I would imagine that all of us that have Windows Me or Windows XP, have used System Restore at one time or other. It is a great tool to return your computer to a time when it was running good. However sometimes it comes at a price, you may have lost a program or two in the process. If you are like me, I can not always remember everything that has been installed on my computer. There might be that program that you only use once in a great while and have forgotten all about it.

Here is a way you can keep a record of what is on your computer, then after using System Restore you can check to see if anything was lost. I have mentioned it a time or two in the past, it is Belarc Advisor. It is a free program that will list everything on your computer, software and hardware. You might be surprised as to what is on your computer, that you did not even know about. It also lists serial numbers and install codes of some items. Install this program, run it and print out the results, before you run System Restore, then compare it after to see if anything has changed. If you have lost any programs, many times you can reinstall them from CD's or maybe you can remember where you downloaded them and get them back. While viewing the Belarc Advisor results, look at the bottom of the page for helpful information on finding locations of where things are installed and listed. Here is where you can download Belarc Advisor, www.belarc.com/free_download.html

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