Using System Restore on
Windows 7, Vista or 2008

The following topics are available:

• What does System Restore Do?
• The Simple System Restore
• System Restore from a running Windows 7, Vista or 2008
• Recovery Console and System Restore from Windows 7/Vista boot DVD
• Notes for 64-bit Environments
• A Better Recovery Alternative

Also available is Using System Restore on Windows XP/2003

Windows makes periodic restore points that saves the registry files. You can recovery a system with one of these restore points. It can often correct a host of problems including:

• Repair a damaged or corrupted Registry
• Remove an application that failed during install/uninstall and screwed up something else
• Inactivation of some viruses, malware, spyware and a few rootkits

You success depends on being able to find a restore point that was made BEFORE the damage or problem was created. It's quite helpful if you have a good idea when the problems began or when some major event caused the problems.

One of Restore-points failings is it only retains the last 8 restore points, and every install and uninstall uses up another restore point. You may find that the restore points do not go back far enough in time to help solve your problem.

Keep in mind that anything that was installed, updated or changed after the point of the restore point you plan to use will be lost, and these installs and updates will need to be reapplied. Your data should not be affected, although having a good backup of your important data is always wise!

Windows makes it easy to return to the last working checkpoint, what it calls the Last Known Good Configuration. This is used when some event causes Windows to fail to boot up. Often Windows will detect this and on the next boot provide access to the Advanced Boot Options.

If Windows can boot up, then this option will not solve any problems, since the "Last Known Good Configuration" will have already saved the problems you're encountering.

To get to this screen manually, during the boot up process (and well before you see any Windows logos) press and hold F8 until a menu appears. In some cases the Please select an operating system to start menu appears. If so, select your operating system and press F8 again. The goal is to get to the Advanced Boot Options screen.

Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008:

Use the down arrow key to highlight the option Last Known Good Configuration and press Enter. This will load the checkpoint before the last event. If this fails to correct the problem, then you'll need to use an older Restore point as described below.

Do NOT use Directory Services Restore Mode - this is for IT professionals and it starts running Windows Domain Controller with Active Directory. It does not run a System Restore.

With some OEM pre-installs of Windows, you may get another choice in the list, Windows Recovery Environment (not shown above). If this option is available, and you select it, you will get a new menu to select the recovery tool. You can select System Restore to choose from the last eight restore points.

Click on Start, type rstrui and press Enter. The System Restore dialog appears:

Here it shows the next-to-last saved restore point as it's recommendation. If your problems occurred after this date, it's a good choice. You can select the option Choose a different restore point to view all the available system restore points. Click on Next.

If you had selected to view a different restore point, the dialog appears:

Here you select from one of the last eight restore points. Select Next. A final confirmation dialog appears:

Select Finish. A second confirmation appears:

Before continuing, be sure all applications are closed as the Restore will force a reboot. Select Yes to start the restoration. The restoration will begin and the system will reboot when it's complete.

It may take 10 minutes or more, so be patient and don't power down the PC while the restoration is occurring. After the reboot it will tell you the restore completed successfully.

If you don't like the results of the restoration, you can return to System Restore and choose a different restore point or even undo the last restoration.

Use the following steps to get to the Recovery Console from the boot DVD:

Insert the DVD and boot from it. You'll get a black and white screen:

If this doesn't appear, it may be the DVD is not a Windows bootable DVD. Assuming you get this message, press a key (spacebar or anything else). If you don't press any key within about 5 seconds, it will boot from the hard disk.

Continuing to boot from the DVD you'll see a loading progress screen.

This typically takes 2-3 minutes. When complete the first options screen appears.

Change any options if desired, and press Next.

To start the Recovery Console, select Repair your computer.

Unless you have multiple copies of Windows installed, only one choice will appear. Select your OS, and press Next.

Here you can pick from a number of useful options.

Startup Repair looks for damaged or missing key system files and will replace them if a problem is discovered.

System Restore replaces the registry with a previously saved one (jump to System Restore).

