System restore requires 200MB of available hard disk space to create data storage. If there is no 200MB free space, system restore will remain disabled, and the utility will start automatically when there is enough space. "System Restore" uses the first-in first-out (FIFO) storage mode: when the data storage reaches the set threshold, the utility will clear the old archive to make room for the new archive.
System Restore monitors many file types, including most file extensions (such as. Cats. com，。 dll，。 exe，。 inf，。 ini，。 MSI. Ole and. Sys), which is a common problem when installing new software. Note that the restore point creation event can only be triggered if the application installs an installer compatible with the system restore restorept.api.
Usually, if you know or "can roughly determine" the cause of the problem (for example, the recently installed device driver), system recovery will be simple. In some cases, using system restore may not be the best solution to some problems you encounter. System restore will change many different files and registry keys, sometimes replacing too many files or registry keys, which may lead to more complicated problems than you want to solve. For example, if you install Office XP, it will trigger "System Restore" to create a restore point, and the software package will run well after installation. But then you downloaded and installed an updated video driver. Because the driver is signed, its installation did not trigger the system to restore and create a restore point. At this time, your system crashed. Are you sure that the newly installed graphics card driver is the cause of all this? In this case, you should use the Return to Device Driver utility because it can solve the device driver problem without changing anything else on the system. System restore will restore your computer to the state before installing Office XP, so you must reinstall the whole software package after solving the driver problem.
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Create restore point
Usually, for those events that need to create restore points, Windows XP will automatically create restore points for you. But sometimes it may need to be created manually, for example, you are installing an application that is not sure whether it can run stably in Windows XP; You are not sure whether an application is compatible with the System Restore restorept.api; Or you are making changes to the system that may affect stability.
For example, I want to install Crystal Reports Professional 7 of Crystal Decisions, but since this version is a product of several years ago, I am not sure whether it will work properly in Windows XP. So I decided to create a restore point before installing the software. Click Start, all programs, system tools, and system restore. The welcome screen appears, and System Restore will ask you whether you want to restore or create a restore point. Select Create Restore Point, and then click Next. Name the restore point "Before Crystal Reports" (as shown in figure 1), and then click "Create".
Figure 1:
Look at the big picture.
Named restore points are helpful for your future search and identification. After the utility has collected all the required information, the Create Restore Point screen as shown in Figure 2 will be displayed. Close the utility and end the process.
Figure 2:
Look at the big picture.
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recovery system
After creating the restore point, I can safely install Crystal Reports on the Windows XP machine, because if something goes wrong, I can restore my system. During the installation process, I received several error messages, pointing out that the system could not find a specific DLL. After installation, Crystal Reports cannot start. I'm glad I created a restore point before.
Before performing the recovery, I tried to delete the program files and registration items by using the uninstaller of Crystal Reports, but this process ignored a registration item. Deleting the registry manually will lead to system instability, so I decided to use system restore to restore the registry safely.
I started the system restore utility first. In the welcome screen, select "Restore my computer to an earlier time" and then click "Next". The utility provides multiple options in calendar format, prompting me to choose a restore point, as shown in Figure 3. The calendar format allows you to travel during the day and view existing restore points. Restore points created by system restore are displayed as system checkpoints.
Figure 3:
Look at the big picture.
Click July 23rd, and I will see the recovery point of pre Crystal Reports I created earlier. Select a restore point and click Next, then confirm the restore point selection and click Next. System Restore closes all programs and starts the restore. Then the computer restarts. Log in to the system again, and the "Restore Complete" screen will appear, telling me that the recovery has been successfully completed, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4:
Look at the big picture.
Then I checked the hard disk and the registry, and found no trace of the crystal report. In addition, the files I created when installing and restoring the system still remain in my system. The data file is safe and the system is stable.
If your machine can't boot to the operating system, please start the computer and hold down the F8 key when Windows starts running. When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, select the last known good configuration, and then press Enter. If the fault is not particularly serious, a startup menu will appear. You can select Microsoft Windows XP and press Enter. Windows XP will restore your computer to the most recent restore point.
If the recovery fails, you will be asked to try to choose another recovery point or undo the recovery. Therefore, if you choose the wrong restore point earlier, there is still a chance to correct the mistake. Remember that performing a restore is an event that triggers the system to create a restore point. Now, you know why you can undo the recovery.
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trouble shooting
I found "System Restore" stable and reliable. However, when some programs (mostly) are used together with system restore, they occasionally encounter problems. At this point, if necessary, you can disable system restore (see the website column "Disable System Restore" for details). However, please try to troubleshoot first:
Read all error messages and determine the problem that the message refers to.
Check the available hard disk space. You must have at least 200MB of free space on each disk to start system restore. You can use the hard disk cleaning tool to reclaim space. If necessary, you can also use this tool to delete all recent restore points.
Verify that the System Restore service is running.
Try running the utility in safe mode.
Check the system log for any error messages related to sr or srservice.
If these steps don't work, please run srdiag.exe to further troubleshoot. Srdiag creates a. cab file, which is located in the \%windir%\system32\restore folder by default. Double-click the file or right-click the file and select Extract. Then check the file extracted by 14 to solve the problem.
The application scope, ease of use and stability of "System Restore" are impressive. It is an effective utility tool that super users, technical support personnel and system administrators should be familiar with. "System Restore" can effectively reduce the workload of system administrators and the downtime of users.
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