How old are we talking? I jsut spent the last few days trying to restore a couple of older laptops; one from 2005 and the other from 2006. Sometimes the best option is to just yank the documents off before the hardware goes tits-up (like one of those two did) and sometimes you just need to reinstall the OS from scratch (like I did with the other). This is especially true with Windows XP.

As for the “System Restore” thing, I regard it as more of a folk remedy than an actual cure. To date, I have yet to successfully solve a single issue with it.

I agree. Sometimes a clean os install is the best course of action. Btw jerv i have used system restore with much success in some occasions so it can have its uses, dont lose hope!