Emergency measures

Posted on 2 Mar 2006 at 16:27

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Whatever type of symptom your PC is exhibiting when you switch it on, Windows itself along with your installation CD include a number of option to help get your machine back on its feet again. Read on as we run through these potential solutions.

Rescue Options

Driver roll back

Many problems can be caused by the installation of an incorrect driver. If you start to experience problems with your computer after installing a new piece of hardware or after updating a driver - and assuming you can boot into Windows - you can use the handy driver roll back feature.

If you are unable to boot into Windows in the normal fashion, you could try using Safe Mode (see later for more details).

Once you're at the desktop, right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager button. Scan through the list of devices that is displayed and locate the hardware device you most recently installed or updated. Double-click the entry for the device and move to the driver tab when the new dialog appears. Now click the Roll Back Driver button, followed by Yes to confirm.

When the process is complete, restart your computer and check to see if everything is working as it should be.

If you are still experiencing problems, you can try uninstalling the driver completely. Open up the Device Manager as just described and move to the driver tab for the relevant piece of hardware. This time, rather than pressing Roll Back Driver, click the Uninstall button followed by OK to confirm. With this done, restart your computer again and reinstall the driver that came with your hardware. Don't install the updated version this time - if the original driver is working correctly, there is no need to upgrade it. An alternative to rolling back drivers is to use System Restore.

System Restore

Since Millennium Edition saw the light of day, Windows has included a feature called System Restore. This runs invisibly in the background while you are using your computer, constantly monitoring important system files and settings, and creating backups of the Registry. System Restore only monitors system files, such as those required for startup and those related to hardware and user account information. Unfortunately, this isn't a tool to use for recovering personal files that have been mistakenly deleted - see last issue's feature on undeleting files for that.

The first time that Windows XP is run, a new restore point is created and additional ones are created when you install an unsigned driver, update Windows, or install a program which is compatible with the tool. Restore points are also created by default every 24 hours and it's also possible to create them manually. If you already find yourself unable to boot into Windows, it's too late to think about creating restore points, but it's something that's worth noting for future reference.

Launch the tool from the Start menu (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore) and you will be given the option of creating a restore point, or restoring your computer to an earlier time. It's a good idea to manually create a restore point before you make any major change to your system, so you have a roll back option should something go wrong. If you select the 'Restore my computer to an earlier time' option, you will be presented with a calendar from which you can select the date you would like to restore settings to.

From the screen that appears when you first launch System Restore, you can also adjust the amount of hard drive space which is set aside to store restore points. Click the System Restore Settings link to the left of the screen and use the slider to adjust the amount of storage space you want to reserve - remember, the more space you set aside, the more restore points you will be able to create. System Restore can also be accessed from within Safe Mode.