System Restore Points

[Vince53]

Windows 8 makes it difficult to set and use System Restore Points, and they don't let you Schedule them anymore. You have to go to Settings, Control Panel, System, System Protection to find where it is hidden.

Holy File (which is not religious) sends me a once-a-week list of obsolete programs I can download for free. I did one two days ago and got a hijacker called "Do Search." To my surprise, Win Patrol (which I swear by) couldn't get rid of it. I went to Internet Options and changed my Home Page, but it was still there. I finally used my last System Restore Point, and that got rid of it.

You have to do it manually, but you need to set a System Restore Point at least once a week.

 

[EphesiaNZ]

I've found System Restore a mixed bag as far as saving a computer and for a browser hijack it's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut open. I used System Restore twice in the last two weeks on a pastors laptop first time it worked fine, second time it worked but left some parts of the system corrupt. Don't rely on solely System Restore, it's a "Hail Mary" attempt at saving a Windows PC. Backup, backup, backup...

Also, for browser hijacks, some anti-virus vendors such as Avast include browser cleanups - see there blog posting.

 

[freezerman2000]

I've found System Restore a mixed bag as far as saving a computer and for a browser hijack it's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut open. I used System Restore twice in the last two weeks on a pastors laptop first time it worked fine, second time it worked but left some parts of the system corrupt. Don't rely on solely System Restore, it's a "Hail Mary" attempt at saving a Windows PC. Backup, backup, backup...

Also, for browser hijacks, some anti-virus vendors such as Avast include browser cleanups - see there blog posting.

Avast does just that..but it's not automatic,,you have to do it yourself..all in all a great tool!

 

[Jonathan Jarvis]

Windows 8 makes it difficult to set and use System Restore Points, and they don't let you Schedule them anymore. You have to go to Settings, Control Panel, System, System Protection to find where it is hidden.



You have to do it manually, but you need to set a System Restore Point at least once a week.

Moved to Win 8 about three months ago. Thanