Had a virus is it safe to restore?

I had a virus which I removed but now my system isn't working quite right.

Before I do some major repairs on my system to try and fix the damaged it caused would system restore be a more viable option if it works?

I've seen some say that's the way to go to get your system back to where it was and others say you shouldn't do that after a virus. I'm wondering what the experts say here?

 

Thank you for your response
If you restored before the point of the virus, can you easlily delete the system restore points after the date of the virus and get rid of it?

 

It's always a crap shoot with the System Restore tool. It can often leave you hanging when you need it most.

If your system is not going to be usable due to the cleanup action you took to get rid of the virus, perhaps if you post what you specific symptoms are someone here will be able to help you make repairs without so much risk.

If all else fails and you are resigned to doing a repair install or clean install, then by all means, give System Restore a shot at it before throwing in the towel. In theory, if you can get it rolled back to a time prior to the infection, you may have a chance at escaping it and getting the full system functions back. No guarantees though.

 

I would say not to use System Restore for the reason you really can't too sure of when the infected files actually got into your system.

 

I agree, under normal circumstances when the system is not otherwise damaged beyond repair. System Restore would be my last choice before capitulating. Actually I never use it at all.

I much prefer to deploy a drive image made before disaster struck.

Treasure, since you list yourself as a beginner, you should look into getting an imaging software and making a full drive image that can be restored when trouble strikes. Then make another after you feel you have added enough new data or software that is valuable to you. I like to keep several old images for better protection. That way you don't have to be a guru to sort things out. I use Acronis True Image. There are others such as Ghost and Drive Image. There are even some free ones that work very well. I have used a freebie called DriveImage-XML with good results. Of course you would also need some media to place the image on since you can't put it on your system drive that you will be imaging.

Anyway, something for you to consider for your future backup plans so as to prevent the issue you are now faced with.

 

Hey Surferdude & MarkP

Thanks so much for the info. I guess my biggest concern is using this combo something or something like that program to fix my computer, and then I'll be stuck with having the repair console part booting up each time I used my computer (according to others I've seen post)

My only real problem is my IE is hanging, I can't play my card games, and if hangs too much my entire system shut down. It is also affecting my internet connection where I have to run repair on it to connect to the internet again. I know I'm such a worry wart but I thought the restore might be better for that reason. I do know exactly when i got the virus also. My daughter downloaded it and bam it was obvious. My system was pretty clean b4 this point (couple wks back)

That is great advise on the image system thing too, never heard of that, but will definately look into it because with all my graphics I would die if I lost them and the programs to produce my work.

What I do now is have mostly everything on a external drive but yeah doesn't help me with my systems when something like this happens.

Thanks a bunch guys.

 

If that be true Treasure, go ahead and use System Restore and don't give it another thought. That assumes it has dates prior to the problem. It'll likely get you back to normal easier than any other option you have available presently.

Get an imaging system for future protection.

 

thanks for the help