Turn off System Restore using Group Policy in Windows Vista

Windows Vista has a System Restore feature which can be used to restore your computer back to a specified point of time. But this can waste a lot of your useful hard disk space. Using a group policy you can completely turn off System Restore and its configuration. Here is how :

Note : The following steps will completely turn off the System Restore and its configuration. If you want to just disable System Restore for one or more partitions, then read how to disable System Restore in Windows Vista.

  1. Press the key combination Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type gpedit.msc in the Run dialog and press Enter.

  3. In the Local Group Policy Editor navigate to
    Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → System Restore.
  4. You would find two settings on the right hand side pane — Turn Off Configuration and Turn Off System Restore as shown,

  5. Click on both of these settings (one at a time) and choose Enabled and then click OK.

  6. Close the Local Group Policy Editor window.