Running System Restore From A Command Prompt In Vista

If for any reason you can’t boot into in any mode other than safe mode with command prompt, you can still run System Restore. Here’s how.

Booting into Safe Mode.

If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you will need to try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.

If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to start in safe mode, and then press F8. Unfortunately if you dual boot XP and Vista you won’t have any restore points when you try this. This is a known bug in Vista.

Starting System Restore in Safe mode with command prompt.

Start your computer in safe mode with command prompt. An Administrator password is required When you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

At the command prompt, type rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER. Then click next and select the restore point you want.

Note : If you use System Restore when the computer is in safe mode, you cannot undo the restore operation. However, you can run System Restore again and choose a different restore point if one exists.

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