How to create a System Restore point in Windows Vista

Summary

This article explains how to create a System Restore snapshot manually in Windows Vista.

Creating a System Restore point manually

• Right-click on the Computer icon in the Desktop, and choose Properties
• In the left pane, click System Protection
• Alternately, to access the System Protection tab directly, click Start and type SystemPropertiesProtection.exe.
• If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

• Click the System Protection tab, and then click Create.

• In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then click Create.

Creating a System Restore point using a shortcut

For a more elegant way to create a System Restore point using Script in Windows Vista, check out our article Create System Restore Points Quickly using Script in Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Alternately, you may use the method below:

Copy the contents below to a Notepad document, and save it to a file name with .vbs extension (Example: createrp.vbs) and close Notepad.

set SRP = getobject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore")
CSRP = SRP.createrestorepoint ("Created a Restore Point now", 0, 100)
If CSRP <> 0 then
Msgbox "Error " & CSRP & ": Unable to create System Restore point"
End if

Right-click on the Desktop and select New - Shortcut

Create a shortcut with the following target:

wscript.exe c:\scripts\createrp.vbs

Note: The above assumes that the createrp.vbs script is present in the c:\scripts folder. If that's not the case, change the Path accordingly.

Name the shortcut file name as Create Restore Point

Running the script

To create a System Restore point, run the script with elevated mode. To do so, right-click on the newly created shortcut (Create Restore Point.lnk) and choose Run as administrator. When you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. A System Restore point will automatically be created.