Practicing the Black Art (07/02)
System Restore
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@comcast.net
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
If you use an Undo command in your word processor or any other application, you have an idea of how System Restore works in Microsoft's new edition of Windows?XP. The function automatically monitors and records changes you make to your system settings, even if you are unaware that you're changing anything. This allows you to roll-back your system to a point where it was working, whether or not you know what caused the problem.
This can be helpful when you change a piece of hardware, install some new software or make any kind of change that causes trouble when you restart. System Restore saves your configuration after every successful startup. After that, if you have trouble, for whatever reason, Windows then goes to the last good settings configuration to get you to a point where you can fix whatever went wrong.
This is also true if you upgrade a driver and have some kind of compatibility issue. Windows then automatically restores the previous version of the driver. This will almost always get you back to normal.
System Restore won't do anything to affect your personal data files, so you won't lose your documents, spreadsheets, graphics, e-mails or browser history. That's because it doesn't monitor or keep track of these kinds of files. What it does is watch files that end in exe, vxd, dll, com, and sys extensions. Restore points are automatically created whenever you turn your machine on, install a new application, update a device driver, update Windows XP itself or manually create a restore point for your own convenience. That's good, but don't be fooled into thinking that now you can do away with making backups. System Restore wasn't designed to remove programs or function as a backup tool. If you install a quirky program, remove it with the Add/Remove tool in Control Panel.
When you create a restore point, System Restore takes a full snapshot of the registry and some dynamic system files. Creating a restore point gives you more control than previous versions of Windows. If you make hardware or configuration changes to your computer and something goes wrong, select a restore point, and Windows XP undoes whatever system havoc you created.
You don't have to do anything to enable System Restore. It's enabled by default, and it will run as soon as the setup process is complete for either version of XP. It then checks the C: drive for 200 MB of free disk space. If you don't have the required space, System Restore disables itself and remains that way until the required space is available. Given the size of today's hard drives, nobody should be running XP with this important utility unavailable.
If you turn your machine on and leave it on for ten hours or more, an Automatic System CheckPoint will be created, but only after the computer has been idle for two minutes. If you can't stay away from the keyboard and mouse for two minutes, then a System CheckPoint will be created once every 24 hours after the system has been idle for two minutes. (Take a break).
When you run System Restore, a calendar is displayed to help you find restore points. If you don't use your computer every day, some days might not have any restore points. If you use your computer frequently, you might have restore points every day, and some days could have several restore points. System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new ones, so that a rolling safety net is always in place. You're covered from every angle. Go ahead, run amok. XP doesn't care. It will rescue even the most clumsy and loutish among us.
If you really screw up and accidentally choose the wrong system state to restore back to, you can recover by choosing a restore point before this operation and undo the restore operation. Then start over and select the correct restore point. The restore operation itself will create a restore point so you can undo it. (Sounds confusing, doesn't it?)
To create a restore point
There are several ways to get to System Restore, but we're going to access it through the System Restore Wizard through the Help and Support Center.
- Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
- Click Performance and Maintenance.
- Click Using System Restore to undo changes. (See Figure 1.)
- Click Run the System Restore Wizard.
- Click Create a restore point, and then click Next. (See Figure 2.)
6. In the Restore point description box, type a name to identify this restore point. System Restore automatically adds the date and time. (See Figure 3.)
7. To finish creating this restore point, click Create and you're done.
To view or to return to this restore point, repeat steps 1 - 4 and select Restore my computer to an earlier time. (Figure 2). Then select the date when the restore point was created from the calendar in the Select a Restore Point screen. (Figure 4). All of the restore points that were created on the selected date are listed by name in the list box to the right of the calendar. Selecting a different date is as easy as clicking on it.
Summary
* The System Restore feature of Windows XP allows you to restore your PC to a previous working state without losing personal data files.
* System Restore actively monitors system file changes and some application file changes to record or store previous versions before the changes occurred.
* Restore points are created when you install a new device driver.
* Restore points are created when you install a new application or utility program.
* Restore points are automatically created periodically. You don't have to think about it.
* You can create and name your own restore points at any time.
* System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new ones. You don't have to keep track of them.
* Don't use System Restore as a substitute for backup. That path will lead to disaster.
* Don't use System Restore to remove programs. :
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Copyright 2002. This article is from the July 2002 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
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