Restore & Backup

Three layers of protection: system restore points, full registry backup, and driver backup.

🔧 System Restore Point

Creates a Windows System Restore point with a custom name. Bypasses the default 24-hour cooldown by temporarily setting SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency to 0.

Backs up: Registry (all hives), system files, drivers, installed programs (system state), Windows Updates

Does NOT back up: Personal files (Documents, Photos), user-deleted files

When to use: Before applying tweaks, installing unknown software, or registry changes

📦 Registry Backup

Exports all 5 registry hives (HKLM, HKCU, HKCR, HKU, HKCC) to .reg files via reg export. Saved to Documents\CodeWinOptimizer\registry-backups\ with timestamp.

Full backup: Complete registry export, not just a snapshot

Restorable: Double-click any .reg file to restore that hive

When to use: Before major system changes or as periodic safety net

💾 Driver Backup & Restore

Backup: Exports all third-party drivers via DISM. Restore: Select a backup folder and uses pnputil for each .inf file.

When to backup: Before reinstalling Windows or selling a PC

When to restore: After fresh Windows install to get all drivers back

Note: Only third-party drivers are exported (not Windows inbox drivers)