<s>
System	O
Restore	O
is	O
a	O
feature	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
that	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
revert	O
their	O
computer	O
's	O
state	O
(	O
including	O
system	O
files	O
,	O
installed	O
applications	O
,	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Registry	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
system	O
settings	O
)	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
previous	O
point	O
in	O
time	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
recover	O
from	O
system	O
malfunctions	O
or	O
other	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
included	O
in	O
Windows	B-Device
Me	I-Device
,	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
included	O
in	O
all	O
following	O
desktop	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
released	O
since	O
,	O
excluding	O
Windows	B-Device
Server	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
is	O
turned	O
off	O
by	O
default	O
and	O
must	O
be	O
enabled	O
by	O
users	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
updated	O
version	O
of	O
System	O
Restore	O
introduced	O
by	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
uses	O
the	O
Shadow	O
Copy	O
service	O
as	O
a	O
backend	O
(	O
allowing	O
block-level	O
changes	O
in	O
files	O
located	O
in	O
any	O
directory	O
on	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
to	O
be	O
monitored	O
and	O
backed	O
up	O
regardless	O
of	O
their	O
location	O
)	O
and	O
allows	O
System	O
Restore	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
from	O
the	O
Windows	O
Recovery	O
Environment	O
in	O
case	O
the	O
Windows	O
installation	O
no	O
longer	O
boots	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Old	O
restore	O
points	O
are	O
discarded	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
keep	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
's	O
usage	O
within	O
the	O
specified	O
amount	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
takes	O
a	O
snapshot	O
of	O
all	O
volumes	O
it	O
is	O
monitoring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
it	O
only	O
monitors	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
list	O
of	O
file	O
types	O
and	O
directories	O
to	O
be	O
included	O
or	O
excluded	O
from	O
monitoring	O
by	O
System	O
Restore	O
can	O
be	O
customized	O
on	O
Windows	B-Device
Me	I-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
by	O
editing	O
%windir%	O
\system32\restore\Filelist.xml	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
the	O
disk	O
space	O
allotted	O
is	O
configurable	O
per	O
volume	B-Application
and	O
the	O
data	O
stores	O
are	O
also	O
stored	O
per	O
volume	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Files	O
are	O
stored	O
using	O
NTFS	B-Application
compression	O
and	O
a	O
Disk	B-Application
Cleanup	I-Application
handler	O
allows	O
deleting	O
all	O
but	O
the	O
most	O
recent	O
Restore	O
Points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
automatically	O
disables	O
itself	O
if	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
's	O
free	O
space	O
is	O
too	O
low	O
for	O
it	O
to	O
operate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
stores	O
restore	O
point	O
files	O
in	O
a	O
hidden	B-Application
folder	I-Application
named	O
"	O
System	B-Application
Volume	I-Application
Information	I-Application
"	O
on	O
the	O
root	O
of	O
every	O
drive	O
,	O
partition	O
or	O
volume	B-Application
,	O
including	O
most	O
external	O
drives	O
and	O
some	O
USB	O
flash	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
operating	O
system	O
deletes	O
older	O
restore	O
points	O
per	O
the	O
configured	O
space	O
constraint	O
on	O
a	O
first	B-Operating_System
in	I-Operating_System
,	I-Operating_System
first	I-Operating_System
out	I-Operating_System
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
considerable	O
differences	O
between	O
how	O
System	O
Restore	O
works	O
under	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
and	O
later	O
Windows	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	O
user	O
interface	O
–	O
In	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
graphical	O
slider	O
to	O
configure	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
disk	O
space	O
allotted	O
to	O
System	O
Restore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
the	O
slider	O
to	O
configure	O
the	O
disk	O
space	O
is	O
not	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
command-line	O
tool	O
Vssadmin.exe	O
or	O
by	O
editing	O
the	O
appropriate	O
registry	B-Protocol
key	I-Protocol
,	O
the	O
space	O
reserved	O
can	O
be	O
adjusted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
the	O
slider	O
is	O
available	O
once	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Maximum	O
space	O
–	O
In	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
use	O
up	O
to	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
12%	O
of	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
's	O
space	O
for	O
most	O
disk	O
sizes	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
this	O
may	O
be	O
less	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
's	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
is	O
designed	O
for	O
larger	O
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
it	O
uses	O
15%	O
of	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
's	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
File	O
paths	O
monitored	O
–	O
Up	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
files	O
are	O
backed	O
up	O
only	O
from	O
certain	O
directories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
this	O
set	O
of	O
files	O
is	O
