Download ArticleDownload Article

This is a great way to "turn back the sands of time" if you make a mistake on your desktop or a more permanent change.

  1. Step 1 Click on your "start" button.
  2. Step 2 Go to "All Programs."
    Advertisement
  3. Step 3 Go to "Accessories."
  4. Step 4 Then to "System Tools."
  5. Step 5 Then to "System Restore."
  6. How.com.vn English: Step 6   System Restore appears on the screen.
    Select "Restore my computer to an earlier time." Click next button
  7. How.com.vn English: Step 7 A calendar should appear with dates; select a date that has a bold number with your mouse.
    Make sure the date is before you made the mistake on your computer. Click "next" and close all open programs to ensure a safe restore. The keep clicking "Next," and the computer will then gather some information and restart your computer to the restore point.
  8. How.com.vn English: Step 8 When your computer is restarted, a similar window will be presented.
    It will tell you if the restore was successful and if any files were renamed in the process.
  9. Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question
  • Question
    The window says "cannot restore to the earlier settings". I tried different dates - same answer! What can I do?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    One last chance (if you have already done a back-up of all data before doing the System Restore) :- Go back one year earlier to the current date. It might work. If not, maybe your OS is corrupt. Therefore, try to format Hard Disk and re-install Windows XP.
  • Question
    Does using system restore affect any previous data?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Usually, recently installed programs are uninstalled during a System Restore. It's important to keep the setup executables or archives of your programs on a separate drive or an external hard drive if you don't want to download them again.l
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Video

      Tips

      • If "System Restore" is not in your start menu, it is then usually in "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Restore" with the executable named "rstrui." Be sure to make a shortcut somewhere if "System Restore" isn't in your start menu.
      • This is a great tool if you add a program or do an update and your computer goes down. You can also follow these steps and create a restore point as well. This works by going to the System restore window and selecting "Create a restore point". Just put the name you want (eg. Before install of Firefox), and if things do not well after the install of Firefox, then you can do the restore.
      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
      Advertisement

      About This Article

      How.com.vn is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 163,031 times.
      How helpful is this?
      Co-authors: 11
      Updated: June 4, 2020
      Views: 163,031
      Categories: XP Instructions
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 163,031 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      ⚠️ Disclaimer:

      Content from Wiki How English language website. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License; additional terms may apply.
      Wiki How does not encourage the violation of any laws, and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws, should you link to this domain, or use, reproduce, or republish the information contained herein.

      Notices:
      • - A few of these subjects are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.
      • - Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to
      • - Please note: Wiki How does not give you opinion about the law, or advice about medical. If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial or risk management), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.
      • - Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage on Wiki How, nor think a topic is important just because it is the subject of a Wiki article.

      Advertisement