Public libraries as well as stand-alone kiosks serve as a
convenience for those who might not have a smartphone handy or for anyone
needing to grab files off the web when the home Internet connection is down.
You might even have a PC that you offer in an office space as a courtesy for
guests in order to provide basic web surfing. However, even with a fairly tight
security policy on the local machine, folks can gum up a hard drive with files
like those found in a browser cache or random downloads (with possible malware
payloads).

Tools do exist on the market for keeping the system free of
modifications, with the ability to completely restore Windows back to how you
left it via a simple reboot. At one point in time, Microsoft offered a tool called
SteadyState, which served as a means to preserve a system’s exact
configuration and health as well as restricting access to areas guests had no
business accessing. Alas, Microsoft decided that Windows 7 users wouldn’t get
an upgrade and the tool was effectively discontinued.

Reboot Restore Rx

Thankfully, not all is lost, and third party applications
have stepped in to fill the void left behind by SteadyState. One
alternative is Reboot
Restore Rx by Horizon DataSys. At the most fundamental level, Reboot
Restore Rx does one thing and one thing only, a complete system-wide restore
after a full reboot. Any files you deleted, or icons that were moved, all are
restored to the way you set it originally. If kids wreak havoc on the system – no
problem! Reboot and relax.

This is pretty much all you’ll ever see of Reboot Restore Rx

Product Information

  • Title: Reboot
    Restore Rx
  • Company: Horizon DataSys
  • Product URL:
    http://www.horizondatasys.com/en/products_and_solutions.aspx?ProductId=18
  • Price: Freeware

Installation was incredibly simple. All I had to do was
install the program and reboot the system. When Windows starts again, an
“Installing” progress bar is shown and a snapshot of your system
state is taken on the spot before resuming the boot process. Once you arrive to
your desktop, a new system tray icon greets you. Right clicking the orange
power symbol icon presents you with a “Restore on Reboot” and About
option. It’s incredibly barebones for what it does.

I did give the restore feature a test by deleting test
documents I had created before I activated my install of Reboot Restore Rx.
Afterwards, I rebooted my computer and, just like clockworks, all my files
restored and were perfectly fine to open and view. None of the contents within
the files were altered in any way. To say the least, the job was done right.

More features

Keep in mind, if you are looking to actually configure
additional save states and administer the restore functionality on a per user
basis, you will need to pony up and pay for either Drive Vaccine or Rollback Rx
PC, both of which cost about $39 and $69 respectively for individual user
licenses. If you want to deploy this tool out to a larger network of machines,
cost-saving license packs exist which can be purchased at three or five
licenses at a time.

If you are looking to make a publically-accessible PC junk
proof and consistently reliable, Reboot Restore Rx is definitely a nice product
to consider for preserving the peace. The freeware release might not be nearly
as customizable as Microsoft SteadyState was at the time, but at least your
system will thank you for not allowing its condition to deteriorate rapidly
from abuse.

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