Reset Computer To Earlier Date

Computers are a great boon to modern society. They have simplified mundane tasks, which otherwise would have required a lot of time, money and effort. Computers are the archetypes of our intellectual accolades and so they do tend to function in an undesired manner, because of faulty software/hardware architecture, or our reckless nonchalance regarding its proper usage. But since every problem has a solution, developers have devised a revolutionary method of saving/restoring a computer to an optimum state easily, if end-users run into a technical fiasco.

Windows Operating System

Windows first started shipping the System Restore tool along with Windows Millennium or Windows Me. System Restore can be used to create a reset point, which can then be used as a reference to roll back to the previous state, if the user is uncomfortable with the present configuration or has any computer performance issues. It can be achieved by using the following steps.

• Goto Start>Accessories>System Tools and open System Restore.
• Click on restore my computer to an earlier time and select the desired restore point you wish to reset computer to earlier date. You can either create a restore point manually, or you can choose any of the predefined restore points which have been created automatically by Windows on installation of a new software, update or device driver.
• Confirm the desired point you want to roll back to. It would present a warning regarding the consequences of resetting the computer, and advise you to save all documents before proceeding with the system restoration.
• The restore point would then collect data and the computer would show the restoration progress which lasts for a couple of minutes, depending upon the restore date and the magnitude of data changes made. The computer will restart after its completion and notify that the process was accomplished.

System Restore works differently under Windows XP and Windows Vista. It could be explained in the following table:

Windows XP	Windows Vista
System Restore can use up to 12% of individual partition space.	System Restore can use up to 15% of individual partition space which could be adjusted using the DOS tool vssadmin.exe. Moreover, it cannot be activated on partitions lesser than 1 GB.
It excludes personal data files, documents, pictures, multimedia content and .DLL and .EXE files present in the My Documents folder. So it is always advised to save such files in this folder before resetting to an earlier date.	It does not exclude any monitored file type (.EXE and .DLL), no matter where it is saved on the hard drive.

It should be noted that the restore points are created and deleted on a First In, First Out basis.

Linux Operating System

Linux has always been considered as a cheap and reliable alternative for a lot of users who can't afford to shell out the exorbitant price required to buy a legitimate Windows copy. Linux is an open-source operating system built on the highly-stable UNIX platform, which is largely used as a server operating system, though it is gaining popularity among personal users as well. Unfortunately, Linux does not provide a dedicated restore tool to reset computer to factory settings, but it does provide a range of third-party tools to replicate the function of System Restore. Examples could be rsync, Simple Backup Suite, AMANDA and Bacula. If these tools are used effectively, users could achieve similar results like its Windows counterpart. Likewise, backing up the /home directory on the Linux partition can also prove to be handy for saving precious data and recovering them when necessary.

Macintosh Operating System

Macs are usually associated with elite and sophisticated users who wish to carve a niche in their respective realms. They are basically meant for multimedia enthusiasts who handle tons of media and expect a top-notch experience. But any media, given its bulky file size, requires to be backed up so that it can be restored if something goes haywire. Time Machine is a handy backup/recovery tool shipped with Mac OS X Leopard. It backs up your system every hour without you having to worry about anything. The computer could be reset to a previous date by simply booting up to the Leopard Installation DVD and choosing Utilities>Restore System from Time Machine. Alternatively, Mac OS X Tiger also provides a similar tool called Carbon Copy Cloner which is a free third-party software. It provides a simple yet intuitive interface with features like cloning hard drives,scheduled backup tasks and easy resetting option. Moreover, its compatible with Leopard as well.

It's a stipulating fact that time and tide waits for none, but these tools have given us the opportunity to contradict the conventional paradigm in the realm of information technology.