Windows 7 system recovery time. Windows System Restore

And I already wrote how to create a restore point. Now is the time to write, how to do a system restore in Windows 7, and to put it more simply, now I will write about that how to do a system rollback.

If you have some kind of problem with your computer, for example, it has become very glitchy, or even worse, it won’t start at all, then the first thing you need to do is do a system rollback, thereby we will return the settings and system files from the backup that was created for example two days ago, when the computer was still working normally.

This is a good opportunity to quickly repair your computer and return it to normal operating condition. I will write three ways in which you can rollback in Windows 7.

  • The first method: how to rollback from Windows.
  • Second method: how to restore the system from safe mode.
  • Third method: recovery using a boot disk with Windows 7.

When restoring the system, your personal files will not be affected.

System rollback from Windows 7

This method is useful when the computer turns on and works, it doesn’t matter how it works, the main thing is that it works :). For example, after installing some program or driver, problems appeared with the computer. You uninstalled the program, but the problems remained. In this case, a system rollback should help.

We do this: click “Start” and start writing in the search bar "recovery". Find and run the program in the search results “System Restore”.

A window will open in which we click “Next”.

Now you need to select the restore point to which you want to rollback and click “Next”.

Confirming the restore point. Click “Finish”.

One more warning, click “Yes”.

A window will appear asking you to prepare for recovery. Then the computer will reboot and a message will appear stating that .

If this does not solve your problem, then try rolling back to another point. This is where we can finish with the first method.

Restoring the system from safe mode

You can roll back settings and system files from safe mode, when, for example, Windows does not boot in normal mode. There were cases when this method helped me out a lot.

First, we need to go into safe mode, as I wrote about how to do this in the article. Well, if you missed the link, then I’m writing in a nutshell how to enter safe mode in Windows 7.

Restart your computer and as soon as it starts to turn on, press F8. A black window will appear with additional download options. Choose “Safe Mode” and press “Enter”.

We wait until the computer boots into safe mode. Next, all the steps are almost the same as restoring from Windows, but I’ll write it again, just in case :).

Click start and enter “recovered...”, launch the utility “System Restore”.

Since I just did a system rollback, I now have an option to cancel the restore. Choose “Select a different restore point” and click “Next” (you will probably just need to click next).

Select a point for rollback and click “Next”.

Click on the “Finish” button.

We answer “Yes” to another warning.

The computer will restart and turn on in normal mode. Of course, if rolling back to previous settings helped solve your system boot problem.

Rollback to previous settings using a boot disk

I left this method for dessert, because here you will need a boot disk with Windows 7. But this method also has its advantages. For example, you can rollback when even safe mode does not work, in short, in the most severe cases :).

As I already wrote, you need a boot disk with Windows 7, the article explains how to create one. Next you need to go into the BIOS and boot from the installation disk.

A search for installed systems will begin. If you have more than one, then select the one you need and click “Next”.

Then select “System Restore”. Then the whole process is no different from the first two methods.

Click “Next”.
Select a point for rollback and click “Next” System Restore in Windows 7. How to perform a system rollback? updated: January 15, 2013 by: admin

I would divide the system recovery methods into the following:
1 Using Last Known Known Configuration
2 Using the "System Restore" mechanism normally
3 Using the system recovery mechanism not normally (via safe mode or the original Windows 7 installation disk)
4 Using a previously created system backup.

1) Suppose you encountered a problem with Windows 7 and wanted to restore the system, the simplest thing you can do is boot into Safe Mode and load the last known good configuration, to do this, press the key when loading the operating system "F8" and select "Last Known Good Configuration", press "Enter".

Last Known Known Configuration is a recovery option designed to boot your computer using the last known working system settings. Booting in Last Known Known Configuration mode restores the system registry information and driver settings that were used the last time the system successfully booted. Use Last Known Good Configuration mode if Windows 7 cannot boot normally due to incorrect changes.


2) If the first method is not suitable or did not help, you can restore the Windows 7 system using the " System Restore“The principle of operation of this recovery method is quite simple; recovery occurs thanks to the created recovery points. A restore point captures the state of the system at a specific point in time. Restore points are created automatically by the system, but they can also be created manually (this is the subject of this article). There are several ways to run System Restore - The first method is to click "Start" and write in the search bar "System Restore", a menu will appear at the top "System Restore" click on it with the mouse. The second way is to go along the path “Start-Control Panel-Recovery-Run System Restore”. A window will open "System Restore", press "Next", you will see all possible restore points to which you can return/“roll back” if you click on the button "Search for affected programs", you can see which programs will be affected by system recovery (I recommend choosing recovery two or three days before the system problem). Having selected the date, click "Next".

