Insider Power Techniques for Microsoft Windows XP (Bpg-Other)

Step 5—Set System Restore Points

One of the biggest causes of Windows instability in the past was the tendency for some newly installed programs to simply not get along with Windows. It could be an executable file that didn’t mesh with the Windows system or a registry change that brought chaos to other programs or to Windows itself. Similarly, hardware installations often caused problems by adding faulty device drivers to the system or by corrupting the registry.

To help recover from software or hardware installations that bring down the system, Windows XP offers the System Restore feature. Its job is straightforward, yet clever: It takes periodic snapshots—called restore points or checkpoints—of your system, each of which includes the currently installed program files, registry settings, and other crucial system data. The idea is that if a program or device installation causes problems on your system, you use System Restore to revert your system to the most recent restore point before the installation.

System Restore creates restore points automatically under the following conditions:

• Every 24 hours This is called a system checkpoint, and it’s set to occur once a day as long as your computer is running. (If your computer isn’t running, the system checkpoint is created the next time you start your computer, assuming it has been at least 24 hours since the previous system checkpoint was set.)

  Insider Secret

  The RPGlobalInterval setting governs the system checkpoint interval via the following registry key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore The value is in seconds, and the default is 86400 (24 hours). If you often change your system configuration, you might prefer a shorter interval of, say, 28800 (8 hours). Note, too, that you can also adjust the RPSessionInterval value, which controls the intervals in seconds, that System Restore waits before a system checkpoint is created during each Windows XP session (the default is 0, meaning that the feature is turned off). Finally, the RPLifeInterval value determines the number of days that Windows XP maintains restore points. The default is 7776000 (90 days).

• Before installing certain applications Some newer applications—notably Microsoft Office 2000 and later—are aware of System Restore and will ask it to create a restore point prior to installation.

• Before installing a Windows Update patch System Restore creates a restore point before you install a patch either manually via the Windows Update site, or via the Automatic Updates feature.

• Before installing an unsigned device driver Windows XP warns you about installing unsigned drivers. If you choose to go ahead, the system creates a restore point prior to installing the driver.

• Before restoring backed-up files When you use the Windows XP Backup program to restore one or more backed-up files, System Restore creates a restore point just in case the restoration causes problems with system files.

• Before reverting to a previous configuration using System Restore Sometimes reverting to an earlier configuration doesn’t fix the current problem, or it creates its own set of problems. In these cases, System Restore creates a restore point before reverting so that you can undo the restoration.

It’s also possible to create a restore point manually using the System Restore user interface. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. The System Restore window appears.

2. Select the Create A Restore Point option and click Next.

3. Use the Restore Point Description text box to enter a description for the new checkpoint, and then click Create. System Restore creates the restore point and displays the Restore Point Created window.

4. Click Close.

   Insider Secret

   To change how much disk space System Restore uses to store checkpoints, launch Control Panel’s System icon and select the System Restore tab. Select the drive you want to work with and then click Settings. Use the Disk Space Usage slider to specify the amount of disk space you want to reserve for the exclusive use of System Restore. Note that for any drive, except the drive on which Windows XP is installed, you can toggle System Restore on and off using the Turn Off System Restore On This Drive check box.