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Summary: System Restore settings are in the properties of My Computer, but actually running the System Restore application is a little less obvious. After installing some software that totally messed up parts of my system, someone recommended I use System Restore to restore the machine to it's previous settings. Sounds wonderful ... except I can't find it. How do I get at System Restore? I honestly don't know why System Restore is as hard to find as it seems to be. It'd definitely not obvious. Oh, and I hope you have it turned on. Otherwise even finding it may be of no help. • Let's start by finding out whether or not it's turned on, and enabling it if not. Right click on My Computer and click Properties. Click on the System Restore tab, and make sure the Turn off System Restore checkbox is not checked. (It feels backwards, I know ...). If you're turning on System Restore, especially for the first time, it may then create a restore point, so it may take just a minute to complete. While it's working you can see that System Restore uses disk space, and that you can limit how much disk space it will use. This translates, roughly, into how many restore points it can maintain. As new restore points are created, if there's not enough disk space, the oldest ones will be deleted. Now, the official way to run the restoration UI is through the help system. If you start Help and Support and then search for "System Restore", the results will include several results of interest. However my approach was to find the executable and run it directly. Click on Start, then Run, and type in "c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe", where "c:\windows" is your Windows directory. Press OK and you should get the System Restore UI. In the UI you can create a new restore point if you like, which will save the current settings (though many installation programs do this automatically if System Restore is enabled), or you can revert to a previous restore point. If you select restore, you'll be presented with a calendar of dates on which restore points are available. If you've just turned on System Restore for the first time, you won't have any, other than the one that was just created. After you select a restore point to restore too, you're presented with important warnings. It's worth noting that many changes made to your system after that restore point was created will be lost when you restore back to it. But then ... that's often exactly the point of wanting to revert to a previous restore point. • I've put together a very short video that shows the System Restore setting, and the UI. Have a look to better understand exactly where to find System Restore, and what it looks like once you get there.
Related: Article 9733 | Posted January 24, 2006 |
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i think i deleted my system restore & cleanmgr.while scannin wth mcafee.how do i get the programme/files back? pls help
Posted by: samer at August 28, 2007 8:09 AMSTART- ALL PROGRAMS - ACCESSORIES - SYSTEM TOOLS - SYSTEM RESTORE
Posted by: Phil at September 30, 2007 6:44 AMWindows cannot find 'C:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe' Have verified... System Restore checkbox is not checked. Am currently performing SFC /scannow
I believe this was caused by a Trojan horse.Delf
Any help would be apprecited to get system restore to start working and to get the rstrui.exe reintalled.
Posted by: Kedda at January 5, 2008 4:48 PMI install window xp sp2 dark lite. But it doesn't have system restore.How can i install install system restore? I don't want uses different os because I think this dark lite os is great.
Posted by: macesly at May 13, 2008 7:54 PMWhen I try and do a system restore I get an error message popup that system restore encountered a problem and that it needs to shut down. Any suggestions? (Box is unchecked and I have never seen this issue before.)
Posted by: kim at June 25, 2008 1:36 PMi finally found my system restore an took me for ever to find it. i needed to use it as my brother has used my pc for many accounts and now my pc is full of viruses. when i tried to restore my pc i could only go back 3 days, and that doesnt get rid of all the viruses, is there anyway i can restore my pc back to its orignal settings or choose a date to resotre it to
Posted by: Aaron at July 23, 2008 3:20 PMhow do i do a system restore if it will not let me click on anything but select the date of the present time...?
-Leo
i cant find system restore
Posted by: sindadyer at August 16, 2008 12:16 AMI've been trying many different dates to accomplish a system restore, and it continues to tell me it won't let me do that. My mcafee isn't seeming to work after an update. It also looks different.
Posted by: Mary at August 16, 2008 8:25 AMI cannot get back to August for a system a restore point. I click the
Posted by: galensmark at September 3, 2008 4:29 PM