Restoring Your System from a Restore Point

Sometimes, installing software or device drivers has an adverse impact on your system. Setting a Restore Point prior to an installation allows you to reset your system to its previous state in case you discover that installing the new software wasn't such a good idea. (How to set a Restore Point is covered in another tip.) Assuming you had set a Restore Point, you can revert your system back to its previous condition by doing a system restore.

To do a system restore follow these steps if you are using Windows 8:

1. Move the mouse pointer into the very bottom-left corner of the screen and right-click. You should see a Context menu appear.
2. Choose the System option. Windows displays the System area of the Control Panel. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The System dialog box.

3. Click the System Protection link at the left of the dialog box. Windows displays the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.

4. Click the System Restore button. You will then be taken through a wizard that allows you to select what Restore Point you wish to use and then perform the restore.

If you are using Windows 7 the steps are a bit different. (The biggest difference is how you get to the first dialog box.). Follow these steps:

1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and select Properties from the resulting Context menu. Windows displays the System area of the Control Panel. (See Figure 3.)



Figure 3. The System dialog box.

2. Click the System Protection link at the left of the dialog box. Windows displays the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box. (See Figure 4.)



Figure 4. The System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.

3. Click the System Restore button. You will then be taken through a wizard that allows you to select what Restore Point you wish to use and then perform the restore.

 This tip (12212) applies to Windows 7 and 8.