When a drive is added to System protection, Windows creates restore points so one can revert unneeded changes and go back to a previous good state on the drive. Each drive on a Windows system can be added or removed from System protection. When a drive is added, Windows use a restore point to return to a working condition using the data from a restore point. Restore points can also be deleted to free up space on systems with small storage. Windows will purge old restore points so that new ones are created. The space reserved for restored points is allocated based on the size of the hard disk and the version of Windows being used. If you don’t have a robust backup plan in place, System protection for drives should be considered and used.
How to enable System protection for drives in Windows 11
As mentioned above, System protection for drives allows Windows to create restore points so that it can restore the system using restore points data in the event the system becomes unstable. All drives are not automatically included in Windows System protection. Below is how to enable protection for a drive Windows 11. Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from its System Settings pane. To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below: Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it. Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click System, and select the About tile on the right pane as shown in the image below. On the About settings pane, click on the System protection link as highlighted below. On the System Protection properties window, under Available Drives, select the drive you want to include in System protection, then click on Configure to bring up Windows restore point settings window. On the System Protection for Local Disk (C:) window, select the option to Turn on system protection as highlighted below. Once system protection is enabled for the system drive, you can adjust the Max usage slider to the maximum disk space you want to be used for system protection. Click OK when done. You can now exit the settings windows.
How to turn off System protection for a drive in Windows 11
To turn off System protection for a drive in Windows 11, simply reverse the steps above by going to the Start menu ==> Settings ==> System ==> About ==> System protection link ==> select drive you want to turn off protection for, click Configure and turn select Disable system protection. That should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to enable or disable system protection for drives in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
