Top Choices for November 2009...   VIPRE Antispyware+Antivirus — 15 day free trial   Sunbelt Personal Firewall — 30 day free trial   NetZero Dialup — Free 10 hrs /month   Web Hosting from $4.95/month   Windows XP System Repairs — Online Service

Turning Off System Restore

Windows XP and Windows Vista have a valuable feature called System Restore, which enable you to save and/or restore some of the critical Windows Registry values and Windows critical files.

They don't back up your computer — but they can save your Windows installation if a program installation, a program update or a driver update manages to mess up Windows.

But, for every ray of sunshine, we get a little bit of rain... System Restore complicates the process of getting rid of viruses, adware, spyware and trojans.

Actually, it doesn't really complicate the process of removal — it complicates the process of keeping the malware uninstalled.

After cleaning your system, if you restore an earlier Restore Point, you may resurrect the malware at the same time!

The answer, then, is simple. Just turn off the System Restore function when you remove the malware. The act of turning off System Restore will delete all earlier Restore Points.

To turn off System Restore:

1. Start
2. Control Panel
3. Performance & Maintenance (if in Category View) or System (if in Classic View)
4. System (if in Category View)
5. Click on the System Restore tab
6. Click in the checkbox "Turn off System Restore on all drives"
7. Click OK.

Then, just turn it back on again, so that Windows will automatically create Restore Points for your future use.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.