It's a common scenario. You're working at your computer when all of a sudden, with no warning, the PC freezes. Nothing seems to be working. The screen goes dark. You may even be unlucky enough to see the dreaded blue screen informing you that a critical error has occurred and Windows® will be shut down.

You've just been the unfortunate victim of a system crash. If this happens to you, it's likely that you've recently added a new program, device, driver or application that your machine doesn't like, and this is its way of making its feelings known.

Sometimes, a simple reboot of the PC resolves the issue. But sometimes it doesn't. You reboot, Windows loads and the computer crashes again, or continues to behave weirdly. What can be done to end the recurring nightmare and return your computer to a more stable state?

How System Restore works
System Restore is a tool in Windows Vista and XP that allows you to turn back the clock. It takes snapshots of your computer's configuration over time, so that if you find yourself in the midst of an installation or configuration gone wrong, System Restore can roll Windows back to the state it was in before the trouble started, without affecting any of your data.

System Restore takes system snapshots every day the computer's on during idle time, as well as before system changes, like Windows Automatic updates, driver installations, software installations and system restorations. It is similar to the Last Known Configuration function, which allows you to go back to the most recent set of settings known to have worked, but System Restore allows you to choose how far back you want to go in undoing changes to the system, based on the available restore points.

How to use System Restore
In Windows Vista:
1. Type ‘restore' into the Start menu search box and you'll immediately see System Restore at the top of the menu. You'll then see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point.

2. Select ‘Recommended restore' and just click Next, or you can choose a different restore point.

3. Confirm your selection and restart your computer to roll the system back.

If you receive an error while restoring, then use System Restore from Safe Mode and it should work fine. To access Safe Mode, just reboot and hit the F8 key right before Windows begins to start up.

In Windows XP:
Windows XP enables System Restore on all your computer's hard drives by default. To see if System Restore is turned on:

1. Open your Control Panel.

2. Under Performance and Maintenance, choose System.
(Note: If you don't see this option, you might not have the required privileges. If so, contact your System Administrator)

3. From the System Restore tab, clear the "Turn off System Restore on all drives" checkbox.

While System Restore is a handy tool, it's very important to note that it is not intended for backing up personal files and so can't help you recover a personal file that has been deleted or damaged. You should regularly back up your important data using a backup program.

(reprinted with permission from the HP Small Business Center)

IT Business Risk Management
Don't stop fortifying against risk. Four ways to mitigate risk in a tough economy
reprinted with permission from HP

Every business deals with risk. But medium-sized businesses, with smaller IT staff and tighter operating budgets are often more exposed to risk than larger companies. This reality is never more evident than in a down economy: When the repercussions of a business disruption are as grave as they are, how do you insulate your business from risk?

"For mid-sized businesses, the financial impact of business disruptions is tremendous," said Anil Miglani, senior vice president, AMI-Partners. "We estimate that through security breaches and data loss alone, medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion in 2008."

According to strategy consulting firm AMI-Partners, in 2008 medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion due to security breaches and loss of data.

However, taking the right precautions with your IT infrastructure can help you steer clear of danger. Here are four steps you can take to mitigate risks to your revenue, your reputation, and your investment – all the things that keep you awake at night as you wait for this storm to pass.

1. Reduce the probability of downtime
Your order system goes down, leaving your e-commerce customers unable to place orders. In addition to lost revenue, this downtime can derail employees, leading to productivity loss. While you're focused on fixing the problem, your competition has a chance to poach your customers. Worst of all, failing to detect and fix the problem means it may happen again.

High availability of critical systems is the medium-sized business's highest IT priority, and it's attainable with a few key changes:

• Invest in reliable servers. Look for servers that have been extensively tested and certified to run on the latest operating systems. Couple that with a comprehensive set of server management tools.
• Virtualize. Virtualization can improve application availability, reduce costs and simplify IT management.
• Build redundancy into your network. Look for routers and switches with virtual router redundancy protocol (VRRP) to eliminate single points of failure.

2. Protect your data
Data breaches might not happen as often as network and application downtime. But when they occur, they can be catastrophic. Implementing a few key protections can greatly minimize the chances of data loss.

• Replicate and use deduplication. Look for a storage backup solution that lets you cost-effectively replicate data for quick recovery. Deduplication helps ensure that you don't waste bandwidth, disk space and effort backing up multiple copies of the same data.
• Encrypt the data you back up to tape. If you don't encrypt your tape data, anyone can walk off with your tape and access its data. Hardware encryption that comes with the Linear Tape-Open update (LTO-4) for tape drives, will give you the added security you need.

3. Secure the network

• Prevent security breaches. Deploy a solution that has automated threat detection and offers a single-screen view of the network. It should allow you to map, configure and monitor both wired and wireless networks.
• Don't forget printers and PCs. Improve your data security with print security solutions that can prohibit unauthorised users from accessing information and documents.

4. Reduce disruptive changes
If your own planned maintenance and management tasks are the biggest cause of downtime, opt for automated solutions. Automation simplifies management so you focus on the business.

• Automate routine server and PC management. Management software can minimize complexity and lower risks of downtime. As for PCs, it can accelerate installations and deployments of software and operating systems.
• Delegate. If you don't have in-house IT staff who can monitor your systems around the clock, consider outsourcing that function.