In our daily usage of computer, it is inevitable for us to do some illegal operations, which makes the system run improperly or crash. At this point, some will decide to reinstall the system to bring back the entire system. But we can say that it is too early to do this action because we can try a simple restore job to save a crashed Windows XP.

First of all, we all know that System Restore is a very useful utility in Windows XP. If some necessary system files are deleted incorrectly or there is something wrong with the computer or it is completely crashed, you can use the System Restore to save your XP system to a previous state.

1) How to enable System Restore
Actually, the running of the System Restore is something associated with the process “rstrui”. So you can go to C:\windows\system32\restore to locate the item “rstrui”, and then right click it to select “Send to -> Desktop (create shortcut)”. So you can double click this shortcut to quickly start System Restore. In DOS mode, you can simply go to Start -> Run -> type “rstrui”  to enable it.

2) Use command-line to start System Restore
If the computer has been completely crashed and impossible to get into neither normal nor safe mode, you can type in the command-line “C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui” and then press “Enter” to run a system restore if you can access  “ Safe Mode with Command-line”. In this way, you can effortlessly bring back a crashed Windows XP.

3) Use system menu to restore a crashed XP in safe mode
If you are able to get access Windows Safe mode, even though fail to access normal mode, it is recommended to restore the system here. Here is what you can go: Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore -> select “Restore my computer to an earlier time” and then click “Next”. Here, you can select the restore point and restore your computer. After rebooting, you can easily save your crashed Windows XP.

With the steps above, you can simply save a crashed XP computer, but it does not mean that all degree of damage can be restored in this way. If the computer is damaged too much, a reinstallation is needed, which will cause the loss of some important data. So it is necessary to learn how to prevent a crashed Windows XP computer.

For a user who has a little knowledge about computer, I know that it is much more important for us to carefully maintain the system rather than do some other restore jobs. Below is what I always do in daily life to optimize PC performance: 1) timely uninstall unwanted programs when noticing that they are not used any longer; 2) periodically clean up the system junk files; 3) run a disk defragmentation at a regular basic, which is what I want to emphasize too much because lots of PC users often neglect it. But it can help effectively gather all parts of a fragmented file together.

In conclusion, you can easily save a crashed Windows XP with a system restore job. But it is more important for you to learn how to prevent system crashes and then maintain PC performance.