Is it still possible to create a system recovery if I have updated system from original Win 7 to Win 8.1 and finally to win 10

 Is it still possible to create a system recovery  if I have updated system  from original Win 7 to Win 8.1 and finally to win 10. If a factory recovery is possible does it reset to win 10 or does it go back to original windows setup that came from the factory as win 7.

As a separate issue, after updating system to win 10 I had a problem one day in that windows would not come up. At that time I thought I would do a system recovery but instead apparently I did a full recovery. .Fortunately after I originally updated to win 10 I did run a system back up on win 10 that I still have stored on a separate hard drive. As it stands I have win 10 running but without any of my  previously installed programs. My question is this, is still possible to recover win 10 that I have backed up on a separate hard drive that would include all my programs etc

I hope I have not confused everybody with my explanation. I am only a novice at computers but have found out that I learn a great deal when trying to get out of a jam such as this.

Any help is appreciated,

AL