How to open Windows 7 system protection. Returning the old version of a file

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System Protection creates restore points that save system parameters And previous versions files. Using System Restore you can fix Windows operation 7, for example, in case of problems due to the installation of programs, codecs and drivers, failure in file associations and incorrect operation after cleaning the registry.

New system protection and recovery options

Along with friends from Windows Vista system protection and recovery capabilities, there are improvements in Windows 7. The most significant ones are listed in the table below.

New opportunity	Description
Settings disk space	In Windows 7, the graphical interface again allows you to set the percentage of disk space that is allocated to protect the system. This feature existed in Windows XP, but disappeared in Windows Vista, although it could be done from the command line.
Fine-tuning protection	You can configure protection for previous versions of files together with system settings or separately.
Find affected programs	For each restore point, you can view a list of programs and drivers that will be affected by the rollback. Obviously, such programs may not work properly after a system restore. This way, you can know in advance which programs may need to be reinstalled after a system restore.
Using a System Backup Image	Backup capabilities Windows copy 7 allow you to create a complete look operating system. If such an image exists, it can be used for recovery as one of the points.

These and other possibilities for protecting and restoring the system will be discussed later in the article. However, first I would like to focus on one thing important issue. Some users undeservedly disable system protection almost as the first thing they do. I want to talk first about why it doesn’t make sense to do this in Windows 7.

Why you don't need to disable system protection

There is an opinion that by disabling system protection, you can increase Windows performance. Economy is usually cited as an argument. random access memory(by disabling the System Restore service) and disk space. In fact, these arguments are almost 10 years old, if you count from Windows release XP, so applying them to modern hardware is simply pointless. Do you still have 256 MB of memory and HDD 40 GB?

Disabling one service per Windows performance 7 will not have any effect - you simply won’t notice it, just as it was not noticeable in previous Windows operating systems. Disk space - yes, it is saved, but in the era of terabyte hard drives, on which tens and hundreds of gigabytes of media files are stored, it is simply frivolous to talk about savings due to a couple of gigabytes of files intended for system recovery. Even if your hard drive has a relatively modest capacity, you can flexibly configure the space allocated to system protection, which will be discussed later in the article.

problems due to the installation of programs, codecs and drivers
file association failure
incorrect operation after cleaning the registry
problems loading the system

Loading problems are perhaps the most annoying for users. In Windows 7, they can be overcome in two ways from the Windows RE recovery environment. It has a special boot recovery feature and also allows you to restore the system back to a checkpoint, which can also help boot the system. In this case, now you don’t even need an installation disk - you can use the Windows RE environment pre-installed on your hard drive or boot into it using a pre-created recovery disk.

In addition, Windows 7 has new recovery options, which are described below. Thus, by disabling system protection you do not gain anything, but on the contrary, you lose convenient means, allowing you to restore not only the system, but also peace of mind.

How system protection works

Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 provides system protection and recovery using the Volume Shadow Copy Service. This service monitors changes across the entire partition, which is a big difference from Windows XP, where System Restore only monitored a key set of system files and applications. However, user files are not included in system restore points, so reverting to previous point will not lead to loss of documents and other files in your profile. However, the Volume Shadow Copy Service monitors changes to user files, and you can restore their previous versions.

You can create a restore point manually at any time. Also, in Windows 7, restore points are created automatically when:

installing applications and drivers (if their installer is compatible with system protection)
installation Windows updates Update
restoring the system to one of the previous points (this makes it possible to undo changes if, for example, the wrong point was accidentally selected)

In addition, restore points are created on a schedule. Monitors the regularity of point creation Task Scheduler, which is a console snap-in Microsoft management(MMC). The task for checking and creating recovery points is located in the folder Task Scheduler Library - Microsoft - Windows - SystemRestore. The task is launched daily at 00:00 and when the computer is turned on.

Despite the external similarity of this task to what was in Windows Vista, there is a significant difference in Windows 7. In Windows Vista, the job checked whether points had been created within the last 24 hours, and if there were none, it created new point. In Windows 7, this interval is extended to 7 days. In practice, this means that if applications, drivers and Windows updates are not installed daily, restore points are created once a week. This allows you to use disk space more efficiently and provide more wide interval time to restore the system.

