Windows has a useful System Restore feature, better known as a restore point, that takes a snapshot of your PC’s software, registry settings, and certain program files at a given time. Usually this helps restore your PC when a major system change or a system update, driver or application installation goes wrong.
When things go bad, you can use these restore points to revert to the previous state of your PC. Essentially, you will be able to undo bad changes made to your system. This post will cover how to enable, create and use system restore point in Windows 10.
How to Enable System Restore in Windows 10
Because the system restore functionality does not come pre-enabled on some computers, you must enable it first so Windows can automatically create a system restore point before making any system-wide changes or tweaks. Here’s how.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type repair and click ‘Create a restore point’.
Step 2: In the System Properties window that opens, switch to the System Protection tab. Then highlight the system drive (usually the C: drive) and click Configure.
Stage 3: Select ‘Turn on system protection’.
Here you can also use the slider under Disk Space Usage to specify the amount of storage to allocate for the system recovery feature.
Note: Windows assigns 3 to 10 percent of storage for SystemGuards. When this storage is full, it deletes previous restore points to store new ones.
If you want to create a new system restore point, you can also click the Delete button to remove all previously created restore points.
Step 4: Finally, click Apply and then OK.
And that’s about it. From now on, Windows will automatically create a restore point every week. It also automatically creates a restore point just before a major system update or major system changes.
While this will only enable system protection for the selected driver, you can repeat the process for other drivers as well.
How to Manually Create a System Restore Point in Windows 10
While Windows automatically creates system restore points, you can also create them manually. This can come in handy when trying to do an early build on your PC or changing unknown Registry settings.
Now there are several ways you can go about this. The first involves using the System Properties window, while the second uses the command prompt. Here are both.
Method 1
To manually create a restore point, you can use the same System Properties window to enable the system restore function. Here’s how.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type repair and click ‘Create a restore point’.
Step 2: On the System Protection tab, click the Create button under Protection Settings.
Stage 3: Give the restore point a name to easily identify it later.
Step 4: Wait a few seconds for Windows to create the restore point and click Close.
You now have a restore point to go back to should something go wrong while performing a system change or changing settings.
Method 2
Alternatively, you can also use Command Prompt to manually create a system restore point in Windows 10. Here’s how.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type cmd To open Command Prompt. Select ‘Run as administrator’ to open with administrator rights.
Step 2: Type the command mentioned below and press Enter.
wmic.exe /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint "RestorePointOne", 100, 7
Replace the text RestorePointName between quotation marks with the name you want to assign to the restore point.
The method execution is successful and you will see a message that says ReturnValue = 0 indicating that the restore point has been created.
How to Use System Restore Point in Windows 10
Now is the day, one of the updates or changes went bad and you want to undo your action by going back to a certain system restore point. Here’s how to use restore points.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type system Restore and click ‘Create a restore point’.
Step 2: On the System Protection tab, click the System Restore button.
Stage 3: You will be provided with the latest restore point in the recommended restore option. Alternatively, you can choose a different restore point by selecting ‘Choose a different point’.
Here you can click on ‘Scan for affected programs’ to see the list of programs that will be removed or restored during the restore process.
Step 4: Finally, you will be asked to confirm the system restore point. It will show you the date and time of the restore point. Click Finish to start the restore process.
Now your computer will restart and the restore process will begin. Wait for it to finish and you will be back to the previous state. Remember, System Restore creates a restore point just before it reverts to an earlier one. So you can always go back to where you were.
backup plan
Creating a system restore point on a regular basis can help in an emergency. That way, you won’t lose all your data and you can avoid resetting your PC. Therefore, periodically creating restore points can help troubleshoot your Windows PC.
