Restore the previous version of windows xp. Restoring your computer to its previous settings. Restore old computer settings. Recovery using the program

How to restore Windows7 using the Windows.old folder. (step-by-step instruction).

It often happens that after a forced reinstallation of the system or some, often unconscious, manipulations, all information and all programs that are installed on the drive (C:) disappear without a trace. But not everyone knows that they do not disappear without a trace.

The whole point is that in Windows7, even after re Windows installations, the previous version is backed up in the folder Windows. old. This folder is located on drive C: and in itself is not capable, cannot be active, that is, the system boots from Windows folders, but the files, packages and programs are the same operating system remain in Windows. old . So how can you restore the system from this folder?

Before starting the recovery, find out whether there is a Windows.old folder on the drive (C:) and whether there is enough free space on your hard drive to install the operating system.

Next, we carry out everything, strictly following this manual.

Click Start, and then select Computer;
In the View submenu, select Details.
In the "Free Space" column, carefully examine your local drive (C:) in the " hard disks» .
Double click click in the area hard drives, local drive (C:), and then check to see if the Windows.old folder has been deleted (many people delete it after installing the system so as not to clog up the hard drive).
If the Windows.old folder is not available, then you should not perform further actions, as they will be meaningless.
Next, right-click on the Windows.old folder. We look at the properties of the folder and make sure that it is smaller in size than the amount of free space on the disk (C:).
Note. If the Windows.old folder is at least twice the amount of free space located on the local disk (C:), then it will not be possible to restore the previous version of Windows.
Next, launch the Windows Recovery Environment.
Paste installation disk from Windows7 to DVD drive and give the command to restart the computer.
When the message “” appears, select everything that you will need in the further operation of the system, namely: currency, time, language, but all this in installed system can be customized. After all this, click the “Next” button.
In the “Windows Installation” window that appears, click the “ Restore your computer».
In the “” window that appears, select the version of the operating system that you want to restore, namely Windows7. After all this, click the “Next” button.
Next in the window that appears “ System Recovery Options"Open the command line, namely, select the command " Command line».
After all these manipulations, a command line window will open. Next in command line you will enter the commands that are described below. The following steps are intended to move the Windows7 folders to new folder Win7.

Note. When you enter one or more commands at the command prompt and press ENTER, the following message may appear:

"The system cannot find the file specified."

If such a message appears, then follow these steps, proceed to the next step in this section, and enter the command at the command prompt.

Important! After each command, press the "ENTER" key.

And so, we enter:

Move Windows Win7Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win7Program Files"

Move Users Win7Users

Attrib -h -s -r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win7ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

Important! We observe all separating marks and spaces in the strictest order with the sample.

In the next step, we move the entire contents of the folder " Windows.old ».

Note. When you enter one or several commands in the command line and press the “ENTER” key, the following message may appear: "The system cannot find the file specified".

If this happens, then enter the following commands on the command line.

Important! After each command, press the “ENTER” key, and also do not forget to observe punctuation marks.

Enter the following commands:

move /y c:Windows.oldWindows c:

move /y "c:Windows.oldProgram Files" c:

move /y c:Windows.oldProgramData c:

move /y c:Windows.oldUsers c:

move /y "c:Windows.oldDocuments and Settings" c:

In the following commands (D:) represents the DVD drive. If the DVD drive on your computer is designated by a different letter, then use that letter in the command.

Type the following command and press "ENTER" if the previous operating system was Windows, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Microsoft Windows 2000.

D:ootootsect/nt52 c:

If the previous operating room Windows system was Windows Vista, then enter the following:

Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command:

Attrib -h -s -r boot.ini.saved

Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini

After all these steps, close the command prompt window, and then restart your computer.

After rebooting, enter the following command at the command prompt and press ENTER:

Many IT specialists use, or at least know about, Windows restore points that allow you to restore previous state operating system after a serious failure. But did you know that System Restore (and to some extent Vista) has been enhanced to allow you to track and save previous versions of modified files?

In other words, in addition to quick recovery system in the event of a failure, you can now restore individual files if they were accidentally deleted, damaged, or if you simply need to quickly undo all changes made to a file.

