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If Something Goes Wrong

Develop good computing habits

Saving system configuration with Restore Points

The System Restore feature of the Windows® operating system quickly creates Restore Points—‘snapshots’ of your Windows® operating system configuration—and saves them for later recall. If you experience problems after installing some new hardware or software, you can easily select a previously established Control Point to ‘turn back the clock,’ restoring the Windows® operating system to the state it was in just prior to the installation. This is much easier and more effective than uninstalling the hardware or software, which often leaves behind unwanted files and settings. It is also easy to undo a Restore Point selection, if you change your mind.

Follow these steps to create a Restore Point using the System Restore utility:

1Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then System Restore.2Click open System Protection.

The System Protection tab of the System Properties window appears.

3Click Create.

4In the input field, enter a name that is descriptive enough to be easily understood in the future, such as “Before installing Brand X Accounting app.” Then click Create.

5The Windows® operating system creates the Restore Point, automatically stamps it with the current date and time, and displays a message that the restore point was successfully created.

6Click OK.

Then, at a later time, you can re-establish your Windows® configuration using the saved Restore Point. To do this:

1Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then System Restore.

2Click Next.

3A list of previously created Restore Points displays, showing the timestamp and description of each Restore Point.