The amount of disk space allocated for the Volume Shadow Copy service (including recovery point storage) depends on the capacity hard drive, or a partition if the disk is divided into several partitions. If the partition is less than 64 GB, the Volume Shadow Copy service is allocated 3%. If the partition is larger than 64 GB, previous versions of files and system restore points will be allocated 5% of the disk space or 10 GB, whichever is less. When the disk space allocated for the Volume Shadow Copy service runs out, old recovery points are deleted and replaced with new ones. Windows 7 has the ability to manage the space allocated for system protection, and this will be discussed further.

Setting up system protection

You can go to system protection settings different ways. You can:

open Control Panel- System - System protection
click right click mouse by icon Computer on the menu Start, on the desktop or in Explorer and select Properties and then click System protection
on the command line or in a window Execute(WIN+R) enter rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,4

From this window you can:

run system restore
configure system protection and remove checkpoints
create a restore point

New compared to Windows Vista is the button Tune, which opens system recovery options for the selected drive.

This window contains two new options and one well-forgotten old one. You can:

configure protection of previous versions of files together with system settings or separately
configure the disk space allocated for storing recovery points (graphically configured in the same way as in Windows XP, but uses shadow copy functions as in Windows Vista)
delete restore points

Let's take a closer look at these possibilities.

Recovery options

The ability to protect previous versions of files separately, without protecting system settings, is new in Windows 7. If you select this option, the effectiveness of system recovery will be slightly reduced. Therefore, I recommend leaving the default value.

The ability to restore previous versions of files first appeared in Windows Vista. Moreover, it can be considered not in isolation, but in combination with backup using Windows 7. The point is that different versions files are saved not only using the Volume Shadow Copy Service, but also when using Windows Backup. In the file properties tab Previous versions location is indicated: Restore point or Archiving.

In addition to previous versions separate files, Volume Shadow Copy Service allows you to restore previous versions of folders and their contents. Read more about previous versions in the article.

Disk space usage

At first glance, Windows 7 simply brought back the ability to manage the disk space allocated to system recovery, which existed in Windows XP but disappeared in Windows Vista.

However, in Windows 7 user interface, familiar from Windows XP, controls technology that came from Microsoft server operating systems and was first introduced in the Windows Vista client system. In fact, you control the disk space allocated for storage shadow copies. This feature was also available in Windows Vista, but was implemented only on the command line using the command VSSAdmin. In Windows 7 this command is also available. For example, to view the disk space occupied by shadow copies, you can run the following command as an administrator:

VSSAdmin list ShadowStorage

and see information about the space used.

As in Windows Vista, you can set the maximum amount of disk space for shadow copies from the command line:

VSSAdmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=5GB

Deleting restore points

Deleting all restore points is new opportunity Windows 7. In Windows XP and Vista, it was possible to delete only all points except the last one using the Disk Cleanup program (in Windows 7 this option is no longer available in the cleanup program), and deleting absolutely all points was possible only by disabling system protection. Now you can delete all points without disabling system protection. This deletes not only the recovery points, but also the entire contents of the shadow copy storage, so previous versions of the files will not be available.

However, even after deleting all the points, you can use System Restore to return to the point that the system backup image is used as. This is new Windows feature 7, and you will learn about it below from the story about the system recovery process, which also saw changes for the better.

Running System Restore

System Restore is an important feature of Windows 7. It is therefore not surprising that there are many ways to launch it:

on the menu Start - Search enter Recovery and click System Restore
on the menu Start - Search or out the window Execute(WIN+R) enter rstrui and press Enter
in a control panel item Backup and recovery click Restore system settings or computer below and then press the button Running System Restore
open Control Panel- System - System protection and press the button System Restore
In addition, system recovery can be launched from Windows RE

Regardless of how you run System Restore, you will be prompted to select a checkpoint.

You can return to the last created point or select any other one from the available ones.

The figure above highlights the new system recovery options. If you have a system backup image, you can use it as a restore point. To see this point, check the box Show other restore points.

In addition, you can now find out which programs will be affected by the changes during recovery. Select a restore point and click the button Find affected programs.

However, you can search for affected programs without opening the restore point selection window. Before starting the restore operation, Windows 7 displays a summary window with a link Find affected programs also available.

