A “Guest Account” is a built-in Windows user account that allows limited use of your computer. It’s handy to have if visitors (i.e. grandchildren) want to use your computer. It allows them to easily run the computer but it prevents them from installing new programs, changing computer settings and modifying passwords. By default the Guest Account is turned off but, as an Administrator, you have the power to turn it on.

There are several ways you can control the Guest Account, here’s one. Left-click on the Start button and then type “guest account” in the search box. In the “Search Results” box you should see “Turn guest account on or off”. Click on this and the manage accounts window will open. It will look similar to the figure below.

You can do a number of things from this window including creating new accounts and setting parental controls but we’ll just deal with the Guest account for now. In our example we see that the Guest account is turned off. If you click on the “Guest” icon a new window will open where you can turn the account on. Now when you turn the computer on your Guest account will be available for login.

Now let’s consider what you can do if someone does use your computer changes your settings that in some way prevents your computer from booting properly or some important function (like email) from working. Of course the best insurance is a full backup of your system. I’m talking about an image backup like the backup program that comes with Windows 7 or something like Acronis True Image that saves everything (including Windows) to a separate hard disk or DVDs. But what if you didn’t do this or you don’t have recent backup?

Sometimes a malfunctioning computer can be fixed by using the Windows System Restore function. System Restore works by creating restore points that will return your system files and settings to an earlier point in time without affecting your personal files. System Restore will not recover deleted files and programs. Windows automatically creates new restore points every week, when you download and install Windows updates and (usually) just before the installation of new programs and device drivers. You can also manually create new restore points.

Using System Restore is pretty easy. Start by saving all open files and close all programs. Left-click on the Start button and then type “system restore” in the search box. Listed in the “Search Results” box you should see “System Restore”. Click on it. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation to continue. That will bring you to the System Restore window. In the example shown you’ll notice it shows the date and time when restore points were made, descriptions and the type of update. If you click on one of the restore points to highlight it, you can then click on the button that says “scan for affected programs”. This will show you things like what program updates will be deleted if you use the restore point plus what program version you be reverting to.

Clicking on the “Next” button will bring you to a confirmation screen. It shows you what restore point you have selected and you can then cancel the operation, go back and revise your selection or click on “Finish” to reset your settings and then restart your computer.

A new restore point is created every time you use System Restore. This will allow you to undo the changes if they don’t fix your problem. Every time you use System Restore, a restore point is created before proceeding so you can undo the changes if they don't fix your problem. You cannot undo System Restore if your computer was in Safe Mode or using System Recovery Options. In that such a case, however, you still have the option of using System Restore and picking a different restore point.

The data stored for each restore point takes space on your hard drive and this space is limited. When the space to save restore points is full, one or more old restore points are deleted to create space for each new restore point. Therefore you may only find restore points for the last 30 days (or less). If you fail to notice a problem in time, it may be too late to fix it with a restore point. That’s why I recommend making a full image backup of your computer saved on a separate hard drive.

For more information about System Restore, left-click on the Start button, select “Help and Support: and then type system restore in the “Search Help” window.

Click here to return to top