Enable-ComputerRestore

Article
04/20/2010

Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0

Enables the System Restore feature on the specified file system drive.

Syntax

Enable-ComputerRestore [-Drive] <string[]> [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Enable-ComputerRestore cmdlet turns on the System Restore feature on one or more file system drives. As a result, you can use tools, such as the Restore-Computer cmdlet, to restore the computer to a previous state.

By default, System Restore is enabled on all eligible drives, but you can disable it, such as by using the Disable-ComputerRestore cmdlet. To enable (or re-enable) System Restore on any drive, it must be enabled on the system drive, either first or concurrently. To find the state of System Restore for each drive, use Rstrui.exe.

System restore points and the ComputerRestore cmdlets are supported only on client operating systems, such as Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

Parameters

-Drive <string[]>

Specifies the file system drives. Enter one or more file system drive letters, each followed by a colon and a backslash and enclosed in quotation marks, such as "C:\" or "D:\". This parameter is required.

You cannot use this cmdlet to enable System Restore on a remote network drive, even if the drive is mapped to the local computer, and you cannot enable System Restore on drives that are not eligible for System Restore, such as external drives.

To enable System Restore on any drive, System Restore must be enabled on the system drive, either before or concurrently.

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-WhatIf

Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

<CommonParameters>

This command supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, WarningAction, and WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

Inputs and Outputs

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.

Inputs

None

You cannot pipe objects to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None

This cmdlet does not generate any output.

Notes

To run an Enable-ComputerRestore command on Windows Vista and later versions of Windows, open Windows PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option.

To find the file system drives that are eligible for system restore, in System in Control Panel, see the System Protection tab. To open this tab in Windows PowerShell, type "SystemPropertiesProtection".

This cmdlet uses the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) SystemRestore class.

Example 1

C:\PS>enable-computerrestore -drive "C:\"

Description
-----------
This command enables System Restore on the C: drive of the local computer.

Example 2

C:\PS>enable-computerrestore -drive "C:\", "D:\"

Description
-----------
This command enables System Restore on the C: and D: drives of the local computer.

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