Resources

The Windows operating system comes with a variety of accessories and system tools designed to make your computer more functional as well as to keep it running at its best. These accessories and tools are located in the “Accessories” folder found under the Start button > Programs link. System tools are in the “System Tools” sub-folder of Accessories. One of the more useful tools, especially after a system change has failed, is the System Restore utility.System Restore was first introduced in Windows XP and is also included in Windows Vista. In Windows Vista, System Restore works in conjunction with System Protection. The System Restore utility can restore your operating system to a previous state, making it useful after a failed installation, uninstall, or computer crash. It’s important to note that System Restore is not a complete recovery solution and it does absolutely nothing as far as recovering your applications or data. Instead, it reverts to a previous set up with previous configurations.

In order to get the most out of System Restore, current and past “restore points” should be present. Restore points are basically snapshots of your computer that are made from time to time. When something goes awry, you can go into System Restore and choose a restore point from the calendar, making sure to pick a date where the system was stable.

Before installing a new piece of hardware or software, it’s smart to create a fresh restore point. That way, should the installation fail or the new device drivers conflict with other devices, you can easily revert the system to the state prior to the change. Keep in mind that System Restore does not uninstall the offending program; you will need to do that on your own.

System Restore restores operating system files, registry settings, batch files, and other system settings. Restoring the system to a previous state will not overwrite your data or require you to reinstall your applications.

Using System Restore is easy. If you have Windows Vista, System Protection automatically creates restore points by default. In Windows XP, you may need to go into System Restore and activate it.

When you need to restore your system, all you need to do is go into System Restore and select the appropriate restore point from the calendar. Windows Vista usually presents you with a recommended restore point which may not be the best one. For example, if the recommended restore point is the most current but you started having problems a week ago, you’d be better off restoring the system from a restore point created before you started having problems.

Another neat feature that System Restore offers is the ability to undo the restore. If you find that the restore point didn’t solve your problem or made it worse, you can undo it and try a different restore point or another solution.

Because System Restore doesn’t backup data, it should be used as part of a larger computer backup solution.

View the whole series of System Tools Articles:

• System Tools: Disk Cleanup
• System Tools: Defragmenter
• System Tools: System Restore
• System Tools: Backup and Restore
• System Tools: System Information
• System Tools: Windows Easy Transfer
• System Tools: Control Panel
• System Tools: Task Scheduler

Windows comes with a variety of system tools built into the operating system including the Disk Cleanup utility. The Disk Cleanup utility keeps your computer’s hard disk from becoming cluttered with temporary files as well as programs you no longer use. By regularly cleaning up your hard drive, you’ll also notice a performance boost because Windows uses disk space to enhance memory usage. If your disk is filled to the brim, performance suffers dramatically.

Using the Disk Cleanup utility is simple. First, go to the Start button > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. You can also access the Disk Cleanup utility from My Computer or Windows Explorer. Simply find the hard drive in the display, right-click it, and choose Properties. See the pie chart? That’s a visual representation of your disk’s used and free space. Just below it, you’ll see the Disk Cleanup button.

The utility scans your disk and calculates how much space you will be able to recover.

Depending on how long it has been since you last cleaned up the disk, the amount of disk space could be significant. In this example, up to three full gigabytes of hard disk space could be recovered as shown below:

Notice how some of the boxes have check marks in them while others don’t? You can select which options to cleanup. For example, you will likely want to remove downloaded program files, temporary Internet files, Recycle Bin files, and temporary files. Once you’ve made your selection, click on OK followed by Delete Files when prompted. The utility will clean your disk according to the options you selected.

If you want to free up even more space, you can do so by opening Disk Cleanup once again. This time, click on the More Options tab. This tab gives you options for removing programs and features you no longer want as well as all but the most recent System Restore points and shadow copies.

Clicking the Clean Up button for the Programs and Features cleaning takes you to the Add and Remove Programs (renamed Programs and Features in Windows Vista) function in the Control Panel. Here you can remove programs that you no longer need, thus freeing up disk space.

If your computer is running well, you won’t necessarily need all of the previous System Restore points. Each restore point takes up a fair chunk of disk space, so deleting all but the most recent one can free up a large amount of space.

Plan on running the Disk Cleanup utility every few weeks or so as part of your regular computer maintenance routine. In addition, when your computer starts acting sluggish, this should be one of your first steps in order to recover lost performance.

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.

View the whole series of System Tools Articles:

• System Tools: Disk Cleanup
• System Tools: Defragmenter
• System Tools: System Restore
• System Tools: Backup and Restore
• System Tools: System Information
• System Tools: Windows Easy Transfer
• System Tools: Control Panel
• System Tools: Task Scheduler

Disk Cleanup is a system tool to erase temporary files and reduce clutter of stored web pages. For people with nearly maxed out hard drive space, it can be useful tool to open up much needed space. Disk Cleanup offers a number of ways to free up space, but gives the user the option of selecting or not selecting areas to delete files.

To access Disk Cleanup, open My Computer and right click on the disk drive you wish to increase space on. For most users this will be the C: drive. Next, select Properties. Properties will show the disk space used, the amount free, and offer the option to run Disk Cleanup. Click on the Disk Cleanup icon.

There will be bit of a wait while Windows determines the contents of each area available for cleanup. Depending on the size of the disk drive and processor speed, this may take a few seconds, or a few minutes. Next, you will be given a screen with areas available for file deletion.

Clicking on each area will give a brief explanation of the type of files contained within. Each section will also show the amount of space available if the items are deleted. The areas most likely to have the highest amount of space available for deleting are Temporary Internet Files and the Recycle Bin.

Temporary Internet Files is a location on your computer where websites can place files to help speed up the loading and functionality of their pages while you visit. While deleting this area will not remove stored passwords and personal settings for websites, after clearing the contents favorite pages may load a little slower than usual. It may be a waste of time to clear this area if the same websites are visited, because the space will just fill right back up again with temporary files.

The Recycle Bin is notorious for holding a great deal of usable disk space. When users delete files, documents, and programs manually, all of these items sit in the Recycle Bin. Users must then open the Recycle Bin and choose to empty it from the tool bar, or simply right click the icon on the desktop to empty it. Failure to empty the Recycle Bin after a long period of time can build up a great deal of wasted disk space, depending on how often you delete items from your computer.

Disk Cleanup is a safe tool to use to rid your computer of useless files and documents taking up disk space. Disk Cleanup will not allow you to delete programs, Window’s system files, or other vital files UNLESS you placed them into your Recycle Bin. In the event a file or program is placed in the Recycle Bin inadvertently, a quick right click on the lost item inside the Recycle Bin will show a Restore option. This is not possible once the Recycle Bin has been emptied.