Chapter 22. Backups and Troubleshooting

PC troubleshooting is among the most difficult propositions on earth, in part because your machine has so many cooks. Microsoft made the operating system, another company made the computer, and dozens of others contributed the programs you use every day. The number of conflicts that can arise and the number of problems you may encounter is nearly infinite. That's why, if you were lucky, you bought your PC from a company that offers a toll-free, 24- hour help line. You may need it.

In the meantime, Vista is crawling with special diagnostic modes, software tools, and workarounds designed to revive a gasping or dead PC. Some are clearly intended only for licensed geeks . Others, however, are available even to mere mortals armed with no more information than, "It's not working right."

Whether you get it working or not, however, there's one constant that applies to novices and programmers alikeyou're always better off if you have a backup copy of your files. Fortunately, Windows Vista comes with not one but three different backup systems. This chapter tells all.