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General discussion

Restore Windows 7 upgrade

Sep 3, 2010 4:07AM PDT

I presently have Windows 7 Home premium 32 bit, installed as an upgrade to Vista.
I'm wondering if I can use Windows Restore function to reinstall Windows 7 from the upgrade CD, or wether I would have to do a total restore back to Vista, SP1, SP2, then re-upgrade to Win 7.
Anyone ever tried this?

Discussion is locked

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Re: restpre
Sep 3, 2010 4:15AM PDT

Why not make a clone of your current system, as it works now. Then you can always go back to it.

Kees

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Win 7 Restore
Sep 3, 2010 5:15AM PDT

The restore function is used either from within Windows or at the boot(F12) to restore the OS to an earlier time, assuming Restore is turned on. This is a very useful feature. Windows REPAIR can be effected from F12 or the installation disk to repair the OS.

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Not sure about that.
Sep 3, 2010 5:22AM PDT

System Restore and Recovery are two different things.

System Restore, a set of backup files that will attempt to 'return' a system to what it was before changes were made to the system. Such changes could be software installation, Windows Updates, or certain system settings changes. Personal files are not generally affected.

Recovery. Many systems offer a Recovery Partition on the hard disk. This is usually hidden from normal view but can be accessed according to instructions available in the manual, help files, or elsewhere when the computer was received, and is often accessed by pressing a key or combination of keys during Boot Up. Recovery returns the system to factory default. That means everything is wiped out and a new installation begins. All personal files are lost.

So, not quite the same.

Mark

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Recovery Partition
Sep 3, 2010 5:38AM PDT

Once you upgrade to Win 7, the "old" Vista Recovery Partition is no longer available, although there are ways to reactivate it. However, you do not want to go back to Vista, so use the Win 7 Repair command on the install disk or the Restore function.

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Thanks for that,
Sep 3, 2010 5:44AM PDT

although I'm not the one who asked the question.

Did you mean to reply to the original poster?

Mark

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Problem with System Restore
Sep 3, 2010 6:38AM PDT

I get this message when trying to use System Restore, which is one reason I'm considering trying a reinstall:

"System Restore did not complete sucessfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.

Details:
System Restore could not access a file. This is probably because of an anti-virus program is running on your computer. Temporarily disable your antivirus program and retry System Restore.
An unspecified error occured during System Restore. (0x80070005)

You can try System Restore again and choose a different restore point. If you continue to see this error, you can try an advanced recovery method. For more information, see What is Recovery?"


Tried the advice about different restore point, and disabling AV, but get the same error.

Wonder if this could have to do with the last batch of Windows Updates? System Restore did work ok before that.

Anyway, my important files are well backed up. I really don't have a recovery "image" or whatever, so thought maybe I could use the Win 7 upgrade disk to restore or reinstall.

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It's well-known ...
Sep 3, 2010 6:40AM PDT

that Norton software interferes with System Restore. Do you happen to have that?

Kees

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No, I use Avira
Sep 3, 2010 8:02AM PDT

and disabled the real time guard. Have used Sys Restore in the past while Avira was enabled though, with no problems.

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System Restore damaged.
Sep 3, 2010 8:55PM PDT

System Restore can often be damaged by malware, not just viruses, but the sort that anti-virus scanners fail to pick up.

I would suggest that you download and install two often recommended scanners, Malwarebytes' Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware, and scan separately with those, (one at a time). They are both free, and the free version of MBAM does not set itself to load at startup, but SAS may do, so check the installation procedure carefully if you don't want it to do that.

How you do this is up to you. Malware, including viruses, can hide in the System Restore backup files so you may want to disable System Restore then re-enable it immediately before scanning, then after the scan create a brand new System Restore point. Disabling deletes all the backup files and that prevents any hidden infections from taking hold again.

However if there is a need for you to restore your system to a previous time and date, don't disable System Restore.

To disable SR, goto the Control Panel, open "System", then click the System Restore tab. Disable SR, click Apply, then re-enable it immediately and click Apply/OK.

Then carry out the scans with the manual scanners above. After that, create a new System Restore point.

I hope that helps.

Mark