Help! :(

[FirlandsFarm]

Sorry to have to display my ignorance but I have just installed Far Manager but cannot see a User Manual link anywhere! I have purchased and installed Far Manager because (I assume) MS installed a Win11 update and restarted my computer without warning but on re-opening Edge I was not given (or did not see) the usual option to restore previously open windows/tabs from the previous session.

On researching what to do I found a posting on Reddit recommending Far Manager as a possible solution for this problem as it will enable me to access "backups from up to 2 weeks ago" ... but how and how do I use those back ups?

I must admit in my naivety I thought there might be a way to find the details of named windows and reinstate them ... is this possible?

Thanking all for helping a stranded newcomer.

[HaRT]

I have purchased and installed Far Manager

Sorry to hear that you paid for FAR to some fraudsters, as it has been free (and open-source) for MANY years.

Far Manager as a possible solution for this problem as it will enable me to access "backups from up to 2 weeks ago"

Although a knowledgeable person likely can use FAR to access some details of the OS normally hidden from regular users, FAR itself is not a specialized tool for tasks like this. And I doubt any backups are really hidden (but what you mean is likely not a backup anyway).

a posting on Reddit recommending Far Manager as a possible solution for this problem

I assume that such posting should have given more hints as to how to accomplish the task. What's the exact link?

I thought there might be a way to find the details of named windows and reinstate them ... is this possible?

I never heard of such thing. Even if such data are preserved across system sessions, I'm afraid the data are not worth the effort required to recover them.

just installed Far Manager but cannot see a User Manual link anywhere

It's because FAR does not come with a User Manual. It has a built-in Help system though, press F1 to access that (in various contexts).
Please feel free to use your favorite search engine (such as Google Search) to find some decent tutorials. Even better if you can use an online translator of your choice (such as Google Translate) to read pages on FAR in Russian (these are superior in both quantity and quality).

on re-opening Edge I was not given (or did not see) the usual option to restore previously open windows/tabs from the previous session

With Edge open and active, please try pressing CtrlShiftT multiple times. Each time, it will open a recently closed tab; once there are no more of these in the current session, it will reopen a recently closed window (even from the previous session). If that does not help, you should be able to restore the web pages from your Edge browsing history (CtrlH).

[FirlandsFarm]

Thanks for your assistance HaRT. I'll put the scam re payment down to experience (it was only US$5) I'll just keep going back over CtrlShiftT. It's so annoying, I fooled my computer into thinking it was connected to a metered internet connection so it would ask for permission before installing updates but an currently in a hotel and didn't think to do the same with the hotel connection! All fool me. So many people rely on Edge and it's facilities to make life easier you would think MS would improve the recovery options!