Although restoring previous versions of files is a great feature of Windows 7, oddly enough, few people know about it and few people use it. In this article I will talk about this technology in more detail and explain how it works.

Briefly about previous versions

Although I advertise previous versions of files as new feature, Actually this is not true. This technology has its roots in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, where it was implemented in the form. When installing the client shadow copies shared folders(Shadow Copies of Shared Folders) on a computer with Windows XP connected to the server under Windows control Server 2003, restoring previous versions of files was also possible in Windows XP. The main innovation in Windows 7 is that this feature is now available entirely within a single operating system and does not require a connection to a server.

I also mentioned that legacy file versions are supported to some extent in Vista. More precisely - in Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. This feature is not available in Home Basic, Home Premium and Starter versions. In Windows 7 it is present in all editions.

How it works

As you know, to create restore points, the operating system constantly monitors for any significant changes, which include the installation of new applications, hardware, drivers, system updates or security patches through Windows Update. When such changes are detected, the system automatically creates a restore point, which is essentially a snapshot of the system state, including important system files, including certain parts of the registry. At the same time, snapshots of all data files stored on the hard drive are also created.

However, making major changes to the operating system is not the only reason to create a restore point. By default, Windows 7 automatically creates a restore point once a day, and in addition, you can create such a snapshot yourself at any time.

Additionally, when you create backups using the Backup and Restore tool ( Backup and Restore) Windows 7 automatically tracks them and allows you to restore previous versions of files not only from restore points, but also from backup copies.

To use the function to restore previous versions, click on the file right click mouse and select in context menu option "Restore" previous version» (Restore Previous Versions, Fig. A).

Figure A: The Restore to Previous Version option is available in the context menu of any file in Windows 7.

The file properties window will open with the “ Previous versions"(Previous Versions, Fig. B). As you can see, in my example, the file is part of both the restore point and the backup, so to restore it to a previous version, I can choose either option, depending on which date I'm interested in.

Figure B: When you use Backup and Restore, you can restore previous versions of files not only from restore points, but also from backups.

As you can see, there are three buttons on the Previous Versions tab: Open, Copy, and Restore. To check whether this is the version of the file you need, you can select it in the list and click “Open”. In this case, the file will be opened for viewing in the appropriate application - in my case it is Word.

The Copy button brings up a standard copy dialog box, similar to the Copy To command, and allows you to restore the file to another folder. Please note that the Open and Copy commands are only available for files saved to the recovery point and do not work for files from backups. The Restore button allows you to restore the file to exactly the state it was in when you created the restore point or backup.

What to consider

It is worth keeping in mind that previous versions of a file from recovery points will only be available if changes have been made to the file since the last recovery point was created. If the file has not been modified since then, a message will appear on the Previous Versions tab: “There are no previous versions available” (Figure C).

Figure C If the file has not changed since the last restore point was created, a message like this will appear.

However, this does not mean that the previous version of the file was not preserved in the restore point. If you simply open and save the current file, the previous version will immediately appear on the Previous Versions tab.

If a file has not been modified for several months, new versions will not be saved each time a restore point is created.

File recovery

Now that you have an idea of how the Restore Previous Versions feature works, let's see how to use it. Let's say I accidentally permanently deleted Word document(Figure D) and then realized my mistake. Since the file is no longer there, there is nothing to right-click on. Instead, you need to open the Previous Versions tab for the folder where the deleted file was stored (Figure E).

Figure D: I accidentally deleted a Word document.

Figure E To recover a permanently deleted file, you need to open the Previous Versions tab for the folder in which it was stored.

To make sure that this folder is saved required file, I click the "Open" button. A folder opens, and in it is the file you are looking for. Now I can open it in Word and see the contents. Once I'm sure it's the file I want, I close Word, close the folder, and return to the Previous Versions tab. I click the "Restore" button. The dialog box shown in Fig. 1 appears. F. If I click the "Restore" button in it, the file will be restored to its original folder.

Figure F. Before restoring a file, the system prompts you to confirm the operation.

