System restore points

[lucky_13]

Hello,windows installed couple of days ago some updates.... During the installation,the computer stuck on the update 14/21.. i did a couple of reboots and left it there... I went for a walk,and when i sat again,i opened the pc,and..... chaos!! Blue backround on the desktop,none of my program shortcuts,firefox was like has just been installed,ie too,no favorites,nothing! My older archives were accessible only through c:// directory... I tried to open system restore but it wasn't on the "all programs" menu.. After that,went safe mode,and opened it manually,to realize tha system restore points were all gone before "the blackout"... What i should do to restore my desktop,archives and favorites?? Thanx in advance.

 

[soundguruman]

you may or may not have a restore point, you can try to restore...
but you may realize why some of us leave our automatic updates turned off.

click start
click all programs
click accessories
click system tools
click system restore
check the box that says restore my system to an earlier date
click next
choose a bold date on the calendar that is before the problem started
click next
follow the directions
after restore, restart the computer

OR do a repair install, see the directions in this forum, sixth post from the top

the repair does not erase your personal files, but does relaod the OS, and erase all the downloaded updates

this is why it is kind of cool to do a repair install with XP pro SP3 disk instead of downloading the updates.
before registering the XP software online, turn off the automatic updates permanently. otherwise windows may start downloading the updates that caused your computer to blue screen.
See what I'm talking about?