The primary purpose of a system restore point in a Windows operating system is to protect and repair the computer software by taking a "snapshot" of some system files and the Windows registry and saving them as restore points. When an installation failure or data corruption occurs, System Restore can return the system to working condition without having to reinstall the operating system. It repairs the Windows environment by reverting back to the files and settings that were saved in the restore point. The utility creates restore points once a day by default and continually monitors system activity and creates a restore point when particular activities occur, such as installing software, updating hardware drivers, or installing new hardware drivers. System restore points only affect OS and application files, but not user data. The most important benefit of System Restore is that it enables the reversal of certain kinds of changes made to the OS that affect system performance or its basic operation.