I thought this might be a great subject as I just spent the better parts of a day and a half trying to fix my computer. Not only did I pick up a virus, but also my computer started misbehaving, badly. I was unsure if it was caused from the virus or if it just instigated it.
At any rate, the way I see it, everyone should be aware of how important it is.
It can save you from major disaster and hopefully bring your home PC back to life.
This could prove to be a very long article so I may just break it down into smaller ones to make it easier to digest.
WHEN TO USE SYSTEM RESTORE
I think we all are guilty of downloading or installing a new game, application, or software update. Sometimes times when we do that the changes may make your system unstable.
If you make a lot of changes eventually your system will head south with little hope of recovery other than a full reformat and reinstall.
In other words if you system becomes unstable or acting weird, before reformatting, try a System Restore. It may be just what the Doctor ordered.
Just a quick heads up incase you run into difficulties. If you are about to download an item online, hesitate for a moment and create a System Restore point. You may just thank yourself in the near future.
Make sure that the System Restore service is running.
You can try this way first. It is the first step I always take.
*Look in Control Panel.
Follow these steps:
1) Click Start , Click Run, and then type compmgmt.msc in the Open box, and then press enter
2) Expand Services, and then click System Restore Services. If the Status of System Restore is not started, click Start on the toolbar to start it.
*Open a Command Prompt window.
Follow these steps:
1) Click Start, click Run, type CMD in the Open box, and then press Enter.
2) Type Net Start at the command prompt to make sure that the System Restore Service is up and is running.
If the System Restore Service is not listed, type net start "System Restore Service", and then press Enter.
Second way to see if System Restore is working.
*Make sure that System Restore is enabled on the drives where you want System Restore enabled
Follow these steps:
1) Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2) Click the System Restore tab.
3) If the System Restore is enabled, the Status column of a drive will show Monitoring.
If not, you can clear to clear the Turn off System Restore on all drives, and then click OK to enable it.
This next part is vital and must be followed through.
*Ensure that you have sufficient disk space on all the drives where System Restore is enabled
Follow these steps:
1) To check for free disk space, click Start, click Run, type diskmgmt.msc and then press Enter. Look at each drive System Restore is monitoring for free space.
2) If the free space on any partition system restore is monitoring falls lower than 50 MB, System Restore will suspend and remove all restore points to free disk space. You should have already received a low free disk space message by now. System Restore will resume monitoring when free disk space reaches 200 MB.
Note: In most cases you do not have to have System Restore monitor Partitions/drives other than the one Windows is installed on. System Restore does not monitor data files.
*Viewing the Events Logs for Service Errors
Follow these steps:
1) Click Start, click Run, type eventvwr.msc/s in the Open box, and then press Enter.
2) Click the System category.
3) Click the Source tab to sort by name, and then look for "sr" or "srservice". Double-click each of these services, and then evaluate the event description for any indication of the cause of the problem.
*System Restore can also be run in Safe Mode
Follow these steps to Boot into Safe Mode:
1) Restart the computer. Immediately after the screen goes blank for the first time, or after the BIOS post ends, start taping the F8 key repeatedly. The Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If the menu does not appear, restart the computer and try again.
2) Select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER. As files load they will scroll down the screen.
Note: Safe mode uses a minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows. The default Microsoft VGA driver is used for display at 640 X480 resolution and in 16 colors.
3) Log on to the Administrator account. If a password was never set, leave the password blank and press ENTER or click the green arrow.
4) Click No in the safe mode information screen to start System Restore.
5) Select Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click Next to proceed to select a date with restore points available.
6) Click Next to begin restoring the system to a previous state.
Note: I am aware that parts of this (ok, most of it) are copied but the steps can’t be altered. I f I tried that then I am sure the rest of you would make me aware of it. Hence I could be failed. We wouldn’t that to happen, would we?
