System restore

[Guest]

I have never needed to use 'system restore', but recently my nephew visited &
downloaded all kinds of games & web site's offerings on my new PC..
I told him to delete everything before he left, but there are bits & pieces
all over the place..I figure the only way I can get rid of this garbage is to
do a 'system restore'. Will it get rid of the "hangers on" ? I can take it
back to the day before 'the destroyer' attacked my computer..It's the
downloads & games I want to dump..
Thanks,

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Patty,

System Restore can help, but first you will want to uninstall any
applications installed after the restore point being restore to. What
happens is, System Restore only removes monitored files for the
installed applications and the remaining files are left behind. This can
cause the application not to function. And in some cases, can also cause
the uninstall and reinstall process of the partially removed application
to fail.

As far as the downloaded files go, what type of files are they and where
are they located?

You will also want to scan the system for spyware and virus infection.
Virus and Spyware removal and prevention steps:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/spyware.html

 

[Guest]

Hi Bert, Thanks so much for answering..All the games & downloads were
deleted, but I keep finding little bits & pieces when I go to 'start', if I
click on them, it says they can't be found, so I know they're basically gone,
but I also know they always leave a little bit of themselves behind..I like a
clean PC, & hate it when I come across something that shouldn't be there.
There's no probs with virus [ESET] or
spyware, it's just the bits & pieces I KNOW are hiding somewhere inside
where I can't find them..So I figured I'd do a System Restore to make sure
everything's gone..But I've never done that before, so needed some advice..
I love this web site, it's so helpful..

 

[Plato]

System Restore can help, but first you will want to uninstall any

http://www.bootdisk.com/xptop20.htm#15

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Bert, Thanks so much for answering..All the games & downloads were
deleted, but I keep finding little bits & pieces when I go to 'start',
if I
click on them, it says they can't be found, so I know they're
basically gone,
but I also know they always leave a little bit of themselves behind..

What you see in the Start menu are shortcut or links. Right click on any
you don't want and select delete to remove them.

I like a clean PC, & hate it when I come across something that
shouldn't be there.
There's no probs with virus [ESET] or
spyware, it's just the bits & pieces I KNOW are hiding somewhere
inside
where I can't find them..So I figured I'd do a System Restore to make
sure
everything's gone..But I've never done that before, so needed some
advice..
I love this web site, it's so helpful..

Uninstall any applications via add/remove programs in Control Panel that
were installed after the restore point being restore to.

You will find step by step instructions on how to restore the system the
following page.
All About System Restore in WinXP
http://bertk.mvps.org/index.html