System Restore to a Previous State Using Restore Point in Windows 8

Arun Choudhary
Sep 06, 2012
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Introduction

System Restore is a component for Windows which allows rolling back system files, registry settings and applications to a previous state. It is a simple creation and restoration procedure. It does not provide an option to extract specific files from the previous stored system state. This means that performing a system restore can end up altering settings you cannot change. Restoring your Windows operating system to a previous state is not new, but this feature can be very time saving. For example, if you installed a new application or driver and your system starts to behave abnormally, or if your computer is infected by a virus from one unintentional mouse click on a link and you may want to go back to a previous state. You can refresh or reset your system, but a system restore is the best for this kind of scenario.

System Restore Explorer is an application which makes it easy to browse the various System Restore. The System Restore is points create on your system and lets mount individual restore points to a folder, so that you can extract its content by copying individual files. This can save you from having to do a complete System Restore. The System Restore displays a list of all available restores points so that you may be able to sort or delete points to save the disk space. The default allocated size is merely a few MB and it can be change manually. Once System Restore Explorer is launched, you are provided an overview of the saved System Restore Points, from where you can delete and mount restore points.

System Restore is a system protection feature available in Control Panel | System and Security | System.

To configure a System Restore, use the Control Panel. Read the previous article on how to access the Control Panel.

In this section, you click on the System and Security.

In this section, click on the System.

In this section, click on Protection.

After click on System Protection, Display the System Properties.

Create a Restore Point

This is optional. Windows 8 creates a restore point automatically during Windows Updates and other system maintenance events. But you can create a restore point manually at any time. On the System Protection dialog box, click Create and name the restore point. Windows creates the restore point for you.

If you do not want to keep the restore point, you can use the configure option to delete it.

Restore System from restore point

You installed something that caused your computer some hiccup, and you are ready to repair it and go back to what you had on the computer yesterday. Click on the System Restore button. You can either use the recommended restore option or choose a different restore point option. If you choose the latter, you can select a restore point, and restore the system from there.