In the list of drives available for protection, find the system drive (C:) and check its status. That opens the System Properties dialog box, with the System Protection tab visible. Here's how.įirst, in the search box, type systempropertiesprotection and press Enter. If you want to use this feature, you must first turn it back on. Primarily as a disk-space-saving measure, Windows 10 disables the System Protection feature and deletes existing restore points as part of setup. It works best when you restore your system configuration immediately (or at least very soon) after making a change to system settings. System Restore works by creating snapshots called restore points, which keep backup copies of your system configuration, including registry settings, driver files, and third-party programs. In Windows 10 it's still useful for recovering quickly when a new app or device driver causes instability. The System Restore feature has been a part of Windows for decades.