How to Fix A Frozen Windows 10 System Restore

Windows 10 System Restore Stuck

System Restore is a Windows features used to revert the computer’s state (system files, Windows Registry, settings, installed applications) to a previous point in situations of malfunctions or other problems.

Various problems can be encountered during the system restore process; one of the more common ones is the task being frozen even when you try to interrupt it.

How long does System Restore take on Windows 10/7/8? Usually, the operation would complete within 20-45 minutes based on the system size but certainly not a few hours.

If you run Windows 10 and start System Restore in System Protection, you might get stuck on the following screen, saying:

“Please wait while your Windows files and settings are being restored

System Restore is initializing“.

In another situation, you might try to perform a restoration in WinRE. Again, Windows System Restore is stuck on restoring files.

So what to do when a system restore in Windows 10 gets stuck?

The following sections are some possible methods for fixing the issue of System Restore taking forever to complete.

How to Fix Windows 10 System Restore Stuck

Since there are a lot of discussions on this topic on the internet, we have compiled a list of useful solutions for you to try one by one.

① Perform System Restore in Safe Mode

If your system is stuck on the initializing screen or file restoring, the first thing to do is still to wait for a while especially if the restore point contains a lot of data.

However, if Windows 10 System Restore freezes for more than an hour, try forcing a shutdown, restarting your computer and checking for the status.

If Windows still returns to the same screen, try fixing it in Safe Mode using the following steps.

Step 1: Prepare an installation disc. Go to the Microsoft website on another working computer, download Windows 10 tool and create an installation disc. In addition, you can also create a repair disc or repair drive.

Step 2: Insert the created media into your computer and change the boot order to boot the computer from the media.

Step 3: Select Repair your computer on the Install Windows screen to enter WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment).

Tip: If this screen does not appear, your PC might not be set up to boot from a drive. Check your PC manufacturer’s website for information on how to boot from media, and then try again.

Step 4: Go to Choose an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.

Step 5: Press F6 to select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt to run System Restore.

Step 6: Choose an account and enter the password.

Step 7: Type rstrui.exe in the pop-up Command Prompt window and press Enter.

Step 8: Now you can start System Restore in Safe Mode.

This should effectively fix the issue of Windows 10 System Restore stuck. However, if System Restore still freezes upon initializing or restoring files, try the next solution.

② Run Startup Repair

Can I stop system restore Windows 10?

You can force a shutdown to stop the system restoration process in order for your computer to run normally again upon reboot. Nevertheless, the issue of System Restore hung up on initializing still appears when you run it.

One of the possible reasons is that the boot manager is corrupted. In this case, you can simply fix it by through Startup Repair.

To do this, enter WinRE. Then, go to Choose an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Repair.

Try the next solution if this doesn’t work with the issue Windows 10 System Restore stuck.

③ Run SFC

System File Check (SFC.exe) is a Windows utility that helps you scan for corruptions in Windows system files. It will try restoring any corrupted files found.

If the System Restore taking forever Windows 10 issue happens, it is likely that certain files are damaged.

Here, run System File Check to scan Windows and check if it helps.

Enter WinRE by using an installation disc, just like the first method.
Navigate to Choose an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
Choose an account and enter the password.
Type sfc /scannow in the pop-out window and press Enter to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows 10.

Please wait patiently until the verification reaches 100%.

After the verification is done, run a System Restore again to see whether it is still stuck on restoring files or initializing.

In addition to these three solutions, some users suggest performing a full system virus scan using Windows Defender to ensure that the PC is free from virus, or running the disk cleanup and then try performing a system restore. These solutions might also fix the issue of Windows 10 System Restore taking a long time.

Important:

It is easy for System Restore to get stuck on initializing or restoring files in Windows. When something goes wrong, it becomes impossible to restore your computer to a restore point. This is really annoying, but if you have an available backup, things will be easy.

Computer backup has been an issue of critical concern for many people. In case of system corruption or data loss, the backup can be used to quickly restore your system or data.

Compared to System Restore in Windows, backup is recommended since it is all-sided; Windows files, individual files, settings, applications, etc. can all be included in an image file.