Opinions on System Restore

I was curious to what people here think of system restore.
I have heard that viruses like to get in there and hide and when you try to do a restore you reactivate the virus.
Is this hogwash or is there some validity to this?

 

If you are playing host to a virus of which you are not aware and you create a restore point you are effectively saving the virus also. When you restore... hey presto you have the same virus back again. System restore saves your system at the time the restore was made and if there is a virus present it will save it as well

 

System Restore more often than not causes more harm than good. When I did MS support, System Restore got people into more hot water than anything else.

 

Honestly, though, shouldn't the blame with viruses be put on system security...not system restore?

I mean, it seems to me SR is just there in case someone installs a particulary nasty program that they just don't like and they want to get rid of fast. Idk, but maybe system restore is just mis-understood...or maybe it keeps too many system points and is mis-understood...

:-o

Think about this perhaps. What if you backed up your system with something rancid on board...maybe 2 or 3 backups worth before it attacks. All your backups have the file there, so what do you do? Try a System Restore. It's just another option I think...

:confused

 

In my opinion it is all ways best to completely scan system every night.Then there should be no problem.I have AVG and malwarebytes scan every night.

Then there should not be a problem with system restore.

 

I've turned off System Restore on all of my drives because:

1.) The incredible amount of space System Volume Information takes up on the drives.

2.) As stated here, if you've managed to get some type of malware, it gets restored too.

I've partitioned my internal drive into two smaller ones and any "important" files are saved, not backed up, to an external hard drive which is also partitioned into two smaller ones. Nothing "important" is on my internal drive at all.

I've got a Western Digital internal drive, and while every test I've run indicates that the drive is in good health, I've read that WD drives tend to fail at an above average rate.

I use Macrium Reflect to create an image of my GOOD "C" drive and save that image to one of the partitions on the external drive. I'm using the free version, so I can't create an incremental or differential backup, but it's served my needs a couple of times (or maybe a few rolleyes).

If my computer hiccups or barfs (it has rolleyes), I either wipe the "C" drive partition or I delete it and create a new one using either AOMEI Partition Assistant (WAIK) or MiniTool Partition Assistant (Linux) — both are freeware and work equally well — from a bootable CD and then I use the Macrium rescue software from a bootable USB flash drive and and restore the "GOOD" image along with fixing the MBR via the same rescue software.

Within an hour, my computer's "good as new". If I have to re-install anything, (it will be only one to a few items) that/those installer(s) are on one of the external partitions as well.

I, personally, wouldn't use System Restore.

 

Personally, I have found WD drives to be mostly reliable. It depends on the drive. The Green ones do tend to fail more often mainly due to the stupidly short head park time WD has equipped them with. The Red drives, although new, are more reliable according to WD's figures than any other desktop-class drive. I have personally found the Blue drives to be highly reliable, and I still have WD drives in operation that were made in 2004/5 and have been in enterprise desktop systems for most of their life.

As for the original question, I have never used System Restore as I stick to the process of having all important files on a second hard rive, plus almost real-time backups to my file server, plus I hold "basic state" or "fresh" images of all my systems. so I can restore quickly in the event of trouble.

 

I've never had a WD fail, green, blue, red, black, you name it.

Only drive I've had fail is an IBM DeskStar. Click o' death.

 

I've had 3 green drives fail through multiple sector failures after 1-3 years use in a file server. The Green range is not designed for this application but up until recently they were all I could get from WD - I try and match drives.

I've had one blue fail after 4 years, and one pre-colour drive fail but it was 6 years old and to be expected.

 

The thread seems to have been hijacked to discuss the reliability of drives.

The fact remains that Restore is a very handy tool and it should be enabled for your C: drive. it is not necessary for it to be enabled for other drive because any one with an ounce of sense will scan those drives regularly with a suitable virus checker.

The Restore facility allows you to restore your system to an earlier time when the system was in good order. If you suspect that you have been compromised then use antivirus/malware facilities to clear the system then delete the restore and CCleaner lite allows you to do this easily but DO NOT use the compromised Restore point until you have checked.

To turn off Restore on your C: drive is foolish as is enabling it on all drives because that certainly will use up valuable space.

Download CCleaner Lite (it's free) and you will be able to control the nuber of Restore points you retain. I always keep at least three.

 

System restore is not a viable virus removal tool. Not even a little bit.

If you have been infected you can assume your system restore points have been infected too. They are not encrypted, nor do you know if they were created before you were infected.

 

@ Adrynalyne... I NEVER suggested for one moment that Restore was a viable virus removal tool and with all due respect I suggest that you re-read my posts and this line in my last post in particular: The Restore facility allows you to restore your system to an earlier time when the system was in good order. If you suspect that you have been compromised then use antivirus/malware facilities to clear the system then delete the restore and CCleaner lite allows you to do this easily but DO NOT use the compromised Restore point until you have checked.

Regards

 

What I highlighted implies that System Restore is viable in the event of a virus infection. It really isn't, which is what I stated. If I read it that way, so will others. I was merely clarifying.

 

I have i had a 320gig fail on me after 15 years lol:-D

 

I've had good and bad experiences with Windows system restore. On balance, not enough good to use it.

I'm risk adverse so I don't get into many malware jams. Unless the nasty hits the boot sector, a successful system restore can "fix" an infected system in some cases.
I wouldn't depend on it for that tho, because in my experience system restore has reliability issues...

I prefer disk images and multiple backups of my data.
I am increasingly using portable apps from USB stick, the benefit being less to reinstall if it comes to that.

A Linux Live CD/DVD is also an option for web related activities and data recovery of hosed systems...
.

 

I have used "system restore" when i have installed something i do not like but to be honest i tend to keep my system clean although i am not conceited enough to think i can never get infected.

I have an external drive and Acronis that i periodically update (every two weeks) and do not have it connected to the PC when not in use,then if i get any nasties on the PC i can clean them without having to worry if my backups were also compromised.

I did have a monumental crash last week and still do not know what caused it but my trusty backup had me up and running again in no time.

My personal way is i have a boot CD which has acronis on it and lets me go directly to my external backups.

 

BILLMCC66 you echo my sentiments exactly. I have an external drive which is for my backups exclusively and is never connected to the system unless I am about to backup. Like you I use a Macrium boot disk to back up and restore, I backup every Saturday morning and I keep 3 images in reserve. I use Restore when I install a new programme by first making a manual restore point then I use CCleaner to delete surplus restore points. If I need to uninstall I use Revo which does a great job of removing unwanted programmes.

It's all a matter of good housekeeping and maintaining a sensible anti-virus regime.

 

That is way i bye Big Flash drive sticks that can handle Backed up data.And programs.

 

I've ran into a few cases where the system restore has helped. But, that is a rare occasion.