Restore Computer

Need help Restoring your Computer?

Dial our 800 number, or contact us online for help with System Restore or System Recovery.

If you need your computer restored, we've got you covered with state-of-the-art tech support and computer repair services.  Our Personal Technology Experts® know computers inside-out. Support.com offers a better solution. We can help you right now, 24/7, over your broadband Internet connection. There’s no need to invite strangers into your home, or be locked into someone else’s timetable.

Restoring Data

If you are like us, chances are that you have shift-deleted some valuable data at some point. The best way to save your skin is to frequently backup your data. You can use the built in Windows Backup Utility (NTBackup), available at Start > Programs > Accessories > System > Backup, to schedule regular backup tasks. On a Mac, Time Machine will automatically take care of that for you. However, both methods provide you with a very limited set of options: NTBackup is not easy to use and is more suitable for tape backups, Time Machine does not allow you to modify the backup schedule and limit the size of the backup set. As a result, many people use third party applications, such as Memeo Autobackup, Carbonite, Soonr or Mozy to backup their data to external hard disks or the cloud (Internet).

But let's say you don't have a backup of your data, what do you do then? First of all, keep in mind that deleting a file, folder, or even a partition, does not remove the actual data from the hard disk. What is removed is the pointer to the location where the data is stored. As you continue working on your machine, the old data will be gradually overwritten by the new data. So the first course of action here is to stop writing data to your hard disk, in other words, stop using your machine. You can then use a data recovery program such as R-Studio, or EasyRecoveryPro. However, these are expensive and there is no guarantee that they can recover all of your lost data. Alternatively, you can take your hard disk to a data recovery professional to do it for you. Data recovery companies use a variety of tools and methods to recover the data, so there is a better chance that you get your data back.

Restoring the System to a Stable State (System Restore)

Every time you install a new program, you are putting the stability of your system at stake. A good practice is to avoid installing new applications, unless they are absolutely necessary. Let's say you install a new program and reboot your machine, only to find out that now your system freezes intermittently and errors pops up every 5 minutes. You try to uninstall the program from Control Panel, but the removal fails. In a situation like this, you can restore your system to an earlier state using System Restore.

System Restore does not undo the changes you have made to your personal documents. For example, if you install a corrupted program on 06/01, save a Word file to your desktop on 06/02, and then on 06/03 decide to restore the system back to a restore point at 06/01, the word document will stay intact. System Restore only recovers Windows settings (registry and executable program files) back to an earlier state. To open System Restore on Windows XP, simply click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. On Windows Vista and 7, click Start, type "System Restore", and press ENTER.

Sometimes viruses and malware corrupt or disable this feature of the operating system. We at Support.com know exactly how to handle this situation. Simply pick up the phone and give us a call. A trained Personal Technology Expert will remotely connect to your machine and fix the problem for you.

Restoring the System Back to the Factory Settings

Let's face it, no matter how careful you are with installing new programs and downloading things from the Internet, at some point you may have to restore the system back to the factory settings. You may get infected with a very nasty malware, your registry may get corrupted beyond repair, or you may have to simply replace a damaged hard disk after copying your data to external storage. A factory restore, or re-imaging, can be performed by using the recovery media (DVD) provided by the manufacturer, or the recovery partition that may exist on your machine.

Most modern systems have a hidden partition on the hard disk which contains an image of the original system state when it left the factory. In order to recover from this image, you have to boot into the recovery partition by pressing a hotkey during system startup. On most machines, you will see a list of all available hotkeys (F1-F12) at the bottom of the screen right after pressing the power key. You can also refer to the manual that came with your machine to learn how to recover the system back to factory settings. The manual can also be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

Please keep in mind that a full system recovery will wipe off all your data from the hard disk, so make sure you have a copy of your files on external storage before re-imaging the system. If you need assistance with restoring your system to factory settings you may need to access a local repair shop or an in-home service.

We're here 24/7 as your remote Restore Computer help. Just call one of our Personal Technology Experts® and we’ll handle everything. The entire process is easy. After you call, one of our Tech Experts will start remotely scanning your computer right away. By using only your Internet connection, we can fix just about any problem you may have—big or small. We're here to help you get the most from your technology. Also, by calling Support.com, there’s no need to go out to a local support center or invite strangers to your home. You’re free to just sit back and relax after we start.
Support.com offers the top-notch support you’ve been looking for. We've been helping people solve their computer problems since 1998.

All of our Personal Technology Experts® are full-time employees living right here in North America. Before they can help you, they must first earn their title by passing a series of incredibly rigorous tests. By doing this, Support.com assures you that you’re getting the best customer support possible.

From driver problems to stubborn viruses to a slow computer, if you have a problem with your laptop, desktop or peripheral device, don't wait another minute—Support.com can help you right now.

Call Support.com for help restoring your computer.