heydc Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The last several times I have tried to perform a system restore in Win XP on an HP desktop, I have not been able to go back to a restore point. Any ideas on where to to start looking for the problem? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swordofdestiny Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Don't use system restore, it can harbor viruses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Don't use system restore, it can harbor viruses.I know cds can also harbor viruses, maybe those should not be used either. I am just making a point, the statemet you said is kind of irresponsible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The last several times I have tried to perform a system restore in Win XP on an HP desktop, I have not been able to go back to a restore point. Any ideas on where to to start looking for the problem?Could you explain in more detail what you mean? Is it giving you an error? Do you mean the restore point is not there? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swordofdestiny Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Well, that's what I've been told for years. I've used System Restore once, and it seriously jacked up my system (I was 12 though). Some viruses embed themselves within System Restore points and even come back after being deleted by a virus scanner because the os denies access to those files. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Well, that's what I've been told for years. I've used System Restore once, and it seriously jacked up my system (I was 12 though). Some viruses embed themselves within System Restore points and even come back after being deleted by a virus scanner because the os denies access to those files.you are correct, virues can be saved in restore points. With that said, it seemed crazy to just say "don't use it". It can be a great tool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The last several times I have tried to perform a system restore in Win XP on an HP desktop, I have not been able to go back to a restore point. Any ideas on where to to start looking for the problem?I'm not a huge fan of system restore. I personally don't feel it should be used unless absolutely necessary. However to answer your question, make sure you have system restore enabled first of all.Right click My Computer => Properties => System Restore tab => make sure it's not set to disable and that it's monitoring your hard driveIf it is enabled, we're going to need some more details as shane pointed out.B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Note: System restore will only infect you if you restore back to a point when you computer was infected. If your computer is/was clean, it won't just "bring malware upon ou". Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chappy Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 While I'm also not a big fan of using Sys Restore very much, if you do try to do a restore and the utility scans the restore point you chose and finds it's corrupted somehow, it will NOT allow you to restore to that point.I never say to go past 1 week with Sys Restore if you do try it, so if all your restore points within 1 week are not able to be restored, then something has corrupted them and they'll be useless.As our other members correctly state, Sys Restore itself is not harboring any nasties, only if you have already had an infection that uses sys restore to reinstall itself will you ever get infected from using it.Now, if you're having to use Sys Restore as many times as it sounds like you have (in the past) you're obviously doing something inherently unsafe or you're not using proper security tools.Please explain in detail what is causing you trouble this time, what security s'ware you use, and any changes recently made and we'll see if we can't fix this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Aren't there some viruses that can "break" system restore? And Heydc, yes, do what the experts tell you to do and report exactly what's happening when you try to restore! They'll fix you right up once they know how it's misbehaving! Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikex Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Aren't there some viruses that can "break" system restore? And Heydc, yes, do what the experts tell you to do and report exactly what's happening when you try to restore! They'll fix you right up once they know how it's misbehaving! LizI smelled freah baked cookies with that post. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Actually chocolate cake from scratch with peanut butter frosting, Mike Good to see you!!Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martymas Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 i smell some thing wrong with this post if youve had a virus in normal mode the first thing you do is turn off sys restore so the virus dosen infect the sys restoreand most of us use this method get rid of the virus in normal mode then turn on sys restore if i have to do this i go in and set a restore pointrestore is a handy tool for the not so with it compt user most of the experienced users probably never use it at alli have mine enabled but havent used it for yonkside prefer to reinstall xpmarty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I agree, it just seems better to reinstall. Until recently I never useed system restore, but for some things it is great. If I install something that borks up my system, sometimes system restore is a good easy way to goback a few minutes(assumbing I remembered to set a point). When I do sevice calls, it is a good way to diagnose/fix simple problems that my customers caused. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
heydc Posted October 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2006 There ARE restore points. I've had this system several years and have used a prior restore point many times as I have on several other computers with extremely good results. It is just that the last several times (over several months) I have tried to go back a back to an established restore point, I receive the message that the system has NOT been restored. I always pick a point earlier the time I started having problems.Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTerrorist_75 Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 It was unecessary for this topic to get sidetracked about viruses seeing as the OP did not state he had a problem with any. Heydc,Ignoring the virus discussion your problem may be caused by a corrupted restore point. Read the information in the following link to troubleshoot System Restore failures.Troubleshoot System Restore “Restore Point Failures” in Windows XPI know my XP setup and have no qualms using System Restore when a glitch occurs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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