on how you configured your machine, System Restore makes a record of set-
tings every day, as well as anytime a new piece of software is installed or a
system setting is changed.Depending on how many changes you’ve made lately, and the instructions
you’ve given the System Restore utility, you may be able to go back at least a
week — more if the laptop isn’t used daily — which should be more than suf-
ficient for finding a moment before drivers or settings were altered. Even if
your machine is running an earlier version of Windows, you can purchase
a third-party utility like Symantec’s Norton GoBack that accomplishes the
same task.These utilities only undo changes to settings and drivers; if you go back in
time, you do not lose any data — text, e-mail, photos, music, and the like.You need to do three things to make the most of System Restore:Make sure it’s configured to make regular copies of system settings.
Manually instruct it to copy the current setting before making a major
change to the system (including hardware installations and software
updates).Experiment with restoring your system settings to an earlier condition if
your computer develops problems immediately after installation or first
use of new hardware or software.Figure 5-5:
The setup
page for the
Windows
System
Restore
utility.74 Part II: Explaining What Could Possibly Go Wrong