Actually, the restore point isn't all that drastic. I've had to do it a couple of times just on general principles. Doing this doesn't delete anything from your hard drive. But if you installed a program since that restore point, Windows won't recognize it. You'll have to reinstall it. As for data/pics and other types of files, they're still there, it's just that Windows doesn't have a record of you creating/using/modifying them. You should still be able to use them as normal without any problems though. [Provided they aren't associated with a now 'uninstalled' program.]
Having to reformat your hard drive is what's drastic. It should be your last resort.