How to Use System Restore in Windows XP

This is a great way to "turn back the sands of time" if you make a mistake on your desktop or a more permanent change.

Steps

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    Click on your "start" button.
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    Go to "All Programs."
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    Go to "Accessories."
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    Then to "System Tools."
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    Then to "System Restore."
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      System Restore appears on the screen. Select "Restore my computer to an earlier time." Click next button
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    A calendar should appear with dates; select a date that has a bold number with your mouse. Make sure the date is before you made the mistake on your computer. Click "next" and close all open programs to ensure a safe restore. The keep clicking "Next," and the computer will then gather some information and restart your computer to the restore point.
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    When your computer is restarted, a similar window will be presented. It will tell you if the restore was successful and if any files were renamed in the process.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    The window says "cannot restore to the earlier settings". I tried different dates - same answer! What can I do?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    One last chance (if you have already done a back-up of all data before doing the System Restore) :- Go back one year earlier to the current date. It might work. If not, maybe your OS is corrupt. Therefore, try to format Hard Disk and re-install Windows XP.
  • Question
    Does using system restore affect any previous data?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Usually, recently installed programs are uninstalled during a System Restore. It's important to keep the setup executables or archives of your programs on a separate drive or an external hard drive if you don't want to download them again.l
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 155,924 times.
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Co-authors: 11
Updated: June 4, 2020
Views: 155,924
Categories: XP Instructions
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