System and method for capturing and/or restoring session state of a machine without using image files. Session state information for a first computer system may be captured in a structured state capture file (SSCF) using metadata to represent the session state and steps or actions which produced the session state, and does not include a memory image or memory dump of the first computer system. The SSCF may be stored, and subsequently provided for restoration of the session state on the first computer system or a different computer system. A server computer system may store the SSCF (with other SSCFs) and may provide the SSCF to the first computer system or a different computer system over a network for session state restoration, e.g., in response to a request over the network. The first computer system may implement a virtual machine (VM). The session state may be that of the VM.