System Restore is one of the lesser-known features present in all recent versions of the Windows operating system. The feature, when enabled (turned off by default in Windows 10 for some reason), allows you to restore your Windows 10 installation to a previous date.
The beauty of System Restore is that it takes less than a minute to create a system restore point on most PCs. When required, you can restore your PC to a previous date using one of the previously created restore points. In fact, if the feature is turned on, Windows 10 automatically creates a system restore point before installing an update.
Restoring Windows 10 using a system restore point will not delete personal files. However, it will remove programs (or program updates) and driver (or driver updates) (that is the purpose of the feature) that were added after creating the selected restore point. For instance, if you had updated the Mozilla Firefox browser from version 85 to 86 after creating a restore point, Firefox will be restored back to 85 when you restore Windows 10 using that restore point.
While restoring Windows 10 to a previously created restore point, you might want to know what all programs and drivers will be affected if you restore Windows 10 using the selected restore point.
Check which programs and drivers will be affected when you perform system restore
Step 1: Type Rstrui.exe in the Start/taskbar search and then press the Enter key to quickly open the System Restore window. Alternatively, type sysdmp.cpl, hit the Enter key, switch to the System Protection tab, and then click the System Restore button.
Step 2: Click on the Next button to view all recently created restore points available on your PC.
Step 3: Here, select Show more restore points checkbox (to see available restore points) and then select the restore point that you would like to restore your Windows 10 installation to.
Step 4: Now, to check for affected programs and drivers, click on the Scan for affected programs button. Windows will scan for programs and drivers installed or updated post the creation of the selected restore point.
Step 5: As you can see in the picture below, the dialog displays all affected programs and drivers. In addition to the programs and drivers, the table shows the version of the program or driver to which the program or driver will be restored.
Click on the Close button to exit the dialog.
How to reduce the space allocated for the system restore feature in Windows 10 guide might also help you.
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