Windows XP-System Restore

Before You Try System RestoreSystem Restore should only be used after trying less comprehensive methods of troubleshooting. System Restore changes many files and registry entries, and in some cases might replace more files than you want restored. 

Run problem applications in Compatibility Mode 

If system instability occurs after installing a particular application. To run the Program Compatibility Wizard:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Program Compatibility Wizard.

Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall a problem application 

If the system instability has occurred immediately after a new application has been installed and running the program in Compatibility Mode hasn't helped. Although System Restore will remove the application if you choose to apply it, it is better to remove the offending application from Control Panel. 

 How to open Add or Remove Programs:

 
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click the program you want to remove, and then click Change/Remove.

If the system's instability has occurred immediately after a new device driver is installed, use the Device Driver Rollback feature instead of System Restore.

How to roll back to an earlier driver:
1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
3. In the Device Manager dialog box, double-click the hardware that uses the driver in question.
4. In the device Properties dialog box, on the Driver tab, click Roll Back Driver.
Windows XP troubleshooters in the Help and Support Center. To open a troubleshooter:

1. Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
2. Under Pick a Help topic, click Fixing a Problem.
3. Under Troubleshooting problems in the right pane, click List of troubleshooters, and then start a troubleshooter by clicking the name in the left column of the table.


If, after trying these options the computer is still unstable, opt for System Restore. You'll want to save this option for last because the changes made to your computer are more comprehensive than if you simply uninstall a program or rollback a device driver.

To use the System Restore Wizard, make sure you're logged on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2. On the Welcome screen, click Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click Next.
3. On the Select a Restore Point page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point you'd like to restore to, as shown in Figure 2, and then click Next.



Figure 2
4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, verify that the correct restore point is chosen, and then close any open programs.
5. Click Next if you are ready to proceed or click Back to change the restore point.
6. The computer will shut down automatically and reboot. On reboot, you'll see the Restoration Complete page, and then click OK.   
After reviewing the stability of your system, you can choose another restore point or undo this restoration. Just open System Restore and make the appropriate choice. After you use System Restore, you'll have an additional task, Undo my last restoration, on the System Restore Welcome page. Remember that you'll have to reinstall any programs that were installed after the restore point. 

If System Restore doesn't work in Normal Mode, it might work in Safe Mode. To use System Restore in Safe Mode, press the F8 key during reboot and choose Safe Mode.

How to Create Restore Points Manually

Only application installations that use a System Restore restorept.api-compliant installer will trigger the creation of a restore point. So it's a good idea to create a restore point manually before you install an application that you suspect won't have one a restorept.api-compliant installer. For example, before installing a screensaver you've downloaded from the Internet or a beta program from a software vendor, you should manually create a restore point. For more information, see the TechNet article, Windows XP System Restore.

To manually create a restore point:
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2. On the Welcome page, click Create a restore point.
3. On the Create a Restore Point page, enter a descriptive name for your restore point, as shown in Figure 3, and then click Create.



Figure 3 
The Restore Point Created page confirms that the new restore point has been created. I think it's a good idea to manually create a restore point before you download and install any application from the Internet.
Use Scheduled Tasks 
You can use Scheduled Tasks to create restore points at specified times. You might want to configure Scheduled Tasks to run System Restore at 6:00 P.M. daily, so that you always have a restore point available at the end of each working day.

To create a Scheduled Task, log on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, click Scheduled Tasks, and then double-click Add Scheduled Task.
2. Click Next on the first Scheduled Task Wizard page.
3. On the second page, click System Restore in the list of applications, and then click Next.
4. Continue through the wizard, specifying the days and times to run System Restore.
5. When prompted, type in the user name and password for an administrator of the system, and then click Finish. Scheduled Tasks starts each time you start Windows XP and runs in the background.
 
Troubleshoot System Restore
Some common problems that could cause System Restore not to work properly and their solutions include the following:
• There is less than 200 MB of free space available on the computer—free up some space on the hard drive by deleting unused files or images.
• After rebooting, the restoration is unsuccessful—choose an earlier restore point and try again.
• Restoration was denied due to non-administrator status—log out and then back in as an administrator.
• The System Restore Service is not running—Open Administrative Tools, click Computer Management, and then click Services and Applications. Click Services, and double-click System Restore Services from the list. Verify the service is started and running. If not, under Service status, click Start and change the startup type to Automatic. 
 
System Restore is no substitute for regularly backing up your data. System Restore comes into play when your computer becomes unstable. System Restore can't be used if your hard drive fails or is melted down in a fire, because the information that System Restore uses is stored on the hard drive itself. To create regular backups of your data and computer system state, use the Backup utility in Windows XP.

To open Backup:
• Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. 
 