All you have to do is press the button Ready, and the system recovery process will begin.

Cancel System Restore

You can cancel last recovery system if you accidentally selected the wrong point, or the restoration did not bring the desired results. This is possible because Windows 7 creates a checkpoint before restoring. To cancel System Restore, run it again.

The system will prompt you to cancel System Restore or select a different restore point.

Do not specify the bare minimum amount of disk space for system recovery. This will limit your ability to restore previous versions of files and reduce the time frame for restoring the system to a checkpoint.

If you don't have installation disk Windows 7, be sure to create a system repair disc. This should be done even though on Wednesday Windows recovery RE can be booted from the hard drive. If the service partition with Windows RE becomes damaged, you can boot from the recovery disk and return the system to the point created before the problem occurred.

Create restore points manually before changing system files or cleaning the registry. When a problem arises after cleaning the registry, users, as a rule, are unable to fix it on their own. Creating a restore point takes a couple of minutes, and returning to it will allow you to easily fix the problem without outside help.

Often computer users Windows control 7 encounter problems with the operating system. Problems with your computer usually appear when it slows down a lot and programs won’t open. Also, the computer may not start at all or may do so every once in a while.

The reasons that cause problems in the performance of the operating system can be very different. For example, if a computer gets hit virus, it can damage system files. Also, difficulties with the PC may appear during installation low-quality software, which can damage the structure of system files. To solve a problem with the performance of a computer on Windows 7, you need to roll back to the previous one. recovery point.

To protect the OS, Windows 7 uses restore points that the system periodically creates. Essentially, restore points are previous system state Windows files 7 . To help Windows 7 PC users, we have prepared material that will describe detailed process restoring the system in various ways.

Restoring performance in a busy seven

If your computer running Windows 7 boots, but the system is not stable, then it's time to roll back to a previous restore point. First of all, we need to get to the window where we can call up the system recovery options. To do this, open the program “” by pressing the key combinations Win + R, through which we enter the following command: systempropertiesprotection

A window should open in front of us “ Properties of the system" on the " tab System protection" You can also get to this window in the standard way through the menu “ Start". Further action there will be a button press Recovery….

After clicking, the System Restore window will open. It will ask you to restore the system using a recommended access point or select another one. We'll stop at recommended restore point.

This window requires confirmation for the selected recovery. To confirm, click the Finish button.

This button will bring up a message warning that after the recovery procedure it will be impossible to return to the previous parameters of the seven. By clicking Yes in the message, we will begin restoring the Windows 7 system.

If the process of returning to the previous state occurred without errors, a corresponding message will be displayed.

If you are unable to roll back to previous settings using the recommended point, you should select the point that was created later than the selected restore point Windows 7 systems. I would also like to note that to perform this operation you will need special privileges. That is, when you log in, you must select an account admin and enter a password for it.

Restoring the computer's functionality when the OS starts

If your PC is running seven at all is not downloading, then you can start the operating system in safe mode. After the BIOS start window appears, press F8 on the keyboard (for laptops there may be another key, for example, Del or one of function keys). This action will cause menu alternative options loading seven.

In this menu, select the item “ Safe mode " and continue by pressing Enter, after which the system will start in safe mode.

If the system successfully started in safe mode, then start restoring the seven, as shown in the previous example. In this mode, to ensure maximum security many functions disabled OS, including graphics Windows interface Aero. This is what it will look like running program"" with the command " systempropertiesprotection"on a system running in safe mode.

We return the computer to functionality using an installation disk or bootable USB flash drive

If the previous two examples do not help you, then you will need to restore seven installation disk or flash drive. For computers that do not have optical drive, you need to use a bootable USB flash drive with the OS. Bootable USB flash drive can be created using special utilities. The most popular utilities for this purpose are Windows USB/DVD, Download Tool And Rufus.

Boot from the installation disk or via a USB flash drive. In the installer start window, click Next and proceed to the next window.

After searching, select the OS you want to restore and click Next.

In the window that appears, select the same item “ System Restore».

This action will launch the Seven recovery utility. In the utility, click Next. This action will take you to list of recovery points. Let's choose a suitable point and continue.

