System Restore is a Windows tool that can really come in handy when your computer system experiences an error or starts having some problems. The System Restore tool creates “restore points” which are basically snapshots of the current state of your computer. It makes these restore points on a regular schedule, which gives you several different times to roll back to if you experience a problem and need to correct it. Doing this

will basically rewind your computer to an earlier time when it was running better!

 

System Restore can be a problem for you, though, and cause you more trouble than its worth, in some cases. When your computer system becomes infected with a virus, System Restore is NOT something you want to have around. Viruses can easily hide in your restore point files, and since these files are stored in a part of the hard drive that the majority of anti virus software programs cannot touch, no matter how many virus scans and repairs you run, you will not be able to clean up those restore files. If you have infected restore files, then the rest of your computer can become reinfected after a virus scan and clean up the very next time you boot the machine up.

Fortunately, you can avoid this problem by simply disabling System Restore before you begin a virus clean up after you discover an infection. When you disable System Restore, all of those restore point files will be automatically deleted. And the infections that might be present will also be automatically deleted along with them! This helps you to more thoroughly clean your PC.

If you are running Windows Vista, it is easy to Be Your Own IT department and take the extra step of disabling System Restore before a virus clean up. To do it, start by clicking on the Start button. Right click on the Computer icon, and then choose Properties. Track down System Protection under Tasks on the left side of the screen. A User Account Control window will pop up, so click on Continue there. Under the System Protection file, find “Available Disks.” Then just uncheck the box there for any drive that you want to disable System Restore on. When you turn this off, it will ask you if you are sure, since it will delete any existing restore points. Let it know you are sure and then click OK. Restart the computer, and System Restore will be disabled. You can now proceed to clean up your virus problem without worrying that any are hiding in System Restore, waiting to reinfect your computer.