defined	O
by	O
monitored	O
extensions	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
folder	O
,	O
and	O
everything	O
under	O
the	O
Windows	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
File	O
types	O
monitored	O
–	O
Up	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
it	O
excludes	O
any	O
file	O
types	O
that	O
are	O
considered	O
"	O
personal	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
documents	O
,	O
digital	O
photographs	O
,	O
media	O
files	O
,	O
e-mail	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
from	O
folders	O
such	O
as	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
recommends	O
that	O
if	O
a	O
user	O
is	O
unsure	O
as	O
to	O
whether	O
certain	O
files	O
will	O
be	O
modified	O
by	O
a	O
rollback	O
,	O
they	O
should	O
keep	O
those	O
files	O
under	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
it	O
excludes	O
only	O
document	O
file	O
types	O
;	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
exclude	O
any	O
monitored	O
system	O
file	O
type	O
regardless	O
of	O
its	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuring	O
advanced	O
System	O
Restore	O
settings	O
–	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
supports	O
customizing	O
System	O
Restore	O
settings	O
via	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Registry	I-Protocol
and	O
a	O
file	O
at	O
%windir%	O
\system32\restore\Filelist.xml	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
no	O
longer	O
support	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FAT32	B-Application
volume	B-Application
support	O
–	O
On	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
no	O
longer	O
works	O
on	O
FAT32	B-Application
disks	O
and	O
cannot	O
be	O
enabled	O
on	O
disks	O
smaller	O
than	O
1GB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
the	O
system	O
can	O
be	O
restored	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
in	O
an	O
online	O
state	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
Windows	O
boots	O
normally	O
or	O
from	O
Safe	B-Operating_System
mode	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	O
Recovery	O
Environment	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
launch	O
System	O
Restore	O
and	O
restore	O
a	O
system	O
in	O
an	O
offline	O
state	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
in	O
case	O
the	O
Windows	O
installation	O
is	O
unbootable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Desktop	I-Application
Optimization	I-Application
Pack	I-Application
,	O
Diagnostics	O
and	O
Recovery	O
Toolset	O
from	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
bootable	O
recovery	O
disc	O
that	O
can	O
log	O
on	O
to	O
an	O
unbootable	O
Windows	O
installation	O
and	O
start	O
System	O
Restore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
toolset	O
includes	O
ERD	O
Commander	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
that	O
was	O
previously	O
a	O
3rd-party	O
product	O
by	O
Winternals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
limitation	O
which	O
applies	O
to	O
System	O
Restore	O
in	O
Windows	O
versions	O
prior	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
is	O
that	O
only	O
certain	O
file	O
types	O
and	O
files	O
in	O
certain	O
locations	O
on	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
are	O
monitored	O
,	O
therefore	O
unwanted	O
software	O
installations	O
and	O
especially	O
in-place	O
software	O
upgrades	O
may	O
be	O
incompletely	O
reverted	O
by	O
System	O
Restore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
beginning	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
System	O
Restore	O
monitors	O
all	O
system	O
file	O
types	O
on	O
all	O
file	O
paths	O
on	O
a	O
given	O
volume	B-Application
,	O
so	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
issue	O
of	O
incomplete	O
restoration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
NTFS	B-Application
volumes	O
,	O
the	O
restore	O
points	O
are	O
protected	O
using	O
ACLs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
its	O
method	O
of	O
backup	B-Protocol
is	O
fairly	O
simplistic	O
,	O
it	O
may	O
end	O
up	O
archiving	O
malware	O
such	O
as	O
viruses	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
in	O
a	O
restore	O
point	O
created	O
before	O
using	O
antivirus	B-Application
software	I-Application
to	O
clean	O
an	O
infection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Antivirus	B-Application
software	I-Application
is	O
usually	O
unable	O
to	O
remove	O
infected	O
files	O
from	O
System	O
Restore	O
;	O
the	O
only	O
way	O
actually	O
to	O
delete	O
the	O
infected	O
files	O
is	O
to	O
disable	O
System	O
Restore	O
,	O
which	O
will	O
result	O
in	O
losing	O
all	O
saved	O
restore	O
points	O
;	O
otherwise	O
they	O
will	O
remain	O
until	O
Windows	O
deletes	O
the	O
affected	O
restore	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Changes	O
made	O
to	O
a	O
volume	B-Application
from	O
another	O
operating	O
system	O
(	O
in	O
case	O
of	O
multi-booting	B-Operating_System
scenarios	O
)	O
cannot	O
be	O
monitored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
multi-booting	B-Operating_System
different	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
can	O
disrupt	O
the	O
operation	O
of	O
System	O
Restore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Specifically	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Device
Server	I-Device
2003	O
delete	O
the	O
checkpoints	O
created	O
by	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
checkpoints	O
created	O
by	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
may	O
be	O
destroyed	O
by	O
previous	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
