How to Cancel a System Restore

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A System Restore action is akin to using a spaceship to bend space and time.

Microsoft humorously describes the "System Restore" tool in Windows as "bending the laws of space and time"--with your operating system and personal computer. Windows doesn't yet have that exact functionality, but at least you can use the restore tool to repair your operating system when it goes awry, akin to going back and time and correcting a mistake that affects the present and will influence the future. If, however, your decision to perform a system restore (fix the past) in Windows had undesired results, you can undo or cancel that operation.

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Step 1

Click on "Start" or the Windows orb logo on the taskbar at the bottom of the desktop to display the Start menu. Click on "All Programs," then open the "Accessories" folder. Click on the "System Tools" folder, and then select the "System Restore" icon to open the dialog box.

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Step 2

Click the "Undo System Restore" radio button, and then click on the "Next" button to advance the page in the dialog box.

Step 3

Locate the "Undo: Restore Operation" option on the "Choose a restore point" page and click it to highlight it.

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Step 4

Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the box to advance the page, and then click the "Finish" button. Wait while Windows undoes or cancels the last System Restore. The computer will automatically restart.

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