How to Do a System Restore

Posted on October 13th, 2009 by Marck

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Microsoft Windows is built and designed to be a stable, reliable operating system, but there are some operations and actions that can cause your system to be unstable and prone to crashing. System instability can happen every time you install a new program, device driver, or perform software updates. One way that you can bring back your computer to a stable state is to use the System Restore function.

How System Restore Works

You can think of System Restore as the operating system’s version of the “Undo” command in most programs. System Restore reverts your system to a previous stable state, but it does not affect personal data like pictures and documents. System Restore relies on events called “restore points,” which are usually automatically updated and set by Windows when you install a new driver, install new software, or update system utilities. The restore points are extremely useful when your computer goes unstable, and you need to revert to the last stable point scheduled from your computer.

You should note that System Restore is not an anti-virus program or a system security utility. System Restore reverts drivers and updates on your system through a snapshot of the system. It does not affect personal files or other folders in your system outside of software updates and device drivers.

Steps

To use System Restore, follow these steps:

Click on the Start Menu, point to “All Programs,” and select “Accessories.”
Click “System Tools” on the “Accessories” menu, and click “System Restore.”

system restore point

From the wizard, select “Restore my computer to an earlier time,” and click “Next.”
Browse the calendar and select a restore point in boldface. If you update software often, you may have several restore points in a single date.
Click “Next.” Your system will restart, but the wizard will prompt you to save all changes in existing working windows before initiating the reboot.
After saving all changes, initiate the System Restore operation by clicking “Next,” and enabling the restart function.

To create a custom restore point, follow these steps:

Launch the System Restore utility as indicated in the steps above.
Click “Create a restore point” on the System Restore wizard.
Enter the description of the restore point. Make sure that you have entered the correct description of the restore point, and that you’re creating a restore point from a stable, updated point in your computer.
Save the restore point. You can revert to this system status when your system goes unstable.

System Restore is a very useful utility that you can use to keep your system stable, efficient and reliable. Follow these steps every now and then just in case your system becomes prone to crashes and failure.