If your system becomes unstable or unusable in some way and the need arises for some type of system recovery there are 2 options.

The following options can be used to recover your system and should be tried in the order listed. Make backups of your data before beginning

1. System Restore - should be tried before the other 2 options)
2. Fresh install of operating system and drivers manually. This option should be tried if option 1 fails.

System Restore
To restore a system using the built in System Restore feature in Windows XP do the following.

NOTE: The System Restore process will restore registry settings and other sytem parameters to match the restore point selected. This process doesn't generally cause data loss but it's still good practice to backup any data before starting the restore.

1. Open "Help and Support"
2. Choose "Undo changes to your computer with System Restore"
3. Choose "Restore my computer to an earlier time"
4. Follow the onscreen instructions, choose the latest restore point that you think is OK.

Fresh Install of Operating System and Drivers
To perform a fresh manual install of Windows XP and Drivers do the following. Make sure to back up any data if you are able to.

1. Insert the Windows XP Installation CD
   If your system fails to boot from the CD you may need to go into the BIOS and set the CD to boot before the Hard Drive
2. Choose a " FRESH INSTALL" when prompted do not choose REPAIR
3. Delete the existing hard drive partition
4. Create a new partition and format it using the Full NTFS option, don't use the quick format feature. This will take about 40 minutes for an 80GB drive.
   

   NOTE:Asus K8V,Abit AV8, Asus AV8, GigaByteK8NSXP-939 motherboards with a single SATA drive as the boot drive needs the SATA driver loaded. Not all types of motherboards need this driver loaded. If the Windows installer fails to detect a harddrive it may be an indicator that you missed this step. There will be a point where the "F6" key is to be pressed to load 3rd party drivers. You must hit "F6" to load the SATA/RAID driver. It's easy to miss so watch carefully or it will just scroll by. Another screen will come up for you to press "S" and allow you to insert the 3.5" floppy with the SATA/RAID driver on it and continue.

   NOTE:If you have 2 hard drives configured as RAID 1 or 0, watch carefully as the install continues after formatting is complete. There will be a point where the "F6" key is to be pressed to load 3rd party drivers. You must hit "F6" to load the RAID driver. It's easy to miss so watch carefully or it will just scroll by. Another screen will come up for you to press "S" and allow you to insert the 3.5" floppy with the RAID driver on it and continue.

5. Insert the Drivers CD
6. Install the "Chipset Driver"
7. NOTE:If you have the Abit AV8 Via K8T800Pro motherboard then you need to Install the "Athlon 64 Driver".
8. Install the "Ethernet Driver".
9. Install the "Audio driver"
10. Install the "Video Driver"
11. Install Norton Anti-Virus
12. Update Norton Anti-Virus
13. Use windows update to update critical windows updates.
14. Use windows update to update non-critical windows updates.
15. You may need to install a driver for your monitor if windows update didn't catch it.
16. There are some other programs on the Accessories CD that you may install but are not required for system operation.
    • Ad-aware: utility for removing ad spamming software, tracking cookies and other malicious code that typical anti-virus software will miss
    • Spybot Search and Destroy: utility for removing spyware and other malicious code that typical anti-virus software will miss.
    • Spyware Blaster: utility for blocking malicious websites.
    • Sandra sisoft: diagnostic tool, benchmarking/stress testing.
    • Cpuid: shows detailed clock frequencies, memory information and other low level parameters.
    • Prime95: benchmark/stress testing.
    • 3dmark2001se: DirectX8 3D benchmark/stress testing.
    • 3dmark03: DirectX9 3D benchmark/stress testing.