Microsoft is Making it Harder to Fix Windows

Microsoft is making it harder to fix Windows by disabling features like Automatic Registry Backups and system restore. Looks like they would rather people have to reload Windows when things go wrong. I'll show you today how to reenable these features so when problems come up, they can be fixed.

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Notes from video:
Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Configuration Manager

Add Dword 32Bit [EnablePeriodicBackup] set to 1
Add Dword 32Bit [BackupCount] Set to desired number of backups

Command For Task scheduler
schtasks /run /i /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Registry\RegIdleBackup"

Enable F8 menu
New Key [LastKnownGood]
New Dword 32Bit [Enabled] set to 1

In an administrator CMD
bcdedit /Set {Current} BootMenuPolicy Legacy

To change back to new menu
bcdedit /Set {Current} BootMenuPolicy Standard

#Windows #Registry #Tech

[DJdoppIer]

Microsoft: _"We removed automatic registry backups to save storage space."_
Literally everyone: _"If you're concerned about space, remove the extra bloatware and telemetry services. Pretty sure that junk takes up WAY more storage."_
Microsoft: ThOsE aRe EsSeNtIaL!!!"_*

[stuartgibson]

My work has the same philosophy as MS, giving us "improvements" to the software that we never asked for, making our job even harder to do than it was before.

[steeviebops]

I used to work in an IT workshop in an MSP (managed services provider, IT services for small business). I had both of these added to a post-setup script on our deployment server to make sure that it was enabled on anything we deployed. It saved our bacon many times. One thing to note is that if you have BitLocker disk encryption enabled, you'll be prompted for the 48-digit recovery key when you use the F8 menu.

[gcraig]

I re-enabled System Restore a long time ago (WIN 10), but I've become very wary of Microsoft and choose to not place much faith in it working when I actually need it. My fallback plan doesn't involve reinstalling Windows and all the work that entails, I just do a monthly system disk image backup which is stored on a separate drive. If the worst happens, I just use my boot disk or USB key to start up and then install the system disk backup. At worst I lose a month of application data (not really a full month, I also do a weekly backup of User Data). I always do a lot of customization of my operating system, so the "install a fresh version of Windows and start over" is a non-starter for me. Frequent backups are my friends, and storage space is cheap these days.

[angieandretti]

In my experience, Microsoft's "system restore" hasn't been reliable since Windows 7. Even in 8 and 8.1, it would almost always fail.

[DSProphet]

Yeah, honestly, I've spent the past couple of months learning how to tweak the living fk out of Windows 10/11 & disable all their BS. Got to say, I am very pleased with all my achievements, in big part because you inspired me to get into learning my system in a deeper level of understanding, so it won't blue screen me 24/7!

Thank you for your amazing work! 😊😊

[peterhaas]

Great video! A bit confusing is that you put "Command For Task manager" in the description although you meant "Command For Task Scheduler"

[godfist]

I have found System restore to be unreliable as far as fixing problems after using restore points. Buying additional 1TB Nmve drives for clone backups is super cheap now. Cloning your boot drive is the most reliable way to "system restore" that i've found. There's no 100% foolproof method but that's the best one I've got. Obviously takes much longer than software based methods but that's what works the best for me :)

[tendosingh]

Love that you summarized the steps and made it easily visible.

[chrissanburn]

Great tutorial, thanks so much for posting it! I haven't read through all the comments, so maybe someone else posted this already. I have 100 computers to enable on my windows domain so I turned your tips into a GPO (Group Policy Object):
Created a new GPO, linked to the OU with my computer objects, named it Enable Automatic Registry Backup
Right clicked the new GPO and chose Edit
Expand Computer Settings->Registry
Added the two keys for EnablePeriodicBackup and BackupCount
Expand Computer Panel Settings->Scheduled Tasks
Right click on Scheduled Tasks and choose New->Scheduled Task (At least Windows 7)
Setup the task as outlined in this tutorial. I also enabled the Setting tab option for Allow task to be run on demand.

[pootan]

I remember falling into that boot loop rabbit hole several months ago. And the similar disappointments of not seeing any file size on regback and no restorepoints.
Like you, I had to make a fresh install but was able to get most of my programs and all of my data using a combination of pctrans and laplink by connecting the bootlooped hard drive as an external drive. I really hate having to re-activate and fetch for all the keys most of my programs had or even worse, discontinued, so props for easus pctrans for saving me some time lol... But overall, it took a lot longer than it should have just because they disabled regback...

[malcolmbrady]

Hey !!! Thanks for taking the time to post this video I carried out your instructions regarding the Automatic Registry Backup, and am pleased to inform you I now have Auto Reg Backup.
Just want to say System Restore has saved me quite a number of times, usually after Microsoft updates have been installed. Thanks Again !! Malc U.K.

[dannyreneau]

Hi Rich,
1st off - Thank you for this video/tip! Very Useful and it will save my butt later I'm sure!
I just want to say that I created Scheduled Task without going through the additional steps you took. I left the Custom Handler alone and just set all the other parameters of the task I switched the task from Run As "System" to Run As "Admin" account to run the task. After saving the task changes, I then Right-Clicked the task from the Task Scheduler and selected 'Run" and it worked perfectly! The files that were in the folder = went from 0 bytes to various Kilobytes sizes depending on the file. I will check that the files get updated on the interval(s) I have chosen for running this task, but I feel pretty confident it should run as scheduled. Hope you read this and try it for yourself!

[iansimpson]

The cynic in me thinks Microsoft is doing this because when you reset Windows, your custom settings will be reset back to Microsoft defaults that are optimised for Microsoft's revenue streams (e.g. Microsoft Edge/Bing as the default browser and search engine). For users with local accounts, they can also take another opportunity to push logging in with a Microsoft account. Microsoft doesn't get that benefit when you repair a PC with System Restore or Automatic Registry Backups.

[P-G-]

Very true... unfortunately. I've noticed a few things since the release of Windows 11, but then it seems even worse. Now the best thing to do is to... do it manually, maybe creating some timed scripts.

[michaeljavert]

I noticed this every time I ran into a problem with Windows 10. Despite all System Restores, none of them actually worked unless I went into safe mode. Then Microsoft made that harder to get into Apparently they decided that pressing F8 while the computer was booting just made it too easy. Then if your computer didn't start up to begin with, you couldn't get to the option to reboot in safe mode and I don't even see that anymore. When I rise to power, all this mishigas will end and Windows will be the BEST OS. And the versions will be Windows (Current Year) None of this weird H1N1 malarkey that sound like flu strains. The only things Microsoft consistently does is bloating their operating system, bombarding users that don't know better with ads, and making simple things difficult and spying on their customers.

Ah, I made this comment before I got to your "Bonus" I will try that. Awesome !

[machdaddy]

This procedure has allowed me to fix so many computers that wouldn't boot.

[geoffreyvanpelt]

Great video! I would not be surprised if the disablement of those features is intended to encourage people to use a MS account on their PCs and more importantly, OneDrive backup subscriptions.

[markusTegelane]

I had a problem where bcdedit was not recognized as a command. So, if you have the same issue, run this command:
dir %windir% /b /s | findstr "bcdedit"

This should list all paths where bcdedit exists. Just copy one with the .exe extensions (not .mui or .dl) to system32 with this command:
copy "_Path of bcdedit.exe_" %windir%\System32

Then you should be able to use bcdedit like shown in the video.

[aonodensetsu]

Windows 11 actually comes with System Restore enabled for the system disk, enabled it for my Home disk as well