A window will appear in front of you, as in the first example. Therefore, we click the Finish button and respond to the message, after which we will start the recovery.

After a successful rollback to the previous state, you will receive a message like this.

Emergency recovery of Windows 7 using antivirus

If your PC is infected viruses, interfering proper operation computer and the first three examples considered do not help you, then in a good way recovery in this case will be an anti-virus life disk from Dr.Web. With this disc you can clean the system of all types of dangerous software. In addition to cleaning, Dr.Web LiveDisk will be able to cure infected objects, which are necessary to restore Windows 7.

The Dr.Web LiveDisk image can be used to record to optical disk, and to a flash drive. To use Dr.Web LiveDisk on USB drive, will be needed special program. You can download the program for recording onto a flash drive and the image itself on the official website by going to www.freedrweb.ru/livedisk.

Let's run the recorded image on disk, setting it to boot first in the BIOS.

In the bootloader start window, select first item Dr.Web LiveDisk and press Enter. These actions will start loading Dr.Web LiveDisk.

After downloading Dr.Web LiveDisk, we will get a full-fledged operating system on Linux based. As written earlier, the main purpose of Dr.Web LiveDisk is to clean and treat virus software. Therefore, this OS has a built-in antivirus Dr.Web CureIt!. This antivirus runs with the OS.

Click on Dr.Web CureIt! button Start scan, which will start scanning, cleaning the system and disinfecting viruses.

After checking, Dr.Web CureIt! will remove or cure infected objects.

Since there will no longer be in the system malicious code, you can safely restore the system in the three ways described above.

If, after checking the system files, you are unable to restore your Windows 7 system, then the only reasonable solution is to make a complete backup of the information and reinstall the system again.

How to make a system image in seven

Another recovery feature in Windows 7 is creating a system image. In this image, you can save all the information on your hard drive, including the operating system. After restoring using this method, you will receive an OS with the same parameters as on the day the image was created.

Run " Control Panel" and go to the tabs " system and safety», «»

In the window that opens to create an image, indicate the location to save it and click Next.

In the window that appears, all that remains is to click the Archive button, which will start the image creation process.

Restore the created image with Windows 7 and all information on local disks using the installation disc. The recovery principle is shown in the second example, only when choosing a recovery method you need to select " Restoring a system image" and indicate its location on the saved drive.

Alternative methods to restore the Windows 7 operating system

Except standard methods recovery there is alternative software that does the same function. The most interesting solution that allows you to perform system recovery is a program Acronis True Image 2016 . This is branded software package Acronis company.

First of all, download and launch Acronis True Image 2016 from a shortcut on the Desktop. When launched, the program will ask for a name and password.

Now let's set it up Acronis True Image 2016 so that he can do backup of the entire disk with Windows 7 OS. This setup should be done immediately after installing the OS, so that during the process using Windows you were able to restore functionality from several backup copies of the system created in certain period time. So, let's start setting up. To do this, select the storage type by clicking on the “” link.

In the window that opens, select the storage “ Acronis Cloud».

Now let's create a schedule for our backups. To do this, press the button “ Options" and let's move on to the storage settings settings. On the first tab, select the schedule you like for creating backups of our system.

As you can see, the entire computer is selected as the backup source. Therefore, in the schedule we set, a backup copy of the system will be created in cloud storage " Acronis Cloud».

For an example of recovery, let's take archival copy not from cloud storage"Acronis Cloud", but from the hard drive. If you have created a backup copy on your computer, then Acronis True Image 2016 will find her himself.

So we press the button Restore your computer, after which the program will completely restore the system to the state it was in when the backup was created. Also, if you are unable to carry out Windows start 7 on the computer Acronis True Image 2016 there is for this boot image, which can be written to disk.

You can download this image from your account page. You can obtain a password and login on the official website www.acronis.com. The principle of operation of the bootloader is the same as with the desktop version. Load disc from Acronis True Image 2016 on your computer you can by setting it in the BIOS first when booting.

From the example it turns out that the utility allows Full control over the creation of PC recovery copies and do backups the entire system in the cloud.

An example of launching an Acronis True Image 2016 boot disk

To launch the disk Acronis True Image 2016 When starting the system, you must set the boot mode from optical drive first in the BIOS. For example, for motherboard MSI A58M-E33 these parameters in BIOS mode look like this.