Confirm the restore point by clicking "Ready"

Then a message will appear stating that System Restore cannot be interrupted, click "Yes", after which the process of restoring and rebooting the system will begin.

After the reboot, if the recovery is successful, a window will appear.

3) If you have suffered from a virus and you do not have the opportunity to start system recovery using the above method, then you can “roll back” the system using Safe Mode or using a disk with the operating system:

We go into safe mode (by pressing "F8" at the very beginning of system boot) and select "Troubleshooting your computer", a window will open

- We insert the original installation disk with the operating system (it must match yours), boot from this disk (to do this, in the BIOS we change boot from the hard drive to boot from CD/DWD). Select the language, then in the window "Windows Installation", choose "Recoverysystems".

After this a window will open "Windows 7 System Recovery Options."

So, no matter which method you used, the result is the same - you have a window in front of you "Windows 7 System Recovery Options",


I propose to analyze a little the capabilities of this window.

Startup recovery- analysis of faults that interfere with the normal loading of Windows 7 and their further correction for normal loading and functioning of the operating system.

System Restore- this is why this article was written, with the help of this function we can use a restore point to return the system to an earlier period of time when there were no problems.

Restoring a system image- this tool allows you to restore the system from a backup. This method is described in more detail in recovery method 4.

Windows Memory Diagnostics- checks system memory for errors.

Command line- allows you to load the command line and with it you can delete files that interfere with loading Windows 7.

Click on "System Restore", after which a window appears stating that "rollback" system can fix problems... click « Next», select the required restore point.

After this, we agree with everything proposed, including rebooting, and as a result of all these actions, when loading Windows 7, we see a window

4) Restore using a previously made backup; creating a backup is described in more detail in the article. Connect the USB backup storage device, press "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Recovery". If the system does not start and there is no way to boot the system, you must follow the third paragraph of the article, just select Restoring the system image.

In the window that opens, select " Advanced recovery methods".

Then a window will appear asking you to reboot the system, click " Restart".

After restarting, you must specify system recovery settings. I recommend leaving everything as default and just clicking " Next".

In the next step, the system itself will find the system archive.

Next, you can specify additional parameters.

After that, confirm your choice and press " Ready".

Confirm system recovery by clicking " Yes".

If all of the above methods did not help you, then all that remains is to return the Windows system to factory settings, i.e. lose all your data and programs. Let me make a reservation right away that this method is suitable if you have a hidden recovery volume on your hard drive; it should be provided from the factory. You can see it if you right-click on the shortcut "Computer" and choose "Management - Disk Management"

Below are the hotkeys for restoring laptops to factory settings:

  • Acer- press the key combination Alt+F10
  • Samsung- F4;
  • Dell inspiron- when the dell.com splash screen appears, you need to type the key combination Ctrl+F11;
  • HP Pavilion- when turning on, hold F11;
  • Packard Bell- F10;
  • Rover- when starting the laptop, hold down Alt;
  • ASUS- when the ASUS logo appears, press F9;
  • Sony vaio- at startup press F10;
  • MSI- press F3 when starting;
  • Fujitsu Siemens- after turning it on, press F8;
  • LG- F11;
  • Lenovo ThinkPad- F11;
  • Toshiba- F8.

I hope this article has relieved you of your question. How to restore Windows 7 system and helped return your operating system to the point of stable operation.

When working in Windows 7, serious errors may occur, after which the operating system simply stops starting in normal mode. However, this is not yet a reason to take out the Windows boot disk from a dusty corner to reinstall it. Win 7 has a Recovery Environment in its arsenal - a powerful tool that will help restore the previous state of the operating system, avoiding the loss of data on your PC or laptop. In addition, other tools for resuscitating Win 7 are available to users.

Windows 7 system recovery methods

You can revive Win 7:

  • using a restore point;
  • using safe mode;
  • via the command line;
  • through the Recovery Environment;
  • using a disk with a Win 7 image;
  • using the Win recovery disk.

