Fault tolerance

Drive Rollback

Making sure that Windows XP is as foolproof as can be, Microsoft implemented a feature called Driver Rollback, which basically changes a device driver for a particular device to a previous state. If you install a bad driver or an incorrect one, use this feature to save your system. This can be good use for those times when a corrupted driver stops Windows from booting properly.

Now includes a CPU driver

CPU Drivers for Power Saving Features

Automatic Updates

Microsoft introduced Windows Updates back in Windows 98 but people had to do things themselves and often times installed incorrect features. This time, a user can set updates to run automatically and Windows will determine exactly what the system needs and notify of which drivers should be installed.

System Restore

System Restore was first introduced in Windows Me with mixed reactions. Some people loved the feature because it saved them countless hours of troubleshooting while others hated it for its excessive use of hard drive space.

Return to a previous driver Hopefully a working one

Never sour for drivers again! Maybe.

System Restore is back in Windows XP but now it's configurable. Restore options can be tailored specifically to certain drives while others have it disabled altogether. The amount of space used for restoration can also be changed. Windows XP also makes it easier for you to clear System Restore files that are outdated. To do a restore, simply choose a date on the calendar that you would like Windows to revert back to and press OK. Windows does its thing and reboots. Once you're back though, you might find that some programs need to be reinstalled because Windows has removed their entries in the Registry. We found System Restore to be useful once during testing when we terribly fouled up Windows. The cause is still unclear, but with Restore, at least we know it won't recur randomly.