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system restore in XP

S

sciencewhiz

Diamond Member
I just cleaned 10 viruses and 100s of pieces of spyware off of a friends computer. However, there are still numerous things wrong with it. For example, the windows installer service won't start, windows update thinks that activeX isn't working (although it works other places), I can't open any new folders in my computer by double clicking, and the list goes on.

It's a 2 year old HP computer, so it doesn't have an XP cd to do a repair from. My next thought was to try system restore. So my question is, what does system restore do? Will it just repair the damaged files, assuming I go back far enough? Does it affect the registry? Does it restore a full disk image? Will all of their files made since then still be there? What about applications installed since then?

I'd like to just format and start over from the image HP keeps on the HD, but they don't have time for that, and I don't have time for that.

Thanks
 
System Restore only restores the Registry to an earlier time/date.

For example, if you installed a program and it trashed your system, so you uninstalled it . . . but it left behind references to iself in the Registry (a common problem), then this would resolve the problems this was causing.

HOWEVER . . . it is NOT reverting files to prior states.
 
Originally posted by: Swampster
System Restore only restores the Registry to an earlier time/date.

For example, if you installed a program and it trashed your system, so you uninstalled it . . . but it left behind references to iself in the Registry (a common problem), then this would resolve the problems this was causing.

HOWEVER . . . it is NOT reverting files to prior states.
Click to expand...

Are you sure it does not revert files back to their previous states or versions? That would kinda defeat the purpose of System Restore then.

This link pretty much says the exact opposite of what your saying.
 
From the website you've linked above:

Q. What files are monitored by System Restore?

A. System Restore monitors only a core set of specified system and application file types (e.g. .exe, .dll etc), archiving the states of these files before system changes are made. System Restore does not monitor any user/personal data files. [emphasis mine]

It restores the registry and a select list of .dll's and other system files. It doesn't restore anything else. If the virus-damaged system files just happen to be part of the System Restore record, then lucky you are. However, I wouldn't count on it to fix all your (friend's) machine's ills.
 
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