Although the warning in the dialog box states that the restore will replace the entire contents of the folder, in fact, only the deleted file will be restored. For example, there were several other files in my folder, and they remained untouched after recovery.

What do you think?

Did you know that there is a function to restore previous versions of files in Windows 7? If not, will you use this feature now? And if you have already used it, what are your impressions? Share your opinion in the comments!

Materials

If you switched to the new Windows 10, but for some reason you didn’t like it, you can roll back to the previous operating system that was previously installed on your computer. You can also roll back Windows 10 to factory settings or to one of the restore points if the system produces an error that you cannot solve in any other way.

Conditions for system rollback

There are two ways to roll back the system - reinstall it or restore it:

the first method will require a license key from you, since the data that you previously had an activated system installed will be lost. When reinstalling, all information stored on the main disk partition will be lost;
The second method is suitable for you if 30 days have not passed since the transition to Windows 10, since during this period the Windows.old folder is saved, which stores all the data necessary to restore the previous installed operating system. After a month has passed from the date of transition to the new operating system, the folder is automatically deleted, and the license from the previous system is finally transferred to Windows. That is, if you had a licensed Windows 7 and spent 30 days on Windows 10, then the tenth version will become licensed, and to install the seventh Windows you will need a new license key.

Rollback before 30 days have passed

There are several ways to restore a previous version of an installed system from the Windows.old folder. First try the standard method and system recovery, but if they do not suit you, then use the second option - through a third-party program.

Standard method

Open PC settings. Open computer settings
Go to the "Update and Security" block.
Open the “Update and Security” section
Select the “Recovery” subsection. Go to the “Recovery” subsection
This subsection should contain the “Return to...” item. The version you can revert to is the same as the one you installed previously. Click on the “Start” button and follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
Click the “Start” button to start rolling back to the previous OS

Through recovery

While at the “Login” step, when you need to select account, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and select “Restart”.
Hold down the Shift key and go to reboot
The recovery menu will open, select “Diagnostics”. Go to the “Diagnostics” section
Go to selection additional parameters. Let's move on to additional parameters
Select the “Return to previous build” block.
Select the “Return to previous build” function
Select the proposed option - rollback to the previous installed system.
Choosing where to roll back
Enter a password if you have one.
Enter the password
Read the warning and confirm the action.
Confirm the start of the rollback
Wait for the process to complete; it can last from ten minutes to several hours, depending on the performance of the computer and how many files need to be restored.
We wait until the previous version of the OS is installed

Using a third party program

This method is worth switching to if you have a Windows.old folder with files from the previous system, but the “Return to...” section is not displayed in the computer settings. This happens sometimes, so you can follow these steps to use the files in the folder:

The third-party program is an image of the official application from Microsoft - Rollback Utility. Download this image, which weighs about 200 MB, from the official Microsoft website, and then write it to any free flash drive. You can do this using the built-in functions of Windows 10: right-click on the image, select “Mount” and indicate on which media you want to burn the image.
Select “Mount” to begin the mounting process
Press the Delete key to enter the BIOS
Let's go to Boot menu
We put the medium first
Save your entries to BIOS changes and exit it, loading from the flash drive will begin automatically.
Save the settings and exit the BIOS
When the program loads from the flash drive, go to Automated Repair mode.
Select Automated Repair mode
Two systems will appear in the window: active and old. Select the one you want to roll back to and click on the Roll Back button. Instructions will appear on the screen, follow them.
Select the system to which the rollback will be performed

After 30 days have expired

If you no longer have the Windows.old folder, then rolling back without reinstalling the system is impossible. Create installation media from the version of Windows you want to downgrade to by mounting the system image onto a USB flash drive. Boot from the created media and go through the installation process of the desired operating system.

Install the system by uninstalling the previous version

Please note that you will have to remove Windows 10 as you need to format the partition hard drive, on which the installation will be performed, which means that the license key will need to be entered again. If you want to save the files that you managed to acquire while using Windows 10, then copy them to third-party media, and after the installation is complete, transfer them back to your computer.

