How to Disable And Enable System Restore
There are many reasons why you might need to enable or disable system restore. One worst case scenario is when your computer is infected and you run the risk of having that malware saved in System Restore. To solve this, you will need to disable system restore, reboot, scan for the problem and finally re-enable system restore. The following directions are for Windows 7 followed by Vista, XP and Millenium.
For Windows 7
1. Click Start
2. Right click Computer > Properties > Choose Advanced System Settings option in left menu listing.
3. Click System Protection tab
4. Then highlight the drive you wish to turn off System Restore and click Configure (Image 1)
5. Then choose Turn off system protection (Image 2)
6. Click Apply > OK
To re-enable follow steps 1 - 4 and then choose Restore system settings and previous versions of files > Apply and OK
For Vista:
1. Click Start
2. Right click Computer > Properties > Choose Advanced System Settings option in left menu listing.
3. If UAC enabled you will get a UAC prompt at this click Continue
4. Click System Protection tab
5. Then Untick any Drive Listed ( see pic below ) and in the popup window click Turn Off System Restore
6. Click Apply > OK
To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-4 then Tick the Drives you wish to enable System Restore on and click Apply and OK
For Windows XP:
1: Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select properties.
2: Click on the system restore tab.
3: Check the box that says "Turn off system restore on all drives". Click OK.
4: Click Yes if you are prompted to restart the computer.
5: To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-3, but in step 3, click to clear the Disable System Restore check box.
For Windows Millenium:
1: Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2: On the Performance tab, click File System, or press ALT+F.
3: On the Troubleshooting tab, click to select the Disable System Restore check box.
4: Click OK twice, and then click Yes if you are prompted to restart the computer.
5: To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-3, but in step 3, click to clear the Disable System Restore check box.
For Windows 7
1. Click Start
2. Right click Computer > Properties > Choose Advanced System Settings option in left menu listing.
3. Click System Protection tab
4. Then highlight the drive you wish to turn off System Restore and click Configure (Image 1)
5. Then choose Turn off system protection (Image 2)
6. Click Apply > OK
To re-enable follow steps 1 - 4 and then choose Restore system settings and previous versions of files > Apply and OK
For Vista:
1. Click Start
2. Right click Computer > Properties > Choose Advanced System Settings option in left menu listing.
3. If UAC enabled you will get a UAC prompt at this click Continue
4. Click System Protection tab
5. Then Untick any Drive Listed ( see pic below ) and in the popup window click Turn Off System Restore
6. Click Apply > OK
To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-4 then Tick the Drives you wish to enable System Restore on and click Apply and OK
For Windows XP:
1: Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select properties.
2: Click on the system restore tab.
3: Check the box that says "Turn off system restore on all drives". Click OK.
4: Click Yes if you are prompted to restart the computer.
5: To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-3, but in step 3, click to clear the Disable System Restore check box.
For Windows Millenium:
1: Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2: On the Performance tab, click File System, or press ALT+F.
3: On the Troubleshooting tab, click to select the Disable System Restore check box.
4: Click OK twice, and then click Yes if you are prompted to restart the computer.
5: To re-enable System Restore, follow steps 1-3, but in step 3, click to clear the Disable System Restore check box.