Rollback to a restore point from Windows

If the OS boots normally, but you need to restore it to its previous state using a restore point, do the following:

Rolling back the operating system to a restore point will allow you to remove the software that caused problems with your PC, undo unwanted changes and return back to the state of the operating system when everything worked correctly and booted properly. And just as important: there will be no data loss, and all your recent documents will remain in their place. Some files may remain duplicated, slightly changing their name. You can delete unnecessary copies of these files yourself.

Note: This process is completely reversible. If necessary, you can cancel it and restore the Windows 7 system using another point.

Reverting the operating system in safe mode

This Windows 7 system recovery method is almost identical to the previous one. It is used in situations where Win does not start in normal mode:


Running Win 7 recovery from the command line

In some cases, when Win 7 does not start in any mode other than safe, the following method helps: restoring the Windows 7 system using the command line. You can do it like this:


Reverting the OS state through the Recovery Environment

The Windows 7 recovery environment includes 5 tools that offer the PC user various ways to troubleshoot problems related to the performance of a computer running Win 7. It is created automatically in a hidden partition. This happens when installing Win 7, be it “Maximum” or any other version.

To restore Windows 7 using this method, do the following:


Note: the first step is to start the OS with the last known good configuration.

The operating system automatically remembers the parameters of the last successful start of the PC in normal mode and applies them when you select this option. As a result, you can quickly regain access to the system without the slightest loss of data. If this method helps a PC user solve the problem, the question “How to roll back a Windows 7 system?” will immediately stop bothering you.

Restoring Win 7 using an image disk

This method of resuscitating Windows will allow the operating system to return to its lost functionality, even if it categorically refuses to start in safe mode. You will need a bootable DVD with your version of Win 7 installed.. If there is no OS image on your PC, create one yourself. To do this, go to the control panel and select “Backup computer data.” Then select the option indicated in the screenshot below and follow the instructions.


Recovering Win 7 using a recovery disk

If, after pressing the F8 button, you do not find the line “Troubleshooting computer problems” in the list, restoring Windows 7 using a system repair disc will help. This happens if the user accidentally deletes the recovery environment partition., which is located in the Recovery directory of the system local disk. Do you think the only thing left to do is uninstall Win 7 and install it again? This is not necessary - the changes can be undone without having to reinstall the OS.

Windows 7 is reliable and stable. But it is also subject to failures. There are many reasons for this (the effect of a computer virus, incorrect installation of drivers or software, incorrect optimization, etc.). A complete reinstallation of the system will lead to the loss of personal data, all installed programs and drivers. Often, you can solve the problem and return your computer to working parameters using the built-in recovery tools provided in the arsenal of Windows 7. They are much more advanced than in earlier versions of this operating system.

How to restore Windows 7? There are several ways. Most of them are accessible and understandable to the average user and do not require special computer skills.

Setting up recovery tools

To avoid losing personal data, you first need to create a copy of the system. To do this you will need:

  • call the main menu of the computer by clicking on the “Start” button;
  • click on the line “All programs”;
  • find the “Maintenance” section in the list;
  • select the “Backup and Restore” component;
  • When starting for the first time, set the “Restore system settings and previous versions of files” mode;
  • save the changes by clicking on the “Apply” button;
  • select a disk to store the backup copy (it must have at least 40 GB of free memory);
  • click on the “Continue” button;
  • upon completion of the archiving process, a copy of the system will be stored on the hard drive, which will be needed when solving the problem of how to restore Windows 7 to work.

Recovery disk and how to create it

A recovery disk will help restore the operating system to functionality. To create it you will need:

Take a blank DVD or CD;
. in the “Maintenance” section, click on “Create a system repair disk”;
. insert the disc into the drive;
. click on the “Create disk” button;
. wait until the backup process completes.

Restoring system performance using a recovery disc

How to restore Windows 7 if the installation disk is missing? A recovery disk will come to the rescue. In order to use it, you must:

Insert the disc into the drive;
. restart your computer;
. go into the BIOS and change the boot settings, setting priority to CD/DVD;
. when a message appears on the screen about the possibility of booting from disk, press the “Enter” key;
. specify language;
. in the next window, select the saved copy of the OS;
. click on the line “System Restore”;

Using the System Software

The OS has a built-in component that allows you to restore Windows 7 without a disk. It's easy to work with. To run it you will need:

Open the main menu of the computer using the “Start” button;
. in the search bar located at the very bottom, enter the name of the system utility “System Restore”;
. run the component.

