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    System Restore & viruses

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by foosa123, Mar 28, 2007.

  1. foosa123

    foosa123 adsfjldsajflkajsdfa

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    if your virus scanner detects a virus, can you just use system restore to restore the computer to a previous state, and then everything will be ok?
     
    foosa123, Mar 28, 2007
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  2. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    NO, i don't think so. I tried it before but the virus remained... better clean it with antivir...
     
    qohelet, Mar 28, 2007
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  3. iza

    iza Notebook Evangelist

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    Depends on the virus. It should work on most viruses, but some are particularly nasty, and can even infiltrate the saved sessions, to back themselves up I suppose.
     
    iza, Mar 28, 2007
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  4. foosa123

    foosa123 adsfjldsajflkajsdfa

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    well i just deleted the infected file so it should be fine now right?
     
    foosa123, Mar 28, 2007
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  5. iza

    iza Notebook Evangelist

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    Had the virus already been launched? like did it install itself already, or was it just sitting in an un-opened executable. If the virus hasn't run yet you should be fine.

    Check back to see if the infected file is still gone; usually if a virus is active it will re-create its own files.
     
    iza, Mar 28, 2007
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  6. Thibault

    Thibault Banned

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    Really does depend on the virus. Some save themselves in the system restore files so they just come back.
    Some others don't and are easy to remove. Depending on the virus deleting the file like you did might be enough. I got a virus over MSN once and all I had to do was delete the file that was sent.
     
    Thibault, Mar 28, 2007
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  7. foosa123

    foosa123 adsfjldsajflkajsdfa

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    well im running another scan now just to check and make sure its gone...ill say in a little while what happens

    EDIT: yay!! nothing found! all is well again!! hooray oh happy day!!
     
    foosa123, Mar 28, 2007
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  8. csinth

    csinth Snitch?

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    I had a virus that was detected but unable to be quarantined in regular and safe mode. I even tried using a special boot delete program and that didn't work. So I just restored to previous point (a day back), and it was gone
     
    csinth, Mar 28, 2007
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  9. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

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    A lot of the nastier viruses will hide themselves in the restore files. Some of them are smart enough to disable or sabotage your AV so that you either can't launch your AV or won't find the virus even after scanning. If you have some experience with the Windows repair CD, or have your own Windows image backup, use that.
     
    Gator, Mar 29, 2007
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