System Restore provides a quick and easy way for you to restore your computer to an earlier state without losing data. This can be a lifesaver if your computer is acting up due to a configuration change, viruses or other unwanted software. System Restore lets you choose an earlier point in time (before your computer started exhibiting problems) to which you can roll back your system.

This is not a backup restoral-- for that you'll have to create actual backups with a tool like "Complete PC Backup" - http://www.realtime-vista.com/administration/2007/05/complete_pc_backup.htm

This is just designed to get your system operational again by essentially undoing changes to your system that may have caused the problem to begin with. However, Microsoft documents that any applications that have been installed since the restore point will be removed. Hmm, there are also several places where it says only the registry and system files are affected. Most applications do not affect system files these days, so which is it?

Is the system really cleaned up to where it was before, or is it just the system files and registry so that any installed applications may appear to have been removed. One good way to check would be to install a program and then do a restore to before that installation. If the program file directory for the application is gone, that would be a very good sign that the system was really cleaned up and not just the critical references to the application. So that is what I did.

What I found was that the shortcuts to the application were gone, but some files remained in the program files directory. While the application had been essentially removed from the system, there were indeed still traces of it as we expect (this is not a restore from Complete PC Backup). Further, documents are not affected by the restoral.

This really makes System Restore an excellent troubleshooting tool, but should not lull you into a false sense of security where you decide it is not necessary to perform backups. Perform your backups! If you run into system problems, System Restore is a safe and affective tool.

One of the great things about System Restore is that you don't need to worry about taking snapshots. You can of course do so manually, but it happens automatically and each is labeled in a friendly way so you can jump back in time pretty reliably if a problem should arise. When? A restore point is established every time you install software, a driver, or apply an update. Additionally, a System Scheduled checkpoint will also be generated if no changes are made to trigger one.

Ready to check it out? As usual there are a couple of ways to get there...