System restore

A " get out of jail free !" card

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When things go wrong, System restore can save the day!

One of the quickest and most effective ways of correcting a fault with your Windows installation is to do a System restore. System restore is a utility in Windows that continually monitors its usage. Just before any major changes are made to Windows, System restore automatically backs up the registry, the majority of .dll files and any installed device drivers. The idea being that, if something goes wrong during "the change," all of Window's critical settings can be returned to how they were, prior to the changes taking place. This utility is in effect, a "get out

of jail free card" that allows you to try something out or, make some changes and if things go wrong, it can be used to get things back to how they were before the changes were made. It can also be used to put things right when something goes wrong suddenly and the cause was something that was out of your control. It should be noted however, that, System restore should only be used as a last resort when all other methods have been exhausted so, before you use System restore to correct a problem caused by a newly installed program, first, try removing the program using one of the other

methods that are available, such as, the "add and remove programs" utility in Windows XP.

A quick guide to using System restore

So let's take a look at how to use System restore. Firstly, make sure that the System restore utility is turned on: click "Start," right-click "My Computer," click "Properties." Click the "System restore" tab in the "System Properties" pop up window and then, make sure that there isn't a tick in the box - "Turn off System Restore on all drives" before clicking "OK."

To use System restore to reinstate your computer to an earlier time: click "Start," hold your mouse over "All Programs," hold your mouse over "Accessories," hold your mouse over "System Tools" and then, click "System Restore." On the Welcome screen, click "Restore my computer to an earlier time" and then, click "Next." On the "Select a Restore Point" page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point you'd like to restore to and then, click "Next." On the "Confirm Restore Point" page, verify that you have chosen the correct date and then close any programs that are open. Click "Next" if you are ready to proceed or, click "Back" to change the date. Your computer will shut down automatically and reboot - it may take some time so, don't worry. On reboot, you'll see the "Restoration Complete" page - just click "OK."

System restore leaves existing programs, files and folders alone

If you do have to use System restore - don't worry about any of your existing documents and or, pictures because non-system files are not affected and remain intact on your computer. If using System restore doesn't fix the problem, you may have to go through the same process again, but using an earlier date as your restore point.

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