Rolling back Windows 7 using a system program consists of several stages:

After launch, the System Restore Wizard window will open;
. continue working with it by clicking on the “Next” button;
. the window that opens will display the latest restore point;
. select it with the mouse and click on the “Next” button;
. if there is a need to roll back to an earlier point, you should check the box “Show other restore points” in the same window;
. to view the changes that will occur after the rollback, highlight the desired point and click on the line “Search for affected programs”;
. confirm the selection of the restore point by clicking on the “Finish” button;
. the system will issue a warning that it is impossible to stop the recovery process;
. To continue, click on the “Yes” button;
. wait a while while the system is configured;
. restart your computer.

In this simple way you can restore Windows 7 on a laptop or computer and return it to working condition.

How to restore your system in safe mode

Sometimes situations arise when the system refuses to boot in normal mode. In this case, a rollback can be performed through safe mode. To do this you need:

Turn on the computer;
. Before starting the system boot, press the “F8” key until the function menu opens;
. select the line “Safe Mode”;
. launch it by pressing the “Enter” key;
. restore Windows 7 using a system component.

You can do it another way:

After entering the special menu, use the “F8” key to find the “Safe Mode with Command Line Support” item;
. use the command “rstrui.exe”;
. The System Restore Wizard will start;
. perform a rollback following the wizard's prompts.

Now you know how to restore a Windows 7 system if it cannot be booted normally.

BIOS setup

Before you begin restoring the OS from the installation disk (provided you have one), you need to perform the appropriate BIOS settings, namely change the boot priority:

Insert the boot disk into the drive;
. enter the BIOS using the “Del” or “F2” key;
. find the “Advanced BIOS Features” section;
. go to the “Boot Sequence” subsection;
. set the “First Boot Device” parameter to “CD/DVD”;
. exit to the main BIOS menu using the “Esc” key;
. save changes using the “F10” key.

On some computers, the algorithm for making changes looks like this:

Go to the “Boot” section;
. open the “Boot Device Priority” subsection;
. for the “1 st Boot Device” parameter set the value to “CD/DVD”;
. press “Esc” to return to the main menu and “F10” to save changes.

Changing the BIOS settings helps in solving the problem of how to restore Windows 7 from the installation disk. Below we will tell you what you will need for this.

Using a boot disk

If it is not possible to launch a special menu using the “F8” key, you will need a boot disk to roll back the system.

After launching the disc, the Windows installation window will appear on the computer screen;
. select language;
. continue loading from the disk by clicking on the “Next” button;
. click on the line “System Restore”;
. select a recovery option by clicking on the desired option;
. follow the recovery wizard's prompts.

Windows 7 password recovery

If you have forgotten your password and cannot boot the system, you will need to reset it. How to recover Windows 7 password? This can be done in several steps, provided you have a boot disk:

Insert the installation disk into the drive;
. boot from it, having previously changed the boot priority in the BIOS;
. At the bottom, find the line “System Restore” and click on it;
. in the next window, select the desired OS from the list of systems available on the computer;
. click the “Next” button;
. Among the system recovery options, find the “Command Prompt” item and select it;
. launch the Windows registry with the “regedit” command;
. find and select the registry key “HKEY_Local_Machine”;
. open the “File” menu (located at the top);
. select the “Load hive” function;
. in the window, find the “System” file using the path “C:/Windows/system32/config”;
. indicate the section name, for example “222”;
. open the registry key “HKEY_Local_Machine”;
. find section “222”, and in it the subsection “Setup”;
. change the “SetupType” parameter by double-clicking on it;
. in the window that opens, set the value to “2”;
. close the window by clicking the “Ok” button;
. change another parameter “CmdLine”, setting the value “cmd.exe”;
. Using Explorer, select the “222” section again;
. in the “File” section, use the “Unload Hive” option;
. close the registry editor;
. remove the installation disk from the drive;
. restart your computer.

