System Restore does not replace full backups — it rolls back system files and registry, not necessarily your personal documents. Malware can hide in restore points; scan after restoring if infection was suspected.
What you will achieve
Turn System Restore on for the system drive, allocate sensible disk space, and create a manual restore point before driver installs, registry edits, or other risky changes.
1) Open System Protection settings
- Press Win + R, type
sysdm.cpl, press Enter. - Open the System Protection tab.
- Or search Start for Create a restore point — same dialog.
2) Enable restore on the system drive
- Select the system drive (usually C:) → click Configure.
- Select Turn on system protection.
- Set Max Usage — 5–10% on large SSDs is typical; minimum 2–3 GB on smaller drives.
- Click OK to save.
If Turn on system protection is greyed out, check whether Group Policy disables it or the volume is not NTFS.
3) Create a manual restore point
- On the System Protection tab, click Create.
- Enter a descriptive name (for example Before NVIDIA driver 555).
- Click Create — completion takes under a minute when shadow copy service is healthy.
4) Verify restore points exist
- Click System Restore → Next — available points list without committing.
- Cancel to exit, or proceed if you need to roll back now.
Command-line check in Admin PowerShell:
Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-Table SequenceNumber, Description, CreationTime5) When System Restore is off by default
Some OEM images and Windows 11 fresh installs disable protection to save space. Re-enable using steps above. After major updates, Windows often creates automatic restore points — but do not rely on them; create manual points before risky work. If restore fails with errors, run sfc /scannow and confirm the Volume Shadow Copy service (vssvc) is running in services.msc.
6) Enable via PowerShell
On systems where the GUI is blocked, Admin PowerShell:
Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive "C:\"
vssadmin resize shadowstorage /for=C: /on=C: /maxsize=10GBAdjust maxsize for your drive. Then create a point with Checkpoint-Computer -Description "Manual baseline" on supported editions.