System Restore in Windows: What You Need to Know

System Restore is a feature that Microsoft adds in Windows. In Windows Vista, System Restore can be used in many different ways to recover system if problem occurs. It can be used for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of a failure.

System Restore uses System Protection to create and save restore point in your computer. These restore points contain information about registry or other information that Windows Vista used. System Restore can make Restore point everyday, even when you install Windows Vista Service Pack. However, you should create restore point in short period of time to recover your system if any problem exists.

System Restore does not copy any personal file or information. Therefore, it cannot recover deleted or damaged files.

To use System Restore in Windows Vista, go to All Programs>Accessories>System Tools or you can use Run>rstrui.exe (C:\Windows\System32\rstrui.exe). You must have at least 300MB free space in your hard drive to activate System Protection. Besides, System Protection can use up to 15% of your disc space. The old restore points will be deleted. System Restore will add new Restore Points in the hard drive. System Restore do not work with FAT or FAT32, it only works on NTFS.

When activating System Restore, you can choose different restore point by click "Choose a different restore point" > Pick a restore point you want to recover > Click "Next". Your system will reboot. System Restore will back your Windows to the restore point.

Now, imagine that your hard drive is up to 500 GB. If you use system restore, it will cost 15% (75 GB) of your hard drive. To change it, you have to use Volume Shadow Copy Administrative. You have to go to Run>vssadmin.exe.

Type "vassadmin.exe /?" and push "Enter" to see all the options this tool provide. To see how much hard drive space that System Restore occupies, type "Vssadmin List Shadow Storage. To change disc space using by System Restore, type

Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /on=[Letter of Your Hard Drive]:/For=[Letter of Your Hard Drive]:/Maxsize=[the maximum storage allow for System Restore]

The Max size must be equal or bigger than 300MB. It allows you to type in KB, MB, GB,TB. For example, if you want the max storage of your system restore in hard drive C is 10 GB, you type

vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /On=C: /For=C: /Maxsize=10GB

To create a restore point, go to Control Panel > System. Choose "Advanced System Settings" on the left side. Or you can type systempropertiesprotection.exe in "Run". In the System Properties tab, click "Create". Type in the restore point information. Click "Create" again to confirm the information you just type in.

In default, Windows Vista leaves System Restore on in all of partition. Turning off System Restore in any partition may be quite danger because when you turn off the system, the restore point in that partition will also be deleted.

To turn off System Protection, go to Control Panel > System. Click "Advanced System Settings". In the System Properties tab, get rid of any partition that you want to turn off.

You can also use software to manage your System Restore feature. However, it would be great if you use what you already have in Windows Vista. I hope this article would help you.