Clean Up Old System Restore Points

I'll be covering a lot of PC maintenance in this blog, you may want to clean up old restore points to save space on your hard drive: I'll be posting info on that later -- Clean up old Windows System Restore Points.

Change and Limit System Restore Options

If you’d like to customize system restore options (i.e. how much space on your hard disk is taken by system restore), I'll be posting that info soon -- the post will be called: Change & Limit System Restore in Windows 7.

Recover Your System by Using a System Restore Point - Windows XP

Windows XP

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
2. Select Restore my computer to an earlier time and click Next.
3. Use the calendar to select a restore point from a time when your computer worked as it should and click Next.
4. Save your work and click Finish.
5. Restoring your system may take some time so be patient and ensure you do not disturb the process.

Recover Your System by Using a System Restore Point - Vista/7

Creating a restore point is a good start, but it is useful to know how to use the restore point if you need it. To restore your system from a previously created restore point:

Windows Vista/7
Click the Start button, type restore, and click on System Restore.
When the system restore dialog box appears, click Next.
Select the restore point and click Next.
Click Finish.

Restoring your system may take some time so be patient and ensure you do not disturb the process.

Create a System Restore Point in Windows XP

To create a Restore Point in Windows XP:

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
2. Select Create a restore point and click Next.
3. Type a name and click Next.
4. Once the restore point is created, click Close.

Create a System Restore Point in Windows Vista/7

To create a system restore point in Windows 7 or Vista:

1. Press the Start button, type system, and click on System in the start menu.
2. When the system properties dialog box appears, click on System Protection in the left-hand menu.
3. Select/check the drive on which Windows resides and click Create.
4. Give your restore point a name and click Create.
5. Wait while Windows creates a system restore point for you.

You are now ready to use a cleaning program or make other system modifications.

Create a System Restore Point to Protect You from Unwanted Changes

If you’re making changes to your system and using programs such as CCleaner or Advanced SystemCare, you should always make a restore point before. There is the argument that by creating a restore point you take up almost all the space you are freeing up when using these programs. This is true; however, cleaning your system can improve performance significantly and is good practice when using your PC.

In the next few posts you’ll learn how to:

1. Create a System Restore Point.
2. Recover your system by using a System Restore Point.
3. Change and limit system restore options.