Lost System Restore

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ben Stevenson
  • Start date Start date
B

Ben Stevenson

On my regular virus scan (Avast) check yesterday there was a virus or two,
which were moved to virus chest as directed. This is not uncommon. It has
happened before and no other problems were seen with the computer system.

But today I could not access my WORD files. The pop-ups tell me that WORD is
not present and asks me to install it again..

Went to System Restore but for whatever date I tried several times to the
beginning of this month, it repeatedly says that my system cannot be
restored. I need help.
TIA
 
I would appreciate a reply from someone. I need help on how I can get System
Restore to function again.
Thanks
 
There is a limit as to what System Restore can accomplish, especially if a
virus really corrupted your system (which could be the case, given what
you've said).

Probably the first thing you should do is make sure all the viruses are
truly gone with a *thorough* system scan, which will take a fair amount of
time. Assuming that is done, some possible options I can think of here
are:

1) restore your system from your backup (that's the best option, obviously),
2) consider doing a Repair Install from your WinXP System CD,
and
3) possibly reinstalling WinXP, if needbe.

Perhaps there is a way to get System Restore to work again, but it doesn't
sound promising. (You could do a Google search on System Restore, and also
check the MS website for that).

Someone else may have some other suggestions, though.
 
Ken

I do not think Bert's site directly mentions Avast. You might work out
the solution by drawing on comments he makes about other security
software.

BTW Bert last posted on 5 March. I did try to contact him about Avast
but he did not reply. Please let me know by email if you know something
unexpected has happened.

--
Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Ken

I do not think Bert's site directly mentions Avast.
Click to expand...


No, I didn't mean to imply that it did. My reference to Bert's site
was in regard to Ben Stevenson's problems with using System Restore,
not about Avast itself.

You might work out
the solution by drawing on comments he makes about other security
software.

BTW Bert last posted on 5 March. I did try to contact him about Avast
but he did not reply. Please let me know by email if you know something
unexpected has happened.
Click to expand...


Last I heard, Bert was just very busy, but I haven't contacted him
myself.
 
Ken

Making changes of this type in Safe Mode Ken is probably something you
might have done as a cautious user anyway. The need to use Safe Mode is
not always so obvious as it was with Windows 98. Thus I never run in
Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode as we did with Windows 98.

--
Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I have used Avast for a number of years and it has served me well. All I
need to know is how to reset System Restore to ensure it works again.
Thanks
 
Thanks for your response. As I am not that good on computers, I would
appreciate your simple steps to reset or ensure that System Restore
functions well again.
Thanks
 
Ben Stevenson said:
Thanks for your response. As I am not that good on computers, I would
appreciate your simple steps to reset or ensure that System Restore
functions well again.
Thanks
Click to expand...

There is a simple measures you can take to restore the System
Restore facility but I suspect you may not like it.

I think the key to your problem lies in the remark you dropped
in your very first post. Here it goes:

"On my regular virus scan (Avast) check yesterday there was a virus or two,
which were moved to virus chest as directed. This is not uncommon. It has
happened before and no other problems were seen with the computer system."

When I read a note like this one the I hear lots of alarm bells
going off in my head. There are two reasons:

a) Why should your machine suffer repeated virus infections?
A well-kept machine should run virus-free day in, day out!
Either your virus protection is of poor quality or your computing
habits are unsound. I look after lots of PCs and none of them
has ever suffered an infection. If they had then I would lose
a client.

b) It is a commonly held belief that virus scanners can undo all
damage done by infections. This is not so. Some damage can
be repaired but some scars may remain. The same goes for
System Restore - depending on where exactly the damage
was done, it may or may not be undoable. If I was in the
business of writing viruses then I would attack the System
Restore facility, to make the damage stick . . .

In my opinion an infected machine is a compromised machine.
I would back up all my data (including my EMail files), test
the back-ups, then format the disk and start afresh. I would
also take a long, hard look at my computing habits.
 
I have used Avast for a number of years and it has served me well. All I
need to know is how to reset System Restore to ensure it works again.
Click to expand...


Just turn off System Restore and turn it back on again.

Also please go to the link for Bert Kinney's site I provided earlier.
That's lots of good information there, and some of it may be pertinent
to your situation.
 
I went to the site http://bertk.mvps.org/ but it only states how to restore
on a system that is functioning. My problem is that my System Restore is not
functioning. I cannot restore on any points I choose up to 3 weeks back. Pls
advise how I can get my System Restore to function properly again.
Thanks
 
Ben Stevenson said:
I went to the site http://bertk.mvps.org/ but it only states how to restore
on a system that is functioning. My problem is that my System Restore is
not functioning. I cannot restore on any points I choose up to 3 weeks
back. Pls advise how I can get my System Restore to function properly
again.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I too told you how to restore "System Restore", and how to
prevent such mishaps in future. Time to bite the bullet.
 
I am sorry but I am not that good on computers. I do not recollect you
telling me, or did I miss any posts? Would appreciate if you could send me a
copy of that post where you showed me how.
Thanks
 

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