Restoring access

The corresponding or more precisely, changing the registry branch allows you to remove the old one and set a new password and create another user. Algorithm:

After the reboot, the command prompt will appear instead of the usual Windows Welcome window;
. use the “net user” command to display all accounts on the computer;
. change the password for the selected account “net user username new password”;
. create a new user entry “net user username password/add”;
. add the created account to the administrators group “net localgroup Administrators username /add”;
. delete the created account from the group of regular users “net localgroup Users username /delete”;
. close command line;
. Windows will boot normally;
. To log in, use the credentials of the newly created administrator.

How to restore the Windows 7 system, namely a forgotten password, if you are dealing with a localized Russian version? You must use the same commands, only changing the value of "Administrators" and "Users" to "Administrators" and "Users".

There are many ways to restore the OS. But no matter how reliable they are, it is advisable to prevent system failure. And then the question of how to restore Windows 7 will disappear by itself.

No. I spent a lot of time, tell me what to do now, or at least how to insure myself against such situations in the future, preferably without using paid data backup programs. Ilya.

How to restore Windows 7 system

Unfortunately, there are plenty of reasons for this problem, ranging from incorrectly written drivers, harmful effects of a virus, file system errors and ending with our erroneous actions when working with a computer. There is no need to be afraid of such problems, you need to learn how to deal with them effectively. Let's think how to restore windows 7 system, and we will also insure ourselves in the future against possible troubles using backup and recovery tools built into the operating system. We will learn how to restore Windows 7, without using third-party backup programs, even when System Recovery Options do not load and the F-8 button turns out to be useless.

  • Friends, if our article does not help you, then check out others on this topic, for example: in it you will learn how to restore a non-bootable system using various command line utilities, the first is Bootrec.exe with the commands /FixMbr and /FixBoot or the utility bootsect /NT60 SYS, as well as Bootrec.exe with the /RebuildBcd parameter, these utilities can be launched from the recovery environment or from the Windows 7 recovery disk. Another article will teach you how to restore the damaged or deleted bootmgr boot loader itself. The article will show you how to restore your operating system when system recovery is disabled and much more.
  • If Windows 7 freezes on boot or suddenly reboots, or may suddenly show a blue screen with an error, then all these problems may be due to numerous file system errors. How to fix the situation even when the operating system does not boot due to these errors is written in this article.
  • Well, eight articles from the section will give you a detailed understanding of all the built-in recovery tools in Windows 7: restore points, previous versions of files, creating a system image and a recovery disk, and so on. So let's begin.

Windows 7 has quite a powerful and good tool in its arsenal -> Recovery environment, which is created automatically when installing Windows 7 in a hidden partition and contains five other tools that solve numerous problems and problems.

  • Note: If you learn how to use Windows 7 recovery tools correctly, and this is not difficult, then you can do without additional and paid data backup programs.

You can launch the recovery tool by pressing the F-8 button on the keyboard immediately after starting the computer. After this, a menu will open in front of you: Additional boot options: Troubleshoot your computer, then Safe Mode, Safe Mode with loading network drivers, etc.

The first thing to do is apply Startup recovery(Automatically fix problems that prevent Windows from starting)

Required digression: After pressing the F-8 button when booting the computer, you may not have the > item, but only Safe Mode and so on, the question arises why.

When installing Windows 7, a recovery environment partition is created automatically and is located in the root of the drive (C:) in the Recovery folder. You can also see in the Disk Management window - a separate, hidden partition of the hard drive, its volume is only 100 MB, it is used to store boot configuration files (BCD) and the system bootloader (bootmgr file).

You can see it under Computer->Management->Disk Management. Under no circumstances should you delete this partition (many people delete it out of ignorance), otherwise you will not be able to start the recovery environment, that is, the item Troubleshooting your computer you won’t, and in more severe cases you simply won’t boot the system.

In the lower screenshot you can see another hidden partition, with a capacity of 9.02 GB, this is a hidden recovery partition with factory settings on my laptop, yours may be larger or smaller. It’s also better not to delete it; if necessary, you can always restore Windows 7 from it.

What should you do if you do not have a partition with a recovery environment and when you press the F-8 button in the Additional boot options menu, the Troubleshooting computer option does not appear? How then to restore the Windows 7 system??

An installation disk with the Windows 7 operating system can help here. You can run the recovery tool by booting from the original Windows 7 installation disk by selecting the item at the very beginning System Restore. If you don’t have an installation disk, then you can use it (you can make it in any running Windows 7) in five minutes, then you can also boot from it and do the same.

