Windows System Restore Gone Awol?

Infopackets Reader Susan C. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I love your newsletters ;-)

Question: I am using Windows ME and tried to restore my computer to an earlier time using System Restore; however, the problem is that the computer keeps telling me to pick a earlier date on the calendar than what is available.

For example: I can bring up the calendar to choose which restore to use, but the only option I have available is for December 1999. I have used system restore before, but for some reason it's now gone awol and won't let me pick another date.

Is there any way that I can restore my computer to its original state when I purchased it? Thanks again for any help you can provide, and keep up the hard work you do! I know we all appreciate it a lot. "

My response:

This is one of the many reasons why I don't use "System Restore" ;-)

The answer to your question is: no, you can't restore back to the original date. To do that, you would need to restore a disk image backup (using another program like Acronis True Image).

If your system is a complete mess then I suggest you backup your most important files, format your computer, reinstall Windows, download all the latest windows updates, and then make a disk image (backup) of your system in its current state.

The next time something goes wrong with your PC, all you need to do is restore your disk image (much like you would with system restore) and it goes back to exactly how it was when the image was created.

Of course you can make regular image backups whenever you want and use those as backups... but I like to keep a "base" system install available incase my regular backup has a problem.

If you need help backing up your files and reinstalling Windows, refer to:

How to Reinstall Windows

Also see:

Acronis True Image Review