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How to Create a System Restore Point in Windows 11/10

System Restore lets you restore key Windows system files and Registry settings to a known-good state. Windows automatically creates them in certain situations, but you may want to manually create them before installing hardware drivers or making other major system changes. Let’s explore how to create a System Restore Point.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
February 16, 2023

System Restore lets you restore key Windows system files and Registry settings to a known-good state. Windows automatically creates them in certain situations, but you may want to manually create them before installing hardware drivers or making other major system changes. Let’s explore how to create a System Restore Point.

This is for devices running Windows 11 or 10. Screenshots are from Windows 10

Dilbert and Crypto — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

System Restore Point Explained

Windows 11 and 10 include a utility app called System Restore that can repair malfunctioning Windows installations by reverting certain system files and Windows Registry settings to a prior state. It does this by using restore points, which are snapshots of system files and the registry made either automatically or manually before problems arise.

Restore points are stored in a hidden folder called System Volume Information which is located at the root of each drive. Creating a restore point does not make any changes to your system, but restoring it later does. The instructions are the same in each Windows version.

Note: Windows will automatically create System Restore points in certain situations, so you may be able to restore to a previous system state even if you have never manually created one. However, you may want to manually create System Restore points before making major changes to your computer’s settings, installing drives, or installing large applications.

Manually Create a System Restore Point

First, open the Start Menu and type “Restore Point”. In the results that appear, select Create a Restore Point. Refer to the below image:

Restore 1 — Accessing the option to Create a Restore Point

Next, the System Properties window will open with the System Protection tab selected. This is the main interface for managing restore points within Windows. Click the Create button toward the bottom of the window. See the below image:

Restore 2 — Selecting to Create a Restore Point

Now, type in the name of the restore point. A good rule of thumb is to use a name that identifies why you are making the restore point, such as before a major installation or upgrade. For example “Before Drivers Update”, or “Before OneDrive Installation.”. When you are ready, click Create. See the following image:

Next, you will see a progress bar, then if all goes well, a message that says The restore point was created successfully. Just click Close. Refer to the below image:

After that, you are finished creating the restore point.

Automatically Create a System Restore Point

First, use the same System Protection tab in System Properties. Select the drive you would like to protect, then click Configure. In the window that opens, select Turn on System Protection, then click OK. See the below image:

Restore 4a — Enabling Create a Restore Point

When you are done, click OK or close the System Properties window.

Restore a System Restore Point

To restore a System Restore point in Windows 111/10, we will use the same System Protection tab in the instructions above. First, open the Start Menu and type “Restore Point”, then click Create a Restore Point in the results. See the following image:

Now, in the System Restore window that opens, click Next when you see the introductory information. On the following screen, you will see a list of system restore points available on your PC. Select the one you want to restore and click Next. Refer to the below image:

Note: On this same screen, you can select a restore point and click “Scan For Affected Programs” to see a list of installed apps that will be affected by the restore process. This might help you make a decision about which restore point to choose.

Restore 7 — Selecting a Restore Point to restore

Next, you will see a summary screen. Click Finish. See the below image:

Restore 8 — Finish creating a Restore Point

Warning: By clicking “Yes” in the next step, you are about to make a permanent change to your system that could make your apps not work properly. System restore replaces your system files with older versions, and that can potentially break things. Only use it if you are recovering from a serious error. Also, you will not be able to use your PC while the system restore process is taking place.

If you are ready to begin the system restore, click Yes on the final warning screen. See the following image:

Your system will restart and the restore process will begin. After it’s complete, if everything went well, you will be able to log into Windows and use your PC as normal.

Disclaimer

Technology is always changing and rarely is static for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.

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How to Download/Save Images Using Google Image Search

Google’s Image Search results are sometimes so impressive that you want to save some of those images to your device.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
February 2, 2023

Google’s Image Search results are sometimes so impressive that you want to save some of those images to your device. If you have found yourself in this situation, let’s explore how to download those images from your search results.

This is for mobile and desktop devices. Screenshots are from Windows 10 and iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16+

Dilbert and Batteries — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

Save Images On Desktop

To download an image on a desktop, you just pick your image, click an option, and your image is saved to your computer.

First, launch your favorite web browser on your computer and open Google Image Search. There, find the image you want to save to your machine. Refer to the below image:

Google Image Search 1 — Search Google Images

Next, on the search results page, access the image that you want to download. See the below image:

Now, right-click your image, and from the menu that opens, choose to Save image as. See the following image:

Google Image Search 3 — Check the option to save your image

Next, your browser will open your computer’s standard Save As window. Here, select a folder to save your image in, type your image name in the File Name field, then click Save. Refer to the below image:

Now, you have successfully downloaded your favorite image from your Image Search results. If you are not sure exactly where the image file went, check your Downloads folder from File Explorer.

If your downloaded file is of low resolution, then try downloading that image directly from the source site. To do that, on the Image Search results page, click the link, beneath the image, and not the image, to be taken to the image site. There, right-click the image and choose Save image as.

Download Images On Mobile

On your mobile phone, you can download images from Google’s Image Search results using Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge. Mozilla Firefox does not offer the option to save images.

To start, first, open your web browser (we are using Safari) and launch Google Image Search or type into the search box “images.google.com”. Find the image you would like to save to your phone.

Next, on the search results page, tap the image to download. See the below image:

Google Image Search 5 — Tap an image you want to download

Now, on your image full-screen page, tap and hold the image. See the following image:

Google Image Search 6 — Press and hold your image

Next, on iPhone or iPad, from the menu that opens in Safari, tap Save to Photos. Refer to the below image:

Google Image Search 7 — Select the option to save your image

Your iPhone will download and save the image on your local storage or in our example using Safari, your Photos app. See the below image: