Will a system restore help

ketherin

I'm running xp, and have been having numerous problems with the pc (virus)
If I run a system restore from a couple of weeks ago when all was well will this remove the virus or will it still be there once I restore back ?
Thanks for any help

foot_loose

ketherin wrote:

I'm running xp, and have been having numerous problems with the pc (virus)
If I run a system restore from a couple of weeks ago when all was well will this remove the virus or will it still be there once I restore back ?
Thanks for any help

viruses somtimes hide in system restore. so turn off system restore and reboot in safe mode with networking and do a online virus scan..

criminal_smile

That all depends on when the virus was downloaded. Best way to remove it is to turn off system restore. Reboot into safe mode, and then run your AV / Spyware removal tool, and once deleted, reboot Windows normally. This should ensure that it doesn't come back.

Apologies foot_loose, cross posted.

bbb_uk

I agree - don't use system restore as that could make things worse.

If you're not sure on how to boot into safe mode, see M$ article here.

Remember to choose Safe Mode with Network Support as mentioned earlier.

drlight_2

It depends on the type of virus, as the first they do is try to hide in system, they usually rename them selves to something that seems like a windows file.
If like was said to reverted back to a restore point made before you had the virus then if the virus was in a system file, the file will of been overwritten by the restored files.
So may no longer be infected but the origonal virus may be somewhere on your computer if you have downloaded it, although it is redundant it could still be somewhere, I would agree and run a virus check and also a online virus scan just to be sure.
Trend Micro - Free online virus Scan

bbb_uk

drlight wrote:

..If like was said to reverted back to a restore point made before you had the virus then if the virus was in a system file, the file will of been overwritten by the restored files. So may no longer be infected...

If the virus is in memory then using system restore will most likely just spread it even further to more files. If you have a virus it is best to avoid as much disc activity as you can as anything you load/access then the virus could spread itself onto those files that you load/access as well. If the virus has replaced (infected) any system files needed for the operation of WinXP then depending on how good the virus is, you most probably get WFP (Windows File Protection) error message informing you that a system file has been changed.

Booting into safe mode with network support limits the chances that you will load the virus again then just do an online scan.