Windows Complete PC Restore restore the entire computer from a previously saved backup (if it was made). This feature is only available on Business and Ultimate editions of Vista and Professional and Ultimate versions of Windows 7.

Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to check your system memory for errors.

Command Prompt for advanced users who wish to manually perform an action (jump to Command Prompt).

System Restore

After selecting System Restore from the options menu, the screen appears:

Press Next.

From the list of restore points, select the one you want to restore. You'll want to pick a date prior to the problem event, such as before an installation that you suspect caused the problem. You do not want to pick the newest restore point, since that has saved the very last problematic registry.

Press Next.

If you have multiple drives, in rare cases there may be restorable information on those other drives. The status will confirm which drives have recovery information. Check any drives that you want to recovery (including the system drive). Press Next.

This is the final confirmation. Press Finish to begin restoring the selected restore point.

It may take 10 minutes or more, so be patient and don't power down or reset the PC while the restoration is occurring. After the reboot and logging on again, Windows will confirm the restore completed successfully.

If you don't like the results of the restoration, you can return to System Restore and choose a different restore point.

Command Prompt

All commands, directories and filenames are not case sensitive. Don't forget to include the spaces exactly as shown. Most DOS type commands are available, although the HELP command to list the commands has been removed.

Unlike XP's recovery command prompt, files and folders marked hidden will not appear. Use the "/h" command line option to see these files and folders. For example to see the hidden files and directories in the C: root, at the prompt type dir c:\ /h

Highlights include:

• Validate and Fix the File System
• Repair the Boot Process
• Edit or View a File
• Exit Command Prompt

Validate and Fix the File System

This runs the check disk program to detect and attempt to repair problems on one partition. For example, to repair the C: drive:

1. At the prompt type chkdsk  c:  /r

Repair the Boot Process

Typically this is used if Windows doesn't start and you can't get to the safe mode menu. You might also replace the Master Boot Record (MBR) and boot sector if you suspect a virus infection. There are four options:

New MBR - Insert a new generic MBR without changing the partition table.

• At the prompt, type: bootrec  /FixMbr
  

New Boot Sector - Insert a new Windows 7/Vista compatible boot sector. It will automatically insert the right type of sector for the file system type (NTFS, FAT32, etc.)

• At the prompt, type: bootrec  /FixBoot

Rebuild BCD - Rebuild the Boot Configuration Data (BCD). The BCD controls which partition boots. This option will let you select which installations to include in the BCD.

• At the prompt, type: bootrec  /RebuildBcd

Find OSes - Scan the system for all OS installations that are compatible with Vista/2008 and will also show those that are currently included in the BCD.

• At the prompt, type: bootrec  /ScanOs

Edit or View a File

1. At the prompt, type Notepad filename
   
   
2. Notepad opens to edit the filename provided. You can also open notepad without a filename and either open a file from within Notepad or create a new file and save it.

Exit Command Prompt

1. At the prompt, type Exit
   
   
2. The system will close the command prompt dialog and return to the Recovery Options menu.

If you installed Avanquest's SystemSuite or Fix-It Utilities, both products include Recovery Commander, which is installed and activated by default.

Recovery Commander provides an easier-to-use more advanced recovery process than Windows System Restore, dealing with a far wider range of problems. Key features include:

• Automatic periodic saves of critical system information
• Recovery from failures such as:
  • Corrupt or damaged registry
  • Damaged boot record
  • Missing system files
  • BOOT.INI and BCD (Vista) configuration errors
  • Works with all Windows file systems (including NTFS)
• Fixes Windows when it can’t start
• Automatically creates checkpoints for new program installations

The recovery process is very easy. It can be run from within Windows, or by booting from the SystemSuite or Fix-It installation CD. Below is the first screen from the boot CD to select Recovery Commander as well as other rescue features.

Recovery Commander also provides the option to make an undo checkpoint before doing a restoration, so it is easy to try different checkpoints without risk.