Windows 10: Is "Retreat to Restore Point' considered an unhelpful answer here?

The Mac2PC switcher guy (Hi!) notices many questions on this board have the same possible lazy answer: retreat to a recent restore point.

When I look at these questions (see pic) it's the first thing that occurs to me.





Just curious: I see no one giving this advice. But isn't it what Windows would say? Don't waste your time trying to solve big mysteries. Simply restore to a week or so before this issue started?

Is restoring not a reliable fix and is this why it isn't routinely suggested?

:)

 

edge browser and Sharepoint site

There really needs to be an "Unhelpful" button to flag answers that have absolutely nothing to do with what was asked. Please spend time reading and considering a question before slapping down a generic answer.

 

Where did my system restore points go?

System Restore is off by default in new installations of Windows 10. A feature update is considered to be a new installation--a new "version" of Windows 10. In the process of the update, existing restore points get deleted, because there's a good chance
that the old points (using a different "version" of the registry) will cause trouble in the new, updated version.

 

Why isn't a restore point always a possible answer?
1. System restore doesn't always work for a variety of reasons.
2. The problem may have arisen before the earliest available restore point
3. The user may not have ever turned SR on (it's off by default).
4. The problem may be sthg a system restore point doesn't address (it only provides limited protection).

Despite that, yes, we do suggest using restore points.

What we strongly recommend is a much better, more robust, flexible and more complete approach: disk imaging.
That can cover the whole set of Windows partitions, data disks and partitions.
That addresses ransomware, disk failure, unbootable PCs, etc etc.

Unfortunately not everyone uses it, and even then, it's possible a problem has arisen before the earliest available image.

 

System restore is short term solution when something vent wrong with drivers or settings recently. Just some example I use it for: When experimenting with new or modified GPU drivers I make a restore point as it's possible (and it did happen) to get just a black screen, sometime with or without cursor, restart from safe mode and restore system brought old driver back. Problems with 3rd party programs etc are almost impossible to solve like that unless it's registry caused. So it has pretty limited effects. Regular full system backup may be lengthier but still best solution. Even if it's older one you still don't loose as much as with clean install.