Have you ever made a terrible mistake in life and wished you could go back and undo it? Unfortunately, that isn’t possible, and we have to live with these mistakes. Thanks to Microsoft’s inclusion of System Restore in every modern Windows platform, however, we can often save our computers from such a fate. System Restore is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a program that is pre-installed on your Windows computer that allows you to revert your computer to an earlier time when it was working properly. System Restore is kind of a last resort for me, but has saved my butt many times! Let’s investigate this powerful program.
System Restore is helpful because it can restore your computer back to a time when all was kosher. The best part of it is that it can do that, yet not affect your personal files. Today is August 29th. Let’s pretend that something catastrophic happened to my computer this morning and I wanted to revert the computer back to the state it was in before that happened. By default, Windows will create “restore points” automatically before installing a critical Windows Update just in case something goes wrong. If that doesn’t show how confident Microsoft is in its product I don’t know what does! In my case, the most recent point that I can go back to is August 28th at 4:08:46 AM. Perfect. None of the documents, pictures, or personal data I added since yesterday will be lost. And, if I decide that things haven’t improved, the restore is reversible. I should point out that there usually aren’t many restore points to choose from. It’s a good practice to create your own. To do so, click “Start” then “Control Panel” then “System” then “System Protection”, and finally, “Create”.
So now that we know what System Restore does, how do we find it? Well, in Windows 7, click “Start” then “All Programs” then “Accessories” then “System Tools”, and finally, “System Restore”. Click “Next” and see if an appropriate date and time appear on the list. If they don’t check the box for “Show more restore points”. When you find one that works, click on the date and time you’d like to go back to, then click “Next”. Click “Finish” and you’re on your way. Your computer will restart, and the whole process will take around ten to fifteen minutes. If you’re using Windows 8 or Windows 10, simply type system restore in the magnifying glass or search box next to the “Start” button, and follow the steps listed above to perform the restore.
System Restore doesn’t work 100% of the time, and it won’t fix every malady your computer could face, but it is a tool that can get you back up and running quickly and easily. Isn’t that what it’s all about?