System Protection - Turn On or Off

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    System Protection - Turn On or Off

    System Protection - Turn On or Off

    How to Turn System Protection On or Off in Windows 7
    Published by
    Designer Media Ltd


    How to Turn System Protection On or Off in Windows 7

       Information
    System Restore regularly tracks changes to your computer's system files, and uses a feature called System Protection to create restore points of selected hard disks in your computer. System Protection is turned on by default for the Windows 7 hard disk or partition on your computer.

    This will show you how to turn System Protection On or Off for creating System Restore Points for system settings and previous versions (shadow copies) of files in Windows 7. You could also use previous versions (shadow copies) to restore older copies of files and folders.

    You can select which disks have System Protection turned on for.

       Note
    It is not recommended to turn off system protection for your C: system drive (Windows 7) since it is a great tool to easily undo a mistake, for example one that may have crippled Windows 7, by just doing a system restore to go back to a previous restore point of your system dated before the mistake.
       Warning

    • System Restore doesn't protect FAT32 and other FAT disks because FAT disks don't support the use of shadow copies. Shadow copies contain information about changes to documents and system files. Shadow copies require the NTFS file system. Windows 7 uses the NTFS file system.
    • Turning off System Protection for a disk deletes all restore points for that disk. You cannot restore the disk until you turn on System Protection again and a restore point is created for that disk.






    Here's How:
    1. Open the Control Panel (Icons View).
    A) Click on the System icon.

    B) Go to step 3.
    OR

    2. Open the Start Menu.
    A) Right click on the Computer button and click on Properties.
    3. Click on the System Protection link. (see screenshot below)
    System Protection - Turn On or Off-system.jpg
    4. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes if administrator or type in the adminstrator's password if standard user.

    5. Click on the available hard disk drive or partition, that you want to turn System Protection on or off for, to select it. (see screenshot below step 6)
    NOTE: Windows 7 should be the C: drive with (System). Under the Protection column, you will see if System Protection is turned On or Off for the available disk.

    6. Click on the Configure button. (see screenshot below)
    System Protection - Turn On or Off-system_properties.jpg
    7. To Turn On System Protection for System Settings and Previous Versions of Files
    A) Dot Restore system settings and previous versions of files. (see screenshot below step 10)
    NOTE: This turns on creating restore points and Previous Versions for the selected drive in step 5.

    B) Move the Max Usage slider to set the maximum disk space usage you want to be used by system protection on the selected drive letter.

    C) Go to step 10.
    8. To Turn On System Protection for Only Previous Versions of Files
    A) Dot Only restore previous versions of files. (see screenshot below step 10)
    NOTE: This turns on only Previous Versions for the selected drive in step 5.

    B) Move the Max Usage slider to set the maximum disk space usage you want to be used by system protection on the selected drive letter.

    C) Go to step 10.
    9. To Turn Off System Protection for the Selected Disk
    A) Dot Turn off system protection. (see screenshot below step 10)
    NOTE: This turns off both creating restore points and Previous Versions for the selected drive in step 5.

    B) Go to step 10.
    10. Click on OK. (see screenshot below)
    System Protection - Turn On or Off-configure.jpg
    11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 if you wanted to turn System Protection on or off for another listed drive.

    12. When finished, click on OK. (see screenshot below step 6)
    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 45
    windows 7 pro 64 bit
       #1

    Worked perfectly! Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 171
    Windows 7 Home Premium x86
       #2

    Anyway to turn off System Restores at boot or shutdown?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hello Shortmantuff,

    Yes, you can disabled the startup task in Task Scheduler for this. There is not one for shut down though.

    System Restore Task - Change Automatic Restore Point Schedule - Vista Forums

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 171
    Windows 7 Home Premium x86
       #4

    Thanks Shawn!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    You're welcome. :)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 15
    Windows 7
       #6

    Missing System Protection Tab on System Properties


    I've just installed Windows 7 Home Premium and want to create restore points as I install apps.

    The problem: there are only four tabs on System Properties and the System Protection tab is missing!

    I checked Volume Shadowing service; it was off, so I set it to automatically start and then re-booted, but still no Protection tab.

    I have plenty of space on the C: partition, although when I first did the install I had a smaller partition, which I subsequently enlarged to 400gb.

    - Tom
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Hello Tom, and welcome to Seven Forums.

    You may have had something go wrong during installation. Was this a clean or upgrade install that you did? You might consider doing a clean (format) install instead or again to see if it is there afterwards.

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 15
    Windows 7
       #8

    Missing System Protection Tab after 'clean' install


    Shawn,

    Thanks for your reply.

    I did a 'clean install' which seemed to go without a hitch, and I have already installed 32 apps and performed additional organization and configuration of the new system. Doing another 'clean install' would be very 'distasteful' and a repeat of more than a day's work (I do not do these things, hastily). I was using a 3-pak installation disk. Might it have a different 'build' with things missing? I understand that in some builds, some essentail drivers had not been included, causing installation headaches.

    So, if it is true that a new restore point is created after each exit/reboot, perhaps I'll forgo the luxury of setting the restore point, manually, and just reboot whenever I want to set a new one. Of course, I'd lose the labeling feature of a manually set restore point.

    Whadaya think?

    - Tom
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Tom,

    Normally a restore point will be created at each startup if a change to the system has been detected since the last restore point that was made. However, since you are misssing the "System Protection" tab, System Protection may not be enabled to have any restore points.

    See if running a sfc /scannow command, then restart the computer afterwards may be able to restore it.
      My Computer


 
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