Using the System Restore Wizard
Imagine being able to solve your personal computer problems with the click of your mouse. Allow me to introduce you to the Windows XP System Restore utility program. Windows XP creates restoration points, as part of its system restore facility, every time that your personal computer is booted up, once every 24 hours if your computer is left on, and whenever a new program is installed.
A lot of computer users are not even aware that Windows XP has a System Restore utility program. Whenever your computer starts to experiencing unusual operating problems you should first try shutting the computer down, turning the power off and on again, in order to reboot your personal computer. If that does not solve the problem, then you should definitely try using the system restore wizard that comes with Windows XP.
To use the Windows XP System Restore Wizard, click the Start Button, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click on System Restore.
System restore offers users several different options. To be proactive, before attempting to install a new driver, or adjusting your Windows XP system settings you should always remember to set a System Restore Point in order to make recovery easier in case of problems. But usually, you would just want to use this tool in order to restore your computer’s system files to an earlier point in time.
To pick a restore date, select that option and click Next. A calendar will appear. The bold-faced dates provide restoration points. And, some dates will include more than one restoration point to pick from.
John H. Gohde recommends running system restore to recover from a total power lost experienced while operating your personal computer. Corrupted system files can often be fixed by restoring your computer to an earlier point in time. But, problems caused by installing a new program should be fixed by uninstalling the program with the Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs tool, since using system restore wont reclaim disk space taken up by the new program. Remember that system restore will only restore important systems files, rather than documents that you may have been working on. Use it regularly to keep your personal computer stable and trouble free.
- Recovering from Screen Problems
- Recovering with Last Known Good Configuration
- Use CCleaner To Clean Your PC
June 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm
John I have a comment on your excellent post on Systems restore….
I did all you said…and got this message:
To turn on Systems Restore contact your Domaine Adminstarater?
IS that me…as the admin? IF so how do I turn it on…I am in admin at the moment but it still gives me the same message…
thanks in advance…I am ready to pull my hair out with this bugger.
Barbara Sennert
themaverickmomma@gmail.com
June 3, 2009 at 5:48 am
Are you an individual or a company? And, does your company have an IT person? Are you running the Home Edition or XP Professional?
It is possible to turn off system restore. You can turn it back on by clicking on the System Restore Settings (bottom of the left panel on the 2nd picture, above). Sounds to me like you are not classified as an Administrator by your computer.
Try running it in safe mode. If your user name has Administrator access then you should be able to turn it back on.
From the safe mode command line prompt the program is called:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe