Undoing the Damage with System Restore

Perhaps the best course of action when your system crashes is to use Microsoft's System Restore utility. This Windows XP utility can automatically restore your system to the state it was in before the crash occurred and save you the trouble of reinstalling any damaged software programs. It's a great safety net for when things go wrong.

Setting System Restore Points

System Restore works by monitoring your system and noting any changes that are made when you install new applications. Each time it notes a change, it automatically creates what it calls a restore point. A restore point is basically a "snapshot" of key system files just before the new application is installed.

Just to be safe, System Restore also creates a new restore point after every 10 hours of system use. You can also choose to manually create a new restore point at any moment in time. It's a good idea to do this whenever you make any major change to your system, such as installing a new piece of hardware.

To set a manual restore point, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
   
   

2. Select All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore to open the System Restore window.
   
   

3. Select Create a Restore Point and click Next.
   
   

4. You'll now be prompted to enter a description for this new restore point; do this.
   
   

5. Click the Create button.
   
   

That's all you have to do. Windows notes the appropriate system settings and stores them in its System Restore database.

Restoring Your System

If something in your system goes bad, you can run System Restore to set things right. Pick a restore point before the problem occurred (such as right before a new installation), and System Restore will then undo any changes made to monitored files since the restore point was created. This restores your system to its pre-installation that is, working condition.

To restore your system from a restore point, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
   
   

2. Select All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore to open the System Restore window.
   
   

3. Select Restore My Computer to an Earlier Time option, then click Next.
   
   

4. When the Select a Restore Point screen appears, you'll see a calendar showing the current month, as shown in Figure 10.2; any date highlighted in bold contains a restore point. Select a restore point, and then click the Next button.
   
   

   Figure 10.2. Use the System Restore utility to restore damaged programs or system files.

   
   
   

5. When the confirmation screen appears, click Next.
   
   

Windows now starts to restore your system. You should make sure that all open programs are closed because Windows will need to be restarted during this process.

caution

System Restore will help you recover any damaged programs and system files, but it won't help you recover any damaged documents or data files.

When the process is complete, your system should be back in tip-top shape. Note, however, that it might take a half-hour or more to complete a system restore so you'll have time to order a pizza and eat dinner before the operation is done!

The Absolute Minimum

Here are the key points to remember from this chapter:

• If something strange happens to your computer system, the first thing to do is not panic!

• Most so-called computer problems are actually caused by operator error, so back up and do whatever it is you did one more time carefully, this time.

• You can shut down frozen programs from the Windows Task Manager, which you display by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.

• Press Ctrl+Alt+Del a second time to reboot your computer.

• Some problems can be fixed from Windows Safe mode; to enter Safe mode, restart your computer and press F8 before the Windows start screen appears.

• If your system misbehaves after installing new software or hardware, use the System Restore utility to return your system to its pre-installation state.