by Mishra Planeswalker

Created on: December 24, 2008

Have you ever lost data, and then thought, "That data was just there yesterday...How could it have just been deleted." This is the train of thought that goes through my mind whenever I have lost a recently installed app, or even some Helium articles I recently wrote. This sort of thinking was so common, that the developers at both Microsoft and Apple decided to do something about it.

In Windows XP, the user could now create a "restore point". Simply put, a restore point allows you to save the exact state of your machine, and then "restore" to it at a later time. For example, you know you're going to be working with a big project that requires an awful lot of system resources. Unfortunately, you also know that this type of work has the potential to crash your computer, and sometimes wipe crucial data. So what do you do? You create a restore point, so that every little thing about your system can be restored in a heartbeat.

The restore point's usefulness has only increased with the advent of Windows Vista. The new operating system has a larger chance of crashing and wiping data off your hard drive. It is in the best interests of the Windows user to frequently create restore points, so that any malware, trojans, viruses or the like that have been installed on your system can be purged. There is no chance of these types of software returning (unless you personally install them yourself), because they never actually were installed.

The only disadvantage to restore points is the time that must be invested to ensure they are effective at doing their job. Not only must they be done regularly to ensure a recent backup, but they take up quite a chunk of time to complete. These problems have fortunately been worked around. It is now possible for the user to set up the computer so that every day a new restore point will be created, erasing the one created the previous day. Also, the user can set the system up so that this backup occurs at a convenient time, say while one is at work, or asleep.

As technology continues to rapidly progress, more intuitive and useful functions are added to the basic computer system. Restore points are one such innovation, and they have revolutionized the way we think about data, and how we can protect it. Utilizing a restore point is an amazing tool for anyone that does not want to risk their precious data being lost in the void of the computer world.

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