System Restore

System recovery is not a rollback to the previous operating system, but to the last restore point. Points can be created manually, but by default they are created automatically. They are needed so that if an unsolvable error occurs in the system, you can roll back all processes and computer settings to the moment when this error did not exist. To use the point, follow these steps:

Launch your computer's Control Panel. Opening the control panel
Go to the "Recovery" section. Find it using the search bar.
Go to the “Recovery” section
Run the recovery program.
Click the “Run System Restore” button
If you have several points, then you can select the one recommended by the system or any other by going to manual selection points.
Select a recommended or other restore point
Wait while the system restores to automatic mode. Once the process is complete, you will receive a notification that the system has been restored successfully. Done, now all the settings and parameters of the computer correspond to the properties that it had at the time the restore point was created.
We go through the process of rolling back to a restore point

Video: Applying restore points

Via command line

If your computer does not boot in normal mode, you can put it in safe mode with command line support, then run the rstrui.exe command in the command line. Executing this command will start the recovery process, and all other actions will be the same normal recovery, described above.

Run the command rstrui.exe to start the recovery

Return to original settings

If your computer settings have been changed for the worse, then you have the opportunity to roll back all settings to default values in a couple of steps:

Go to computer settings by holding down the Win+I keys on your keyboard, or through the search menu. Open the Settings application
Open the "Update and Security" section.
Select the “Update and Security” block
Open the “Recovery” subsection.
Go to the sub-item “Recovery”
Begin the process of returning your computer to the initial state by clicking on the “Start” button.
Click on the “Start” button to begin resetting to default settings
You can choose one of two options: remove applications along with settings, but keeping personal files, or remove everything on the computer, leaving a completely clean Windows with an empty hard drive.
Choosing how to reset settings
Having chosen the rollback method, confirm the actions by clicking the “Reset” button. The reset process is performed automatically, wait until it is completed without interrupting the procedure.
Click on the “Reset” button to start the process

Additional method

If the method described above gives you an error or does not allow you to reset the settings for some other reason, then you can use third party program from Microsoft to achieve the goal:

Reset when the system is frozen

If, due to changes in computer settings, the system no longer starts, and because of this there is no access to computer settings, then you can recover without logging into the system, but for this you will need a recovery disk or bootable USB flash drive:

Recovery using the program

If the system encounters an insurmountable error, then you can restore it to its original state using a bootable USB flash drive and the official application from Microsoft:

Download and run the application from the official Microsoft website designed for installing Windows 10 - Installation Media Creation Tool.
Download the Installation Media Creation Tool program
After launching the application, select the version of the system installed on your computer.
Selecting system image parameters
When choosing an action, check the option “Create an installation flash drive” and go through the creation process to the end.
We indicate that we want to create an installation flash drive
Turn off the computer without removing the flash drive from the port, start the power-on process and as soon as the first signs of power-up appear on the screen, press the Delete button on the keyboard to go to the BIOS settings. The key may differ, which one it will be in your case, depending on the motherboard model. But when the system boots, lines will appear indicating the key to start the BIOS.
Use the Delete key to go to the BIOS
While in the BIOS, go to the Boot section or “Download” in the Russian version.
Open the “Download” menu
Place the flash drive with the recorded image first in the boot queue. This must be done so that when the computer turns on, it starts loading not from the hard drive, but from your flash drive. If you have more a new version BIOS is UEFI, then in the first place you need to put a flash drive whose name begins with UEFI: “Media name”.
Move the flash drive to the first place
Save the changes you made to the BIOS and exit. Loading from the flash drive will start automatically.
Exit the BIOS and save the changes made
When the first installation program window appears, do not start the process; instead, click on the Repair you computer button.
Select the "System Image Restore" option. Done, wait for the system to recover from the installation media you created.
Activate the “System Image Restore” function

What to do if these operations don't work

Rolling back to a previous operating system may not work if your Windows.old folder is damaged or lost. If the folder is unusable, then you have only one option - reinstall the system.

