The restoration process is long and frustrating, usually involving at least a day of continual software installation and system resets. But if you look hard enough, you may just find some hidden gold.

What is that hidden gold, you ask? Updated software!

If you're anything like me, keeping your software up-to-date isn't really uppermost in your mind. I've got too much going on, and not all companies send out a notice when they update an application. Although, they should. At least to existing customers.

A system restoration is the perfect time to update your applications. You may just find that a feature you've been longing for has been added.

Like what features? Well, since I installed it, the software I use to read ebooks has been updated several times. It now runs from a storage card. Whereas before, it didn't.

My map program has been updated, although I don't know what could have been improved. I've been using either the Palm or Pocket PC version for the last five years, and they've all worked fine. My cookbook program has been updated too. It's now fully compatible with Windows Mobile 5. Previously, it was running a kind of patched beta.

So the next time you're sitting there waiting for your OS to re-install, make a list of the apps you'd like to check for updates. You never know what you might find.

James Booth is Editor-at-Large at ZATZ Publishing. In addition to writing for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer, he's the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and handheld specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.