In the previous installment of this article, you learned about the different system recovery options available in Vista. We also took a closer look at one of the options — the Startup Repair option. Now, in part II, we will look at the remaining recovery options and what each is designed for.

System Restore

Installing drivers or programs that disagree with your computer does not necessarily need to result in a complete rebuild of your operating system — not when you have access to Vista’s System Restore.

Many of us have at one point or another installed a program or made some change that was harmful to our computer. For example, problems can occur when you are installing drivers for network devices (and other hardware). Vista’s System Restore makes it easy to recover from system problems that occur after installing new software.

The System Restore option helps you restore your computer’s system files to an earlier point in time. It provides a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos.

Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore

Although backing up your files is important — a backup of your files cannot be used to restore your computer in the event of failure. The Windows Complete PC Backup, on the other hand, makes a backup image of your entire computer. In the event of something such as hard drive failure, you can use the image backup to restore your computer. The image created includes applications, system settings, files as well as a backup of your boot volume and system volume. With the backup image in hand, you can use the Windows Complete PC Restore option to repair your computer.

Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool

Memory problems are often the most difficult to identify and troubleshoot. Memory problems can appear to be software or operating system problems and you can spend hours of your time trying to diagnose the true problem.

Memory Diagnostics in Vista works with Microsoft Online Crash Analysis to detect crashes that might be caused by failing memory. The tool prompts you to schedule a memory test the next time you restart the computer and then scans your computer’s memory for errors.

Command Prompt

Finally, more advanced users may go straight to the Command Prompt to perform recovery-related tasks and run other command line tools for diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. The Command Prompt in Vista replaces the Recovery Console from earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows XP.