So we finally got to the System Recovery Options, either using the F-8 button and the Troubleshooting item, or the Windows 7 installation disk or the Windows 7 Recovery Disk.

In the System Restore Tools Selection menu, select the first one:
Startup recovery-> there will be an analysis of faults that interfere with the normal loading of Windows 7 and their further correction for the normal loading and functioning of the operating system. During the process, we may be warned that problems have been detected in the boot parameters, click Fix and restart.


System Restore->using this function, we can, if we have it enabled, roll back to the time when our Windows 7 worked and loaded perfectly, everything is simple here.



->I personally use this tool; if used skillfully, it can replace paid data backup programs. If you are interested, read on.

What's good about it? It will help when you don't have the original Windows 7 installation disc and you've deleted the hidden partition with your laptop's factory settings, but that's not all.
Sometimes there are situations when, for various reasons or due to the actions of a virus, you will not be able to load the operating system at all, or many people ask How to restore Windows 7 system even if the menu with Additional boot options is also unavailable. Should I reinstall the operating system again?
Therefore, immediately after installing Windows 7 on your laptop or computer, we create using this function-> Restoring a system image, an archived image of our Windows 7 on the hard drive, we take care of it. It is imperative to create a Windows 7 Recovery Disk (read below), it will help you use the System Image if the Advanced Boot Options menu does not load.
Let's go to Start -> Control Panel->Archiving computer data.

Choose Creating a system image

Next, select Local disk on which we will store the system archive. In my case, Local disk (E:), if you have several hard drives in the system unit, then of course it is better to place the backup on the hard drive where the operating system is not installed.

Note: You may notice that I have two operating systems installed on my laptop, so the archiving program selected two Local disks.

Click Archive and the process of creating an archive with our Windows 7 will begin.
Created, it will look like this.

Now, if necessary, you can deploy the archive with Windows 7 to your computer in 20-30 minutes. It would be better if you additionally copy the archive with the system onto a portable hard drive, this will doubly protect you.

Let's imagine that we can't start Windows 7 and deploy the backup we created, let's do it together.
Let's launch Windows 7 Recovery Tool, by pressing the F-8 button on the keyboard immediately after starting the computer. The Advanced boot options menu opens, select Troubleshoot your computer.

Restoring a system image

Use the latest available system image


Of course, all our data on the Local Disk, where the operating system is now being restored, will be deleted, so you can first boot from any Live CD and copy what you need.
How else can you restore your Windows 7 system? Of course, using the Windows 7 Recovery Disk. Let's create Recovery disk, which can be used to boot the computer, it will contain recovery tools that can be used to repair Windows 7 boot problems, as well as restore the operating system from the backup copy that we created in advance.

Important: The bitness of the system is important for the recovery disk, you can use a 32-bit recovery disk for any 32-bit Windows 7, and a 64-bit recovery disk for any 64-bit Windows 7.

Let's go again Backing up computer data


Create a system repair disk, insert the DVD into the drive, press


Create disk

When the Windows 7 Bootable Recovery Disk is ready, put it in a safe place.

To restore Windows 7 from a Recovery Disk, you basically don’t need any working operating system at all. You will only need to change the boot priority to the drive in the BIOS of your computer, insert the recovery disk into it and restore your Windows 7 using the archive. Many here can draw an analogy with data backup programs and this is correct, they work on the same principle, only Of course, their functionality is more convenient.

  • If you don’t know how to change the boot priority in the BIOS, read our articles and

Recovering Windows 7 from a Recovery Disk. I show you how to do it. Let's say we're in trouble, we can't start Windows 7, when we press F-8 on the keyboard immediately after starting the computer, nothing happens. We cannot get to the menu with Additional boot options and an error message is displayed. In this case, the system archive on the hard drive is not available to us. This is exactly the kind of trouble that happened to our reader Ilya, who wrote us a letter asking for help.

In this situation, many people reinstall Windows 7 from scratch, but not you and me, because we have System Recovery Disk.
We insert it into the drive and reboot, set the BIOS to boot from the drive, as I said, the disk is bootable, the System Recovery Options program starts.
Press Enter until the prompt to boot from the disk disappears.