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The Backup page lets you create and restore Windows System Restore points without leaving Sparkle. A restore point captures a snapshot of your system’s configuration — registry settings, installed drivers, and system files — at a specific moment in time. If something goes wrong after applying tweaks, you can roll back to that snapshot.
Always create a restore point before applying tweaks, especially tweaks rated Caution or Risky. Restore points do not protect your personal files, but they do revert system and registry changes.

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Restore points and Windows System Restore

Sparkle uses the built-in Windows System Restore infrastructure (Checkpoint-Computer and Restore-Computer). Restore points created by Sparkle appear in the standard Windows System Restore wizard alongside any other restore points on your system. Sparkle sets the SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency registry value to 0 each time it creates a restore point. This removes Windows’ default cooldown period, which normally prevents creating more than one restore point per 24 hours.
Listing restore points is a beta feature and may be unreliable in some configurations. Creating and restoring restore points works as expected.

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Creating a restore point

You have two options on the Backup page:
Click Quick Restore Point. Sparkle creates a restore point with an automatic label in the format SparkleBackup-YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS. The list refreshes automatically when it finishes.Use this for a fast snapshot before making changes.
Creation can take a minute or more depending on your hardware. A spinner is shown while Sparkle is working.

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Restoring from a restore point

1

Find the restore point

The table on the Backup page lists all restore points on your system with their description. Use the search bar to filter by name if you have many entries.
2

Click Restore

Click the Restore button on the row you want. A confirmation dialog opens showing the restore point’s description.
3

Confirm

Read the warning in the dialog, then click Restore. Sparkle calls Restore-Computer with the restore point’s sequence number. Your PC will restart shortly to apply the restore.
Restoring a restore point will revert all system and registry changes made since that point was created — including any tweaks applied through Sparkle. Your personal files (documents, photos, downloads) are not affected. Recently installed applications and their settings may be removed.

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When to create a restore point

  • Before applying tweaks — Especially before enabling any tweak rated Caution or Risky.
  • Before running DISM or SFC — System repair tools can change system files.
  • Before installing new drivers — In case a driver causes instability.
  • Before uninstalling Sparkle — If you want to revert all tweaks, restore to a point created before you started using Sparkle.
If you plan to uninstall Sparkle and want a clean system, revert your tweaks manually first by toggling them off in the Tweaks page, then restore to a pre-Sparkle restore point for a complete rollback.

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Deleting restore points

Click Delete All to remove every restore point on your system. This runs vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet. Use this to free up disk space occupied by shadow copies, but only when you are confident you no longer need them.

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