Make a Permanent Restore Point
The Windows Automatic Backup creates restore points periodically that reflect changes you have made to your system. At any time, you can go back to one of these restore points and undo any changes you have made to your system. These restore points, however, are not permanent, and Windows typically keeps only about two weeks of restore points. To create a permanent restore point, you must use Vista's Complete PC Backup option. This will create a permanent copy of your hard drive's current state for storage on an external hard drive or DVD.
Instructions
1. Launch Complete PC Backup by clicking on the Windows Start menu, choosing "All Programs," then "Maintenance" and finally "Backup and Restore Center."
2. Click the "Back up Computer" button and choose whether to save a permanent restore point to your hard drive, an external hard drive or one or more DVDs. Click "Next."
3. Select the drives you want included in your permanent restore point. If you have not partitioned your hard drive, you would select the drive letter "C:" for backup.
4. Click "Start Backup." Your system may take several hours to backup depending on the size of your hard drive and the media onto which you are saving your backup. If you are burning a restore point onto DVDs, return to your system periodically to insert a new DVD if the previous one fills up.
Tags: hard drive, restore points, your hard, your hard drive, restore point
