Steps to use System Restore on your Windows 8 PC

Windows System Restore is an inbuilt recovery program available with all latest versions of the operating system including Windows 8. Learn more about System Restore – how it works, how to enable it on your PC, creating a restore point manually, and steps to perform System Restore successfully on a Windows 8 computer.

Windows System Restore is an inbuilt program that has been available on all versions of the operating system since Windows XP and is one of the most used utilities for troubleshooting.

Most system issues occur due to corrupt system files, installing incompatible drivers, inappropriate changes in the settings, and so on. Since Windows System Restore rolls-back system configuration to a previously created restore point, issues can be resolved without the need of major troubleshooting steps such as resetting the device to factory defaults.

What is a Restore Point?

Windows System Restore uses Restore Points to perform system restoration. A Restore Point is a saved instance of the system configuration. It comprises records of drivers, system files, registry settings, and specific program files for future reference. When a user executes System Restore, the program refers to the selected Restore Point and reverts the configuration accordingly. As a result, the corrupt file or software that caused the problem gets removed if occurred after the creation of the Restore Point. Hence, the system starts to behave the way it was at that time.

Windows creates Restore Points automatically at regular intervals, typically in every seven days. It is also created before any system-level change takes place, such as installation or uninstallation of drivers, applications, or OS updates. Besides, users can create Restore Points manually as well, if they want to save the current configuration before making a critical change.

Effects of Windows System Restore

The changes mentioned above sometimes have an unexpected effect on computers. Often, when an issue is identified that did not exist earlier, it is evident that the cause is a recent change like recently installed apps/drivers or OS updates. Executing Windows System Restore is a simple and effective step to resolve such problems. Selecting the Restore Point created before the mentioned change was applied ensures that the issue is addressed without significant differences in the system state.

The most important feature of Windows System Restore is that it does not affect users’ personal files. Hence, irrespective of how old the selected Restore Point is, personal files remain intact. It should be noted that System Restore is not a file recovery tool for Windows and cannot recover any personal data that was deleted by the users.

Since Windows System Restore rolls-back the system configuration to the selected previous state, applications installed after the creation of Restore Point are removed completely. Similarly, applications that were uninstalled after the Restore Point was created are brought back.

Enabling Windows System Restore

Some PCs may have Windows System Restore enabled by default while some may not. Even when it is enabled, its scope is limited to only the C drive of the hard disk, and users have to add other drives into its purview. So, checking at the earliest whether the program is enabled or not is crucial for maintaining systems’ health.

Steps to enable Windows System Restore in Windows 8

1. Type ‘System Restore’ in the Start menu search bar.
2. Locate ‘Create a restore point’ option by selecting ‘Settings’ category and click on it. ‘System Properties’ dialog box will appear on the screen with ‘System Protection’ tab already opened.
3. Locate the ‘Protection Settings’ section towards the middle of this tab. It shows available drives and protection status of each drive. If the protection status shows ‘Off’, it means the drive is not covered under System Restore.
4. Within ‘Protection Settings’, select the drives that are required to be covered by Windows System Restore and click the ‘Configure’ button. The ‘System Protection for …’ dialog box will appear.
5. Under the ‘Restore Settings’ section, click ‘Turn on system protection’ option for enabling System Restore for that drive.
6. Under the ‘Disk Space Usage’ section in the same dialog box, set the ‘Max Usage’ pointer to allocate memory for the System Restore program.
7. At the bottom-right corner in the same window, click ‘Apply’ to make these settings effective. Click ‘OK’ to exit the window.

These steps will enable Windows System Restore for all the selected drives.

Steps for creating a Windows 8 Restore Point manually

1. Type ‘System Restore’ in the Start menu search bar.
2. Locate ‘Create a restore point’ option by selecting ‘Settings’ category and click on it. ‘System Properties’ dialog box will appear on the screen with ‘System Protection’ tab already opened.
3. Within the ‘System Protection’ tab, click ‘Create’ button towards the bottom-right of the tab. It will open up a ‘System Protection’ dialog box.
4. Name the ‘Restore Point’ in the text box present in this dialog. Give it such a name that makes it easy to recall why the specific Restore Point was created.
5. Click ‘Create’ in the same dialog box. It takes about 30 seconds for the Restore Point to be created.
6. Click ‘Close’ on the dialog box that confirms that the Restore Point has been created.

Steps to Restore Windows 8

1. Open up the ‘System Protection’ tab of the ‘System Properties’ dialog box using the 2 initial steps mentioned above.
2. Locate ‘System Restore’ option within the ‘System Protection’ tab and click on it. It will open up the System Restore window.
3. Click ‘Next’ on the System Restore Window which will show a list of restore points. Select the desired Restore Point from the available options.
4. Right after the list of Restore Points, there is ‘Scan for affected programs’ button. After selecting the restore point, you can click on it to see the list of the items that will be deleted and the items that will be restored after executing System Restore.
5. Click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the same window.
6. Click ‘Confirm your Restore Point’ query and then click ‘Finish’.
7. Click ‘Yes’ for final confirmation and Windows will begin performing the System Restore.
8. Sign-in to Windows after the device restarts. Click ‘Close’ on the confirmation box to complete the restoration process.

If Windows System Restore does not resolve the issue, the process can be repeated by selecting a different Restore Point.

Limitations of Windows System Restore

A major drawback of Windows System Restore is its inability to remove malware effectively. While it does revert the system configuration to the selected Restore Point effectively, it does not ensure clean removal of elusive malware.

While Windows System Restore is an effective way to resolve system issues, it is not suitable for large computer networks comprising several devices. Especially, in multi-user computing environments like public libraries and educational institutes, executing System Restore leads to significant downtime. The entire process takes about 10-30 minutes to complete. The device remains unavailable when performing System Restore, which directly impacts productivity. Also, the in-house IT members’ intervention is required since end-users are typically not authorized to perform such actions.

An alternative way to fix system problems

Windows Refresh

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 offer a new option called Refresh, which was not present in Windows 7 and Windows XP. Refresh reinstalls Windows while retaining personal data and the applications installed from the Windows Store. Windows Refresh permanently deletes applications installed from third-party websites or external drives. However, the program does create a list of the removed applications for users’ convenience. If the system was upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, executing Refresh reinstalls Windows 8. Users have to upgrade to newer version again after the process completes.

Windows Reset
If all the troubleshooting options fail to resolve the issue, resetting the system to factory defaults is the only way to make the device workable again. It deletes all the applications, files, and settings and reinstalls Windows afresh. If users upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, executing Reset reinstalls Windows 8 that has to be upgraded again.

Reboot to Restore Technology
Reboot to Restore technology is a viable alternative to Windows System Restore. It is effective, quick, and easy to execute. Unlike Windows System Restore, the Reboot to Restore technology does not save snapshots of system configurations periodically. Instead, it preserves the admin-defined configuration as the baseline state. Every time a device is restarted, Reboot to Restore technology reloads the pristine baseline configuration. As a result, all the changes that occurred to the configuration and the inputs generated during user sessions are wiped-clean. This makes systems virtually indestructible, facilitating unrestrictive computing experience.