Create a System Restore Point Shortcut Icon
If you want to manually create the script, create a new file named something.vbs and paste in the following. Otherwise the downloadable scripts are provided at the bottom of the article.
If WScript.Arguments.Count = 0 Then
Set objShell = CreateObject(”Shell.Application”)
objShell.ShellExecute “wscript.exe”, WScript.ScriptFullName & ” Run”, , “runas”, 1
Else
GetObject(”winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore”).CreateRestorePoint “description”, 0, 100
End If
You’ll notice that there’s a shellexecute line with a “runas”, which will automatically re-launch the script as administrator in order to create the restore point.
Once you have the script file saved somewhere, you’ll likely want to create a shortcut that you can customize. Just right-click / drag the file to where you want the shortcut… and choose “Create Shortcuts Here” when prompted.
One of the best features in Windows Vista is the updated System Restore feature, which saves people from certain destruction on a nearly daily basis, judging from the feedback on our forums. The only problem is that it takes far too many steps to manually create a new restore point. Can’t we just make a shortcut icon for it?
Naturally, we can. It’s as simple as a little vbscript that creates a restore point.
Now you’ll have a shortcut icon that can be used to create a restore point. Note that you could change the icon in the shortcut properties if you want, or even assign a hotkey.
The downloadable script contains two different scripts, the default one will prompt you to type in a description for the restore point (very helpful when restoring), but there’s also a CreateRestorePointSilent script that will simply create the restore point without the prompt.
If you want to verify that the restore point is created, you can open up System Restore through the start menu search or control panel, and then choose the option to “Choose a restore point”, at which point you should see the new item in the list:
Remember to create a restore point whenever you are making changes to your system that you aren’t confident about… like installing questionable software.
I found it necessary to place the script in the root folder (C:\) before it would run. Thanks for posting this. System Restore is a wonderful tool, but Windows’ internal schedule is not always reliable. I hate needing to restore, only to discover that the last restore point available is four days old, back before I made all those important and time-consuming changes…
BookwormDragon
ខែ វិច្ឆិកា 21, 2008
I copied and pasted the script and when I ran it I received the following error:
Windows Script Host
C:\CreateRestore.vbs
Line: 2
Char: 29
Error: Invalid character
Code: 800A0408
Source: Microsoft VBScript compilation error
Jim
ខែ ធ្នូ 4, 2008
That work great for me. thank friend
Sopheak
ខែ ធ្នូ 6, 2008
As a sys admin with 9 years Microsoft exeperience, you is right on. I’ve killed my fair share of systems, both workstations and servers. Sometimes you must play doctor, no way around it (ever support legacy or custom applications?). But now, before even thinking about it, my number activity is a registry backup, and a system restore point, if possible. The more important the machine, the more important the backup. Thanks for this little .vbs. It’s going in my toolbox.
registryfixreporter
ខែ មិថុនា 17, 2009