System Restore Points have to be the life-saving feature made available by the Microsoft on Windows OS. The feature was available in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and now in Windows 10 as well. If you want to know how to restore your PC to an earlier time, then in this post I will show you how to repair Windows 10 PC problems with system restore point. There are several ways to fix problems with your Windows 10 PC. You can try to refresh, reset and restore your Windows 10 PC to fix problems. In today’s post, we will be learning about System Restore in Windows 10. System Restore allows you to undo changes that you have made to your PC using the restore points. With system restore points you can return your PC’s system files and settings to an earlier point in time. An advantage here is that while undoing the changes, your personal files and data will not be affected. Windows OS comes with a feature called System Protection. System Protection create and saves information about your PC’s registry, system files, drivers, etc. at regular interval as a restore point. These same system restore points can be later used to return your PC to an earlier point in time. You can also learn to create Windows 10 System Restore Points Manually. When should I Use Restore Points? System Restore points can be used when you find any problem with your PC, which was doing fine few days ago. If you are having a problem with the Windows 10, the restore point may help you to resolve the issue as well. There are two ways to restore Windows 10 back to an earlier point in time. We will discuss both the options in this tutorial today. Restore Windows 10 using Restore Points There are two ways through which you can access system restore point and restore Windows 10 to an earlier point in time. You can perform System Restore of Windows 10 at boot, or you can perform System Restore of Windows 10 after boot or in Windows 10. Performing System Restore at boot comes in handy if you cannot boot your PC or if nothing is visible on your screen. Note: You must be signed in as Administrator to be able to perform a System Restore in Windows 10. During the System Restore process, System Protection will create a restore point before restoring to an earlier point, just in case if something goes wrong. During the System Restore process, all the programs that you have installed, after the date of restore point creation to current date will be uninstalled. Your personal data and files will not be affected, however. Restore Windows 10 After Booting If you can boot Windows 10 and see the screen/display clearly, you can restore Windows 10 using Restore Point following the below-mentioned steps. Note: Make sure you are logged in as administrator to be able to perform Windows 10 Restore. Step 1: Open System Protection There are several ways to open System Protection window. Follow any one of the below. In Search/Cortana, type System Restore and select Create a Restore Point option from the search result. Or Press Windows Key X and select System from the options. Next, click System Protection from the left side. Or Open Control Panel, click System and Security, next click and open System. From the left side click on System Protection. Step 2: Restore Windows 10 Once you open System Protection, you will see a new System Properties dialogue box. Click and open, System Protection tab (if you are not already in it). Click System Restore button and click Next. If this is the first time you are restoring Windows 10, then select the most recent or the recommended restore point. If not, select Choose a different restore point option and click Next. In the next window, you will see a message “Restore your computer to the state it was in before the selected event” and below that all the system restore points saved on your PC will be shown. Select any one of the System Restore Point and click on Scan for affected programs button. Tip: Always select the recent possible restore point instead of a too old restore point. Now your PC will scan for affected programs and drivers. Once the scan is complete, you will be shown the programs and drivers that will be affected by the restoration process. Review the programs that will be affected and click Close. If you are ready to restore Windows 10 to the selected restore point, then click Next and then click Finish. Next, click Yes when asked to confirm your decision to restore Windows 10 to an earlier point in time. Note: Once the restoration process has been started, you cannot stop it until it is finished. Your PC will now restart and perform a System Restore. It may take a while, so have patience. Once the Restoration process is complete, the PC will restart, and you will see a System Restore success message. If the System Restore was not successful, then try another restore point or try again. Restore Windows 10 at Boot If you are unable to perform a system restore using the first method, then you can do the same at boot. For this, you need to boot to Advanced Start options in Windows 10. There are several ways to boot into Advanced Startup options in Windows 10. Step 1: Boot into Advanced Startup Option in Windows 10 Option 1: Restart Windows 10 and Go to Setting/ All Settings > Update and Security > Recovery. From the right side look for Advanced Startup and click the Restart now button below it to boot into Advanced Start options. Your PC will restart and will be taken to Advanced startup option. Option 2: If you are unable to boot into Windows 10, then do this. Press and hold the power button on your PC/Laptop to turn it off. Restart your PC by pressing the Power button again. Repeat this 2 or 3 times until you see “Please Wait” screen and taken into Recovery option. Once you are in the Recovery option, click on See Advanced Repair Options button. Step 2: Restore Windows 10 to Earlier Point Once you are in Advanced startup option, click on Troubleshoot. Next, click on Advanced Options. Under Advanced Options, click on System Restore. If you are asked to select any account, select Administrator and enter your password and click Continue. If this is the first time you are doing a system restore, then click Next. If not, select Choose a different restore point and click Next. Select any restore point that you want to restore Windows 10 back to and click Scan for affected programs. After the scan, you can see what are all the programs that will be affected. Review the programs that will be affected and click Close. If you are ready to restore Windows 10 to the selected restore point, then click Next and then click Finish. Next, click Yes when asked to confirm your decision to restore Windows 10 to an earlier point in time. Your PC will now restart and perform a System Restore. It may take a while, so have patience.
