Last week we talked about what System Restore is and how to enable it in Windows XP. This week we will see how to use it. (System Restore should come installed and enabled in a new Windows XP system.)
To Create a Restore Point, click Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Restore. In the System Restore window, click “Create a Restore Point” and Next. In this window enter a description (note that the date and time are created automatically). Then to actually generate the Restore Point, click the Create button. It will take from a few seconds to a minute or so. When it is finished just close the window and you have a manually created Restore Point.
To restore your computer to a past date using a Restore Point (this assumes that your system is bootable and will start properly) click Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Restore, just as before. Then click “Restore My Computer to an earlier time”, click Next and choose the date in the displayed calendar. Click on the Restore Point and click Next a couple of times and read all of the suggestions/warnings. If there is more than one Restore Point present for that date choose the one that you think is best.
If you can’t boot your computer normally boot it into safe mode. Then follow the instructions above.
As I stated last week…My Documents, previously saved files and even e-mail are not affected during a restoration.
If you chose the wrong point to restore just undo it by clicking as you did above to get to the System Restore area. Afterward choose “Undo my last restoration”, then Next. Your computer will have to reboot. After it does respond “OK” for the screen message you will receive.
If you ever receive an error message that is related to System Restore (which is exceedingly rare), make sure that you record the error message. Then follow the instructions that the error message contains to try and resolve the problem. Most System Restore issues produce a message that contains a description of the issue and suggestions for how to resolve the issue.
That’s about all there is on System Restoring. Remember it’s like insurance you hope you will never need it, but when you do there is nothing better.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 5:04 am and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
