Windows 10: How to recover files from a System Restore Point in Windows 10

System Restore Points also called Shadow Copies in Windows include all the files and program when it is created. It is possible at a certain point, you may want to recover a file that is now missing. This post guides on you can recover files from a System Restore Point in Windows 10.



How to recover files from a System Restore Point


Since Windows doesn’t offer a direct way to open these show copies or restore points, we will use third-party software— Shadow Explorer. This program can read all the System Restore Points and display all the files inside each of them.

Download Shadow Explorer from the official website. Once installed, launch the program, and it will instantly read all the shadow copies of the primary drive.

On the top left, you can change the drive, next to it, is the dropdown for System Restore.

In the image above you see C displayed – and 4/21/2021 12.19.57 PM displayed as the System Restore Point creation date and time.

On the top -right side, you will see another drop-down for the View. The files can be viewed in:

• Detais,
• List,
• Large or
• Small icons.

Once you are sure of selection, navigate to the folder where your file is saved.

In the image above, you will see Details displayed.

Right-click on the file or folder, and choose to Export. You will be prompted where to save the file. It may take time to copy depending on the file size. The system will prompt if you plan to overwrite if the file already exists.

That said, I have noticed that some files give an error when you try to copy. It could be because there were already locked or are not allowed to copy when the restore point was created.

Using this tool, you can also launch System Restore using its Menu > File > Configure System protection menu. It helps to quickly create one if you don’t have any.

There are two versions of Shadow Explorer—

• Installer and
• Portable.

If you need it for one-time usage, use the Portable version, else you can always use the Installer.

One point to note is that the software has issues if TrueCrypt is being used. In this case, you need to mount volumes as removable media. The option is available Settings > Preferences > Mount volumes as removable media

I hope the post helps recover files from a System Restore Point in Windows 10.


This article How to recover files from a System Restore Point in Windows 10 first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

Windows 10 64-bit.
When I click "show more restore points" in System Restore I see a bunch of old "system image restore points" that were deleted in past and do not correspond to any currently active restore points. Clicking any of these old restore points, I simply get an error message saying they could not be found, and to select another restore point instead.I would like to delete these restore points listings but have been unable to do so.
So far, I have tried steps mentioned below without any luck :

Disk Cleanup through (C Properties
Disable System Protection (OFF and ON) in System Protection for OS (C
Disk Space Usage to minimum (slider button all the way to the left then 'Delete all restore points for this drive'),
Delete all shown Restore points in CCleaner (the problem ones do not show here),
Reset Windows Backup to Default in Windows 10 with 'Reset_Windows_Backup.bat' utility.

Any suggestions highly welcome.

 

lost system restore point

Two things that could pertain to this. First, older System Restore points do roll off the end of the list when the drive space allocated to system restore has been used up and new restore points are being created.

The second point is that system restore points are sometimes deleted when significant operating system updates include changes that are incompatible with files stored in those old restore point(s).

I'm presuming that you did tick the box in System Restore that says "show more restore points".

 

System Restore is on But No Restore Points

I disagree...

• No, System Restore is not off by default (at least not on my systems)
• No, it is not basically defunct (it works just like it always has)

Yes, an Automatic Update (or even a normal software package install) will attempt to create another restore point. And, yes.... if you run out of room that has been set aside for System Restore, it will start deleting old restore points. So if that's
the case, the solution is kinda self-evident... just increase the percentage of the disk space that the system restore is allowed to use.

Yes, it's true that during an Upgrade of Windows 10 (say, from the "Fall Creators Update" to the "Spring 2018 Update") the system will do you a favor and wipe the older restore points (because their content is not valid anymore)