System Restore Disabled by Administrator — How to Fix It

System Restore in Windows is a useful feature that allows you to revert your system back to a previous state, especially if errors or issues arise. However, sometimes you might encounter an error saying: “System Restore has been disabled by your administrator.” Let’s explore why this happens and how you can resolve the issue.

Why System Restore Might Be Disabled

There are several reasons why System Restore may be turned off:

  • Group Policy settings, often used in corporate or managed networks.
  • Manual changes to the Windows Registry or by third-party software.
  • Antivirus software disabling System Restore for security reasons.
  • System errors or a malfunctioning operating system.

Methods to Enable System Restore

Below are several methods to re-enable System Restore on your Windows system.

Method 1: Use Group Policy Editor

  1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
  2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → System Restore.
  3. Locate “Turn off System Restore” and “Turn off Configuration.”
  4. Double-click each setting and set it to “Disabled” or “Not Configured.”
  5. Click OK and restart your computer.

Method 2: Fix Settings via Registry Editor

  1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
  2. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore.
  3. Check for keys named DisableSR and DisableConfig. If they exist, set their values to 0.
  4. If the keys don’t exist, create them: right-click, select “New” → “DWORD (32-bit) Value,” and name them DisableSR and DisableConfig with a value of 0.
  5. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Method 3: Check System Settings

  1. Press Win + Pause/Break to open the System Properties.
  2. Go to the “System Protection” tab.
  3. Ensure protection is enabled for your system drive (usually C:). Click “Configure” and select “Turn on system protection.”
  4. Set the maximum disk space for restore points and click OK.

Method 4: Use Command Prompt

  1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator. Press Win + X and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” or “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
  2. Type the following command and press Enter: 
    net start srservice
  3. If the service was disabled, this command will start it. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

What to Do If Nothing Works

If you still cannot enable System Restore, the issue might be due to corrupted system files. In this case, try using the System File Checker tool:

  1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
  2. Enter the following command: 
    sfc /scannow
  3. Wait for the process to complete. If any errors are found, the tool will attempt to fix them automatically.

Once the scan is complete, restart your computer and check if System Restore is now enabled.