Have you ever done something to make an improvement and later regretted it? It would be awesome to be able to go back in time and undo the thing that was supposed to be an improvement.

While life in general will not allow us to return to an earlier time to make changes, we computer users do have such an option should we experience problems with our Windows XP operating systems.

If you update or install the wrong device driver for your video card, or you accidentally delete a critical Windows file, so what?

You can simply use Windows XP's Restore Point feature and, Tada, you're back on track and recovered that deleted file.

Restore Points are snapshots of the state your operating system was in during that time. Windows XP automatically creates a restore point when it senses a major change in your operating system. And Restore Points are created every 24 hours as a safety measure. But you can create a Restore Point manually any time you feel there is a need.

If you have a change of some sort that causes problems with the operating system, you can tell Windows XP to revert to any Restore Point established before the problem occurred. After the roll back, every change in the operating system that happened after that Restore Point is eliminated.

Restore Points are generally used when you experience such PC problems as extremely slow performance of the system. Your computer responds far more slowly that it did before you installed or updated something.

Other times to run Restore Point is when your system stops responding after an update or installation. Be sure to create a Restore Point before making any significant change to your computer's software or configuration.

To set a Restore Point, click on Start, point to All Programs, click on Accessories, System Tools, and then click on System Restore. When the System Restore windows appears, click on the button labelled "Create A Restore Point" and click Next.

Enter a description of the restore point, something like "Before scanner device driver install" and click the Create button. A notification will inform you that a Restore Point was made. Now click the Close button and you're all set.

Reverting to a Restore Point is as easy as create one. Click on Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, System Tools, and System Restore. When the System Restore window appears, click on the "Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time" and then click on the Next button.

Choose the date on which you set the Restore Point and click the Next button. Review the information presented and save any open files. Shut down any other programs that may be running.

Click on the Next button and now your computer will restart. As it restarts, it will present a message informing you of there store point. Click OK and you're done.

After reading all about setting and reverting to restore points, you should make a known restore point if you have not done so already. Whatever you do after reading this article, don't say I'll get to it soon. Familiarize yourself with this feature and create a restore point one.

You should try Restore Point and see how it works before you need it. Create a Restore Point now and update something. You can update Windows Media Player for example.

After the update or the installation of a program , wait a day or so and go back to Restore Point. Revert to the Restore Point you created and see if the old version of Windows Media Player comes back. Or see if that old device driver is present.

Doing a simple task like this can and will boost your computer skills and give you much more confidence in yourself and the Windows XP operating system.

Otis F. Cooper is solely dedicated to boosting the knowledge and confidence of every computer user. Sign up to receive his informative articles every month and learn PC Repair absolutely free.Sign upnow at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com

Everyone knows that media format wars have historical significance in the world of technology.

Remember the most notorious battle between the Beta max and the VHS? The winner of such battles will make millions even billions. Later we had the upgrade of tape to CD, a revolution in music. In 1980 the Philips/Sony compact disc standard was finalized and nobody has looked back for the last 26 years (until mp3’s came along).

Well as ever there is a new media battle but who will win again is yet unknown. This modern forest of technological mass has produced a new insurgency: THE HIGH DEFINITION WAR. Blu-ray vs HD-DVD are two competing formats which are eventually going to replace DVD’s. As you look around at your local electric retailers you can see changes happening in the broadcast world, not only are we changing from our conventional CRT screens to Flat screen but also to HD ready TV. The impact this has on our lives is not as large as black and white to colour, but nevertheless a change that will definitely be a benchmark for future media.

Why New formats
The reason we have introduced these new formats is that your traditional DVD can hold a maximum of 9.4 GB (Dual Layer) of information. This is not enough for HD broadcast as the information required is higher, being a resolution of 1920x1080. Blu-ray discs can hold 50 GB (Dual Layer) and HD-DVD 30 GB (Dual Layer).

These new discs cannot be played on normal DVD players but on new HD media players of which examples are Samsung BDP 1000 (Blu-Ray), Sony Playstation 3 (Blu-Ray), Toshiba HDXA1 (HD-DVD). This means spending more money for better resolution.

Price
This is always important especially when new models of media come out; at first it is always expensive as supply out strips demand. The players are expensive, the cheapest being the Playstation 3 supposedly retailing at £549. Blu-Ray media also being expensive; similar to DVD’s when they first came out (taking inflation into consideration), blank media costing from £11.99 to £24.99.