When you use Backup, save the backup information to a disk or an external drive for safekeeping. If there's a catastrophic failure, such as a hard drive crash, this backup can be used to restore the data after the hardware repair is complete.

DOWNLOAD -System Restore on Windows Vista and XP Guide in PDF format

How to: change the start button text on Windows XP

Tired of the boring old “start” button at the bottom left corner of your Windows XP’s monitor? Want something new to replace iit? Well here’s how to change it.

With a few modifications in the Windows Registry, you can replace the “start” text with anything you like. Great for achieving a new, custom look for your Windows XP. So let’s get started.

Warning: this tutorial is more for advanced users, and I'm not responsible if your system gets messed up. Only attempt the following at your own risk.

Step 1: Modify explorer.exe

If the warning didn’t scare you enough, then the title of this step probably did. Yes, we are going to change Explorer, the backbone of your Windows XP, but don’t worry. Everything should be safe as long as you follow the steps closely.

As explorer is a binary file, we need a special tool to modify it. One of the best ones for this purpose is Resource Hacker. There are of course others that will get the trick done, but we will be using RH this tutorial so I recommend installing it to avoid making mistakes. Install it and let’s continue.

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Tricks With A USB Thumb Drive

Any ordinary USB memory device can do a lot more than you probably thought it could. It can carry programs, encryption and even a full installation of Windows XP! Here is our tenlist for the coolest things you can do with a USB thumb drive:

Take your programs with you

We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed.

Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:

1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.

2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.

And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.

Surf anonymously

With Portable Apps and Firefox, you can surf the web without leaving any trace on the computer you are using. If you want extra security, install a Firefox security plugin such as FoxyProxy. To iput Firefox onto the drive, just copy-paste the Firefox folder from you computer, or install Firefox onto the thumb drive.

Set a program to run automatically (autorun)

Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes. [Here's how to disable autorun.]

Open up notepad and paste the following script:

1. [autorun]
2. ShellExecute=filename
3. Label=description
4. UseAutoPlay=1

Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe

Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.

Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!

Help! I’m lost!

Ever lost a USB drive? Even if you haven’t, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll lose a few during your life. And with all the important information on it, it could be a disaster to have it fall into someone’s hands.

A good idea is to encrypt all the information on the drive, but you would still want it back, wouldn’t you? Luckily, the folks at the Daily Cup Of Tech have come up with a solution.

Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.

Hide the drive inside something

Why not surprise your friends and co-workers by sticking something that looks like a broken USB cable into the computer’s USB drive?

You’ll be sure to get a few shocked faces when you start to play a movie from it.

The guys from Technobuzz.net show us how to do it. (You are gonna need an unbelievably small thumb drive for this…)

Secure your PC

Just like with an RFID badge, you can use a USB drive to lock and unlock a PC. Insert it to begin working and pull it out when you’ve finished, locking the computer. There are several programs for this . Rohos, a commercial program and WiKID, a semi-open source one.

If you really need to secure your computer with a USB drive, I suggest you give Rohos a try, as WiKID is rather complicated.

Portable jukebox

Don’t just carry the music with you, also carry the player! You can install audio programs such as WinAmp and CoolPlayer+ on your thumb drive. Just unextract the ZIP folders to the USB drive.

If you want the jukebox to start up automatically when you connect the memory stick to the computer, use the autorun feature shown tip 3 and point it to the exe of your audio player.

Encrypt your data

If you carry any sensitive indormation on your USB memory stick, a good idea is to encrypt it. Hardware-level encryption will help, but it will cost extra. You can get a free program to encrypt your data just as securely. For this I recommend TrueCrypt, but most others will also do.

You will need admin access on the computer you want to use your encrypted thumb drive on, so this it’s usability a little.

Run a standalone OS for dedicated tasks

The easiest OS to boot from a USB drive is probably Linux. There are many small capacity Linux versions out there that will fit on your drive. The best 3 are Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux and Webconverger.

Make sure you select a version that needs less space than your USB drive’s maximum, so you have room for files and software.

And this leads us nicely to the final tip…

Run Windows itself from a USB thumb drive
Modifying Windows to work on a USB drive is quite difficult, but luckily there are some tools that will do it for us. Note that you will need a separate Windows license for this, as Microsoft only lets you use one for each single computer, and a USB drive is treated by them like a computer…

What you’ll need:

1. A licensed copy of Windows
2. A USB device, min. 1GB (We recommend a USB hard disk, as a flash memory stick will become unusable after 100000 writing processes. Assuming that only 2 processes are used per second, the drive will last only 60 days with 8 hours of work each day… A hard disk doesn’t have this problem.)

Here is the link to the full tutorial, translated from German.