Solved System Restoring and Formatting

Wandering Flame · Oct 18, 2009

I was wondering, since a system restore is basically restoring your system to a state it was at before, does it have anything to do with files you have deleted/moved etc. (will a system restore undo file deletions?), or does it have only to do with things like the registry? (restoring key entries in the registry) What does it have to do with and not to do with?

Secondly let's say you purchased a dell, it's going to be at factory condition, meaning it has windows and a bunch of other stuff on it. You install a fresh copy of windows via a windows cd, thereby deleting every driver and utility on there and have only a seemingly useless thing.

1. Will a system restore bring your computer back to factory condition? (the way it was when you bought it)

2. I also guess you can do a system restore if and only if you have a system restore point. How do you make one and how can you tell you've made one before? (in other words how can you tell you made one at a certain point and how it is like? Or, if someone else made one for you, how can you check this and what the restore point is like?)

Thanks a bunch.

Brink · Oct 18, 2009

Hello Wandering Flame,

You can read more indepth details about System Restore in this tutorial. It basically restores only your system files, registry, and installed programs back to how they were for the date of the restore point. Files in your user folders will not be affected by a system restore.

A system restore is not the same as a OEM factory recovery. Unlike a system restore described above, only a OEM factory recovery will format and restore Vista back to factory condition like the day you first turned it on.

Correct. You can only do a system restore if it is turned on and you have a restore point available. When on, Vista will automatically create restore points before certain changes (ex: some Windows Updates, driver installations, some program installations, etc....) are made to the system. You can also manually create restore points when you like. You can read more about creating restore points at the links below.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76332-system-restore-point-create.html

and

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/72805-system-restore-point-shortcut.html

and

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76256-system-restore-undo.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Wandering Flame · Oct 19, 2009

Thanks a lot, man. Oh you're the admin! I thought you were some important guy after making all of those articles.

Ok so, say I booted my pc from a vista cd, and installed a fresh copy of vista. With your computer knowledge does this alone say that I can't in any way restore my pc back to ANY point before the re-installation of a fresh windows vista? Just wondering, because this is what I did and I was kinda hoping I can bring my computer back to the way it was before I did a "custom" installation of windows vista (they call it custom but it is nothing but a fresh new copy of vista).

I also read recently it has no effect on files and folders, and only affects system files and registry, etc.

Ok, so files and key entries are different. I guess these are the only two things on a computer...right? I admit I am not so computer savvy, despite what some people say (they are just computer tards actually) and I thought before I was going to be a pc genius when I grow up. Ehhhh, wrong.

You know how everything on a computer ends with ".something"? like .doc and .exe...mp3, and so on. I guess these are called file extensions, codecs, or both.

I recently added registry keys (for folder options and other stuff) on my XP which got infected, after hearing some computer viruses actually ADD registry entries in your registry thereby screwing you up...

Well, when I added entries (for folder options, that is, the option to see file extensions in folders) I realized I pretty much had to open up notepad, paste something in it and save it as a ".reg" file. Well, this is a file right? I double click it and my computer says it added it to the registry. Is it adding a file to the registry or a key (which I guess is the other thing that computers have)? Thanks a bunch.

Brink · Oct 19, 2009

When you do a custom install (not formating) , it places all of your files from your previous installation in the "C:\Windows.old" folder, then wipes everything out and reinstalls Vista fresh. You can restore the computer back to the Windows.old, but it is not recommended and may not always work properly.

When you do a clean install (formated), everything is wiped out and there is no going back to the previous installation.

Wandering Flame · Oct 20, 2009

I booted the laptop from the vista CD and ran an installation that way, and I deleted my main drive, C as well as my E recovery drive, and installed vista on what was left, which was "unallocated disk".

Is this a clean install?

MattW · Oct 20, 2009

Um lol yes. Anything that was factory default, is now gone. When you use a operating system disc like the Vista cd you used, it wipes out the hard drive; this is formating the drive. By formating the drive, you erase all data on the drive and then install a new fresh/clean install. So anything "Factory" like is now gone, forever.

Brink · Oct 20, 2009

Wandering Flame,

As Matt posted, yes this is a clean install. Everything you had on the hard prior to doing a clean install of Vista is permanently gone.

Unless you have created a set of OEM recovery discs, you will not be able to a factory restore anymore. You will have to use the disc that you installed Vista with instead from now on.

Wandering Flame · Oct 20, 2009

My machine came with the vista CD as well as the dell software that was installed on it, which are the only things other than vista that was on the computer.

My laptop is back to normal except without the the E recovery drive, which is not important unless I want to format my computer from an undeletable virus, but I can also do that with the vista cd (if my disc drive works by then) or maybe there's a nother way of doing a format from the control panel, I don't know, Anyway the difference between the two is that the E recovery will reinstall windows (I guess) and all the other stuff you had on your computer, whereas without it you would have to manually download drivers from Dell's site, which takes like 5 minutes.

Brink · Oct 20, 2009

I'm happy to hear that you got it all reinstalled.

Solved System Restoring and Formatting

Wandering Flame

Banned

My Computer

System One

Brink

My Computers

System One System Two

Wandering Flame

Banned

My Computer

System One

Brink

My Computers

System One System Two

Wandering Flame

Banned

My Computer

System One

MattW

New Member

My Computer

System One

Brink

My Computers

System One System Two

Wandering Flame

Banned

My Computer

System One

Brink

My Computers

System One System Two