Disabling System Restore on Windows Vista
The Windows Vista operating system includes a feature called System Restore, which creates backup copies of essential system files that can be used to restore the active system files if they are corrupted.
This feature can make disinfection of an infected system difficult if these the backup files are also infected, as the System Restore routine will subsequently replace the disinfected file with the backed-up, infected copy.
Temporarily disabling the System Restore feature before performing disinfection is therefore recommended.
Temporarily Disabling System Restore
- Open System (click the Start button, then Control Panel, then System and Maintenance and then System).
- In the left pane, click System Protection. You may need to enter an Administrator password to gain access.
- Uncheck the checkbox next to the hard disk drive(s)*, and then press OK.
*Note: On Windows Vista systems, System Restore is enabled by default on all hard disks. You can opt to disable System Restore on a specific hard disk, or all. Before a full system scan, you may wish to disable System Restore on all disks.
Reenabling System Restore
The System Restore feature can be enabled again with the same steps, except that at step 3. you have to check the checkboxes at the relevant hard disk drives and then click OK.