Another boot method is to use hotkeys to call up the drive boot menu in the BIOS. For example, for maternal MSI boards A58M-E33 hotkey is the F11 button. By pressing this button, we will launch a special mode in which, when the system starts, it will open drive boot menu in BIOS.

Booting from Acronis disk True Image 2016, we will be taken to such a menu.

In this menu you need to select Acronis True Image 2016, after selection the program will start.

The example shows that the launch boot disk Acronis True Image 2016 by using desired mode The BIOS is not complicated at all.

Let's sum it up

In this article we have discussed almost all the methods and parameters system recovery. We also looked at ways to restore the seven to alternative software and using an antivirus. Which method to choose to restore Windows 7 depending on the situation is up to you.

To summarize, I would like to note that they mainly disrupt the operation of the OS viruses and experiments with different illegal software. Therefore, so that you do not have to constantly restore the system, use only proven and licensed software, and also use reliable comprehensive anti-virus protection.

I would also like to note that the examples discussed in the material will work not only on Windows 7, but also on more modern operating systems, such as Windows 8 And 10 . And we, in turn, hope that our material will allow you to properly restore Windows performance 7 and you can confidently say that I can do a system restore.

Video on the topic

Installed new program, after which the operating system Windows 7 it works incorrectly? Uninstalling the ill-fated application did not bring the desired result? You decided to roll back to one of the restore points, but it didn’t work out that way? Don't know what to do? Let's look for a solution together.

First of all, check if your Windows 7 system protection. Go to Start → right-click Computer → Properties → System Protection
Security settings"you will see a list of disks, in which opposite each one it is indicated whether protection is enabled or not (immediately after installation Windows 7 protection is enabled only for the disk on which the operating system is installed).
Now left click on to the desired disk and click the "Configure" button
A window will open where in the “ Recovery options» check « Restore system settings and previous versions of files" Then click OK and create the first restore point by clicking on the “Create” button in the “System protection” tab.

Now let's move on to the difficult cases. For example, what should you do if, having followed the path Computer → Properties → System Protection, you simply did not find the “System Protection” tab, or did you get errors when going to it?
Most probable cause such behavior Windows 7– system damage. Most likely, you installed a new operating system on top of the old one.
Sign in Windows 7 from an account with administrator rights and check if the service is running " Software Shadow Copy Provider» ( Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider). To do this, call Task Manager → “Services” tab → “Services” button. The above service must either be running or installed “Manually”.
Open command line(key combination Win+R) and enter sfc /scannow, to check. Windows 7 for errors.
Let’s look at the second case, when system protection is disabled and the “Settings” and “Create” buttons cannot be pressed.
In addition to the actions specified for the first case, call the “Run” command and enter gpedit.msc
Run as administrator command line and run " gpedit.msc" In the opened " Local editor group policy » follow the thread Computer configuration → Administrative Templates→ System → System Restore. Check the lines " Disable configuration" And " Disable System Restore" For them, the “Status” column should indicate “Not set”.

After the actions taken, problems with system recovery must decide. Good luck!

System Restore regularly monitors changes to your computer's system files and uses a feature called System Protection to create restore points. System protection is enabled by default on the hard drive on which Windows is installed. You can enable System Restore for other drives by turning on System Protection for those drives.

How to enable System Restore in Windows 7

You cannot enable system protection for a drive that is formatted in file systems FAT and FAT32.

Next, do the following:
1. To restore system settings and previous versions of files, click Restore system settings and previous versions of files.
2. To restore only previous versions of files, click Recover only previous versions of files.
Click OK, and OK again.

How to disable System Restore in Windows 7

Disabling system protection deletes all restore points for that drive. Until you enable system protection again and new restore points are created, you will not be able to restore the drive using restore points. Also, disabling system protection deletes all previous versions of files saved for that drive. Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves using restore points.

Open System via Start - right-click on Computer and select Properties.
In the left pane, click System Protection. Here you need to have administrator rights. If you are prompted for administrator rights or consent, enter your password or confirm.
In the System Settings field, select the drive and click Configure.
Click Disable system protection, click OK, and OK again.