To play a Blu-ray Disc on a PC has brought about a price concern. The fact that you have to purchase a HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) Graphic card, along with a HD monitor, not to mention a Blu-ray Drive and media, controversially may bring about decrease in sales. This is presently being contested with new Laptops and PCs that are Blu-ray compatible, look at the New Vaio VGN-AR21S.

The HD players need to be up to scratch on price. The Toshiba HD-DVD player retailing at almost half the price of the Blu-ray Samsung player creates even more competition between the two media. This could encourage sales of HD-DVD over Blu-ray, even though it’s rumoured that Toshiba will be making a loss initially.

Prices of movies doesn’t seem to be as high as anticipated; a Blu-ray movie ‘House of flying daggers’ from amazon.com will set you back $19.95 (£10.68). This may encourage sales. Movies in HD-DVD identical in price, yet Blu-ray is a larger size disc.

Upscaling
Another problem HD may face is that the new DVD players have the upscaling technology ie. DVD is played at 480p but upscalers upgrade the image to 720p or 1080i. This produces a picture which is of high quality to the untrained eye, in fact even the trained eye has difficulty distinguishing between the two. The difference is seen on a 50 inch HD projector and looking right up close. So the question is will 1080p be much different to 1080i? Will people fork out the added expense when they know that a cheaper DVD upscaler will create more or less the same effect?

Media Backup
Software and Hardware companies have invested a lot of money in subsidising HD media. Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, LG, Sony, TDK, JVC and Sharp support Blu-ray and Toshiba and Microsoft back HD-DVD. Hollywood movie studios Disney, Paramount, Warner, Sony, Eagle rock, Fox and MGM and Lions gate support Blu-ray also. None of these large companies would take such a gamble if they didn’t know that this is what the consumer wants.

PlayStation 3
Sony love to bring out their own media whether its Sony Duo Sticks or Sony Mini Discs. Their hunger to dominate the consumer market has always been there and this is nothing different. The Playstation 3 will play Blu-Ray discs, still having the ability to play older media like DVDs and CDs. The success of the predecessor’s PS1 and PS2 will give much anticipation to the release of this new console and is what Sony are hoping will convert people to use Blu-Ray. A Sony spokesman has predicted that Blu-Ray will dominate the HD market within 12 months.

The encouraging feature with HD-DVD is the name, everyone’s ears will ring with the name and automatically assume that this is a high definition movie. Asking someone in the street what ‘Blu-ray’ is will bring looks of confusion, along with the fact that both will produce similar quality pictures.

Region Coding
Region coding with Blu-Ray may put people off; the fact that you may not be able to watch a new release from the states or Japan on your European locked regional player will raise eyebrows.

REGION 1 South America, North America, East Asia (except China)

REGION 2 Europe and Africa

REGION 3 China, Russia other Countries

Multiregional configurations on DVD players has encouraged sales worldwide especially with worldwide films from Bollywood, Japan (manga) and South America.

So far the HD-DVD camp has not announced region coding just yet, and if they don’t then this will be very advantageous for consumers.

Future Proof
Realistically you only need about 15-20 GB for a feature length film in High definition but who would have known that DVD’s could not be able to hold enough for high definition. Theoretically they can with MPEG-4 Compression. In any case media like Blu-ray will hopefully be future proof in years to come.

Conclusion
The timescale and price are the two main issues here, how quick we will universally change to HD and whether this is affordable. From a consumer point of view the necessity for HD doesn’t seem imperative, after all VHS was around for 20 odd years twice that of DVD (so far). You could argue that technology is changing exponentially and that changes occur quicker.

As for the battle between the two media there may be compromise ahead. A UK firm has announced a solution to the media war. London-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) has developed a low-cost, multilayer DVD disc that can store Blu-ray content on one layer and HD DVD content on another. This would leave the consumer with the choice of buying either type of player to play the one disc.

The key setback I feel with the looming HD change is the cheaper alternative to a Blu-Ray player or HD-DVD player, the DVD upscaler. Do people want to get rid of those hundreds of DVDs they bought to replace them with an expensive alternative , especially when they might not even notice the difference in picture quality?

However I do feel that HD is encouraged with consoles such as the Playstation 3. Blu-ray is its main format and may revolutionise the games industry.

Jay Jeetley is a writer for the website Blu-raychoice.com, a resource for Blu-ray News, movies, forums and media