Restore may not work for the following reasons:

The restore point is damaged, use another, earlier point to successfully roll back the system;
if you are trying to recover through a third-party media, make sure that the correct version of the operating system is installed on it, and that it meets all the conditions: it has at least 4 GB of free space, formatted in FAT32 or NTFS format;
if one of the recovery methods suggested above does not work, then try recovering through bootable USB flash drive, reset your computer to its original state, or reset the settings to default values.

What can you do if Windows 10 freezes during a rollback?

If you are convinced that the system is frozen - the process does not move for more than twenty minutes, then you need to manually interrupt the process. Press the "Shutdown" button on the computer case for 5-10 seconds until it turns off. If this does not help, then unplug the device and wait until it turns off. Such actions can lead to an error, so resort to them only as a last resort.

After the computer turns off, start turning it on and enter the recovery menu. Usually, the F2 key is used for this, but on your model motherboard button may vary. Use the prompt that appears on the screen during startup to find the right button. Once you enter the recovery menu, follow the reset and rollback instructions above.

If you were unable to enter the recovery menu, or the process started through this menu also froze, then create installation media and restore the computer using a system image; this method is described in the “Recovery using a program” section. If this does not help, then reinstall the system, while formatting the disk on which you currently have frozen Windows installed.

How to get back after a rollback

If you rolled back to Windows 7 or 8, and then decided to go back to the tenth version of the system, then use the same method as you used before when you switched from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10. Update through the update center or an installation flash drive, creating it using the official program from Microsoft - Installation Media Creation Tool. You can update to new Windows, and then roll back to old system, for example, using the Windows.old folder, and then update again to the tenth version of the system.

Updating to Windows 10

The transition between versions of Windows can be done either by updating, moving from an old system to a new one, or by rolling back, moving from new system to the old one. To restore full operation of the system, it is not necessary to switch from one version to another; it is enough to reset the settings or restore parameters to default values using built-in functions or bootable media.

Users who upgraded to Windows 10 have the option of returning to their previous operating system.

The so-called process Rollback is simple and can be done in just a few mouse clicks.

Windows 10 rollback conditions

In the context of our article, we will not list them all, but will say only about two - the ability to upgrade to “ten” and the ability to roll back to Windows 8 or 7. What does this give?

Firstly, it is convenient, and secondly, it significantly saves time.

The user does not need to install the operating system in the classic way (download a new OS release, burn it to an optical disk or flash drive, transfer data from user folders, etc.).

Just follow a few steps and the new OS is already on your computer.

But do not forget that the offer is not valid on an indefinite basis, but only for a year from the start of sales of the tenth version, i.e. until July 29, 2016.

The system developers have foreseen that after installing the new version, some users will still want to return to their previous system.

The reason for this may be various factors - from an unusual interface to a lack of hardware drivers.

Just as with the update, there is no need to perform a classic reinstallation - just follow a few steps to roll back Windows 10.

During the system update process, the Windows.old directory is created, into which the data of the current system is copied and which serves as a backup copy.

Thirty days after installation, this directory will be deleted by the system automatically.

Deleting the Windows.old directory implies the impossibility of performing a rollback.

Note! The ability to roll back to Windows 7 or 8 is valid only for 30 calendar days after the update and provided that the user did not delete Windows.old.

Before you begin the return process, we recommend that you backup all important data to any available external storage or data storage service.

How to downgrade Windows 10 to Windows 8.1/7

The sequence of actions when rolling back to Windows 7 is no different from the sequence of actions for the eighth version.

The current system will automatically install the OS version that was installed previously.

So let's get started:

Step 1. Go to the “Start” menu, “Settings” submenu.

Step 2. In the “Settings” menu, go to the “Update and Security” submenu.

Step 3. In the “Recovery” submenu, select “Return to Windows X”, where X is the version of the operating system that was before the update.

In our case, this is Windows 7. Click “Start”.

Step 4. We select the reason why the rollback is being performed, describe the essence of the situation in the “Tell me in more detail” field and click “Next”.

Read about what data is stored in the Windows.old folder and how to recover it from there. How to delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space. Have you upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 to the new Windows 10? Has a Windows.old folder appeared on your computer and is it taking up a lot of space? You can delete it, but not in the same way as you delete regular folders.

The Windows.old folder is not new to Windows 10. But before Windows 10, this folder could be seen if you purchased a new version of Windows and installed it by updating the previous version.

Content:

What is the Windows.old folder?

This folder appears when you upgrade from one version of Windows to a newer version, starting with Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder contains all the files and data from the previous version of Windows that was installed before the upgrade. It can be used to revert (roll back) to a previous version of Windows in case the new version does not work. To recover data after reinstalling Windows.

If you need to find a special file that was not copied correctly when Windows update, you can also rummage through the Windows.old folder and find it.

Essentially, the Windows.old folder contains the old version of Windows. Starting with system Windows files before installed programs, from user account settings to simple files, all here. The new version of Windows keeps this information in case you want to return to old version Windows or if you need to find some file.

But, don't hesitate too long. Windows will automatically delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space after a month.

How to return to a previous version of Windows?

From Windows 10, going back to Windows 7 or 8.1 is very easy. After installing Windows 10, you can simply open the Settings application, select Update & Security, and click Recovery. In this section we will see the option Return to Windows 7 or 8.1, depending on which version of Windows you upgraded from.

After we click the “Start” button, Windows will restore the previous version of the operating system using the Windows.old folder as a source.

Before Windows 10, this could also be done. Here, for example, are instructions from the official Microsoft website on how to restore Windows 7 to a previous version of Windows using the Windows.old folder. With Windows 10 everything is much simpler.

But again, as noted in Windows settings, this feature is only available for a month after upgrading to Windows 10. After a month, Windows will automatically delete the Windows.old folder in order to free up disk space. So you have a month to decide whether you want to continue using the new version of the system or not and evaluate whether all the files you need were copied correctly.

How to recover individual files from the Windows.old folder

If you need to restore individual files from an old Windows installation, you can restore them from the Windows.old folder. To do this, you just need to open the Windows.old folder in File Explorer: C:\Windows.old. Your personal files will be located in the C:\Windows.old\Users\USERNAME folder.

But keep in mind that even on the official Microsoft website it is indicated that, if desired, you can restore all files or (Attention!) some of them from the Windows.old folder. To prevent loss Microsoft data We strongly recommend that you back up your files and settings to external drive before you restore, restore, update, or reinstall Windows.

That is, there is a risk of data loss when updating Windows and/or returning from Windows 10 to the previous version. Moreover, recovery of data lost in this way standard means Windows is not provided by Microsoft.

In such a case, the only option for data recovery may be third-party software. In case when updating or Windows recovery If any data or files are missing, regardless of their type or extension, scan drive C: using Hetman Partition Recovery from Hetman Software, and restore them to a convenient location or storage medium.

How to delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space

The Windows.old folder can take up quite a lot of disk space. At best it will be 12 GB. But its volume can reach 20 GB or even more. It all depends on the size of your previous version of Windows.

Try to delete the Windows.old folder in the same way as any other folder, and you will receive an error message. You can work around the error message by changing the permissions of the Windows.old folder. But this is the wrong way to delete this folder.

To remove the Windows.old folder, you can use the Windows Disk Cleanup tool or a third-party program. On Windows 10, open the Start menu, search for Disk Cleanup and launch the application. Also this application can be opened by right-clicking in the “This PC” folder on drive C, and selecting “Properties” from the pop-up menu, then clicking the “Disk Cleanup” button.

Click the “Clean up system files” button. “Previous versions of Windows” will also appear in the list of files to delete, and Disk Cleanup will show how much space these files take up. Select this option and click Clean up disk, the old version of Windows will be removed. This function can also be used to clean system disk and from other unnecessary files.

By deleting the Windows.old folder you do not risk anything. If you are satisfied with the new version of Windows and have no desire to return to the old version of the operating system, and are also sure that all the files you need have been copied from the Windows.old folder, you can safely delete it.

Windows will still automatically delete the Windows.old folder a month after the update. All computers that have upgraded to Windows 10 will still be able to use the space occupied by the Windows.old folder, even if their users are unaware of the folder and are unaware of its existence or the ability to use Disk Cleanup.