiction aficionado to appreciate the hazards of time travel. Here are some to be aware of:
If you create a new
user account and then use System Restore to roll back your system
configuration to a point before the new account was created, the new
user will no longer be able to log on, and you will receive no warning.
(The good news is that the new user's documents will be intact.)
System Restore does not uninstall
programs, although it does remove executable files, dynamic-link
libraries (DLLs), and registry entries created by the installer. To
avoid having orphaned program shortcuts and files, view the list of
programs and drivers that will be affected when you return to the
restore point you're about to roll back to. If you don't want the
program anymore, uninstall it in the normal way before running the
restore operation. If you want to continue using the program, reinstall
it after the restore is complete.
Any
changes made to your system configuration using the Windows Recovery
Environment are not monitored by System Protection. This can produce
unintended consequences if you make major changes to system files and
then roll back your system configuration with System Restore.
Although
you can restore your system to a previous configuration from Safe Mode,
you cannot create a new restore point in Safe Mode or in the Windows
Recovery Environment. As a result, you cannot undo a restore operation
that you perform in either of these ways. You should use System Restore
from Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment only if you are
unable to start Windows normally to perform a restore operation.
