DirectX and the System Restore utility

Hi! I hope this is the right place to put this question...

When I do the Windows update, one of the critical updates=20
is DirectX 9.0b End-User Runtime. I haven=B4t done the=20
download yet because I have some doubts.
First, the Microsoft recommends that Windows Me users=20
should create a "System Restore" point before installing=20
the DirectX 9.0b. I have never used the System Restore=20
utility before, so I would like to know how to create=20
that "System Restore" point.
Second, I read the article 179113 from the Microsoft=20
Knowledge Base "How to Download and Install Direct X" and,=20
in the end, it said that the information in the article=20
applies to Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Runtime and Microsoft=20
DirectX 8.x Runtime users.
I have the Directx 7.1(or 7.0?) on my computer. Is it save=20
to do the update to DirectX 9.0b?
Thanks for any support.
Carla
Portugal