Judy
Wants To Know If System Restore Can Help If a Virus Infects Your
Computer
I've enjoyed your
e-zine premium for quite a while. I have a question regarding System
Restore that I've never seen an answer for. You mentioned System
Restore in your Nov. 25th issue. Case scenario: If you contact a
virus, trojan or worm that had no removal tool and slipped by all your
protection. Can you roll-back your system (to a previous) restore point
and would you be okay? Personally I don't think so; as it is still
there somewhere lurking to arise. What is the real answer please? I'm
an advanced user and would really like the truth. Thanks, Judy
Answer
System Restore is a great feature and can be used to "go back"
to another point in time. This is useful if you install new programs,
new hardware, new drivers, etc. that cause serious problems with your
computer. System Restore can save the day in situations like these.
But System
restore cannot restore your computer to a pre-infected time and help you
avoid a recent infection by virus, trojan or worm. System Restore only
restores certain files -many files, like email, documents, etc. are not
restored and the virus could be lurking anywhere on your system
including places that System Restore does not touch. Therefore, don't
count on System Restore to back out of a recently acquired infection.
For more about
System Restore and what it does and does not restore
visit this page. Also
see Microsoft's assessment of System Restore working with your
Anti-Virus program.
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