Quick Guide to Windows Complete PC Restore in Windows Vista

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• What is Windows Complete PC Restore

• How to restore Windows Vista with Windows Complete PC Restore

• Recover Windows system in an easier way

What is Windows Complete PC Restore

Are you confused with how to restore Windows Vista or what Windows Complete PC Restore is? In fact, Windows Complete PC Restore is a function of the Windows Vista and Server 2008 system for disaster recovery. As such, it can be run only by starting your computer with a recovery disc or booting into a recovery hard disk partition.

You must have created a Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore image before you can restore your entire computer. However, the recovery option isn’t one to use casually. This is only recommended as a last resort when other ways fail, because all the programs and files added after the backup point will be removed.

Also, this function has been removed from OS after Windows Vista. So to create and restore from a complete computer backup in Windows 11/10/8/7, you must find an adequate alternative.

How to restore Windows Vista with Windows Complete PC Restore

To restore your entire computer with Windows Complete PC Restore, you can refer to the following steps:

Step 1. Boot the computer from the CD or DVD and configure language and location options in Vista Setup.

Step 2. Click on the Repair your computer option.

Step 3. Select the Vista installation you would like to repair. When ready, press the Next button to continue.

Step 4. Click on the Windows Complete PC Restore option.

Step 5. By default, Complete PC Restore will select the latest backup to restore. If you want to choose a different backup version, just check the “Restore a different backup” option.

Step 6. When you are ready to continue, you should click on the Finish button.

When the above operation is completed, your Windows system has been recovered. However, there are some issues that need attention.

• If the image backup is too large, it may take a long time to restore.

• If the server hard disk to be recovered is less than 160GB, the recovery will fail. In addition, there are other issues that can cause system recovery to fail.

Therefore, we’d better choose convenient and safe software to help us recover Windows Vista such as AOMEI Backupper Standard.

Alternative | Perform complete PC restore in all Windows OS easily

AOMEI Backupper Standard is high-quality backup and restore software. With this software, you can back up system, disk, and some important files in advance. Then, you can restore the image backed up before from this software. If your system image is from another computer with different hardware, you should tick "Universal Restore" (available in advanced editions) to ensure the system is bootable after recovery.

All editions of Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP are supported. You can download this complete PC backup & restore software to have a try:

To restore the system in case of system crash, you should have two things prepared when your computer is in good condition:

▶ Go to Backup > System Backup to create a system image.
▶ Go to Tools > Create Bootable Media to create a WinPE bootable disk so that you can boot your computer in case of boot failure.

Step 1. In the left tab, select Restore and then click Select Task. Or you can click Select Image File to locate an image file manually.

Step 2. Select the system backup task from the list and click Next.

Step 3. Select to restore entire backup or a part and click Next. The program will restore your computer system to its original location by default unless you choose Restore system to other location.

Step 4. All the operations will be listed. Just confirm the operations, and then click Start Restore if there isn't any mistake.

Summary

Windows Complete PC Restore is a method of restoring the system, but it is easy to fail for some issues. So, the third-party software AOMEI Backupper Standard is a better choice for us because it is safer and more efficient. 

Besides backup and restore, it is also great clone software that enables you to clone disk freely. But if you want to clone system only, you may upgrade to a paid version like AOMEI Backupper Professional.