How to Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt

Windows Millennium Edition (Me) includes the System Restore tool, but you cannot start the System Restore tool from a command prompt. Because of this, it may be useful to start the System Restore tool when you are unable to start your Windows Me-based computer normally or in Safe mode. This article describes how to start the System Restore tool when you cannot start your Windows Me-based computer normally or in Safe mode.

To start the System Restore tool when you cannot start your Windows Me-based computer normally or in Safe mode, you can temporarily change the Windows shell from Explorer.exe to Progman.exe:

1. Start your computer by using the Windows Me Startup disk.
2. At the Startup menu, choose Minimum Boot.
3. At the command prompt, type edit c:\windows\system.ini, and then press ENTER.
4. Edit the shell= line so that it looks like this:
   shell=progman.exe
5. Press ALT+F, and then press S to save the changes to the System.ini file.
6. Press ALT+F, and then press X.
7. Remove your Windows Me Startup disk, and then restart your computer. When your computer restarts, Program Manager should start. If Program Manager does not start, repeat steps 1 through 7, being careful to follow these steps exactly, and then continue to the next step.
8. On the File menu, click Run, type msconfig in the Command Line box, and then press ENTER.
9. Click Launch System Restore to begin restoring your computer to a previous, functional state.

Notes

• After you configure your computer to start Program Manager (Progman.exe), you can also start the System Restore tool by typing c:\windows\system\restore\rstrui.exe at a command prompt, and then pressing ENTER.
• If you still cannot use System Restore, repeat steps 1 through 6. In step 4, change the shell= line so that it reads:
  shell=explorer.exe
  This sets the Windows shell back to Explorer.exe so that you can continue troubleshooting.

For additional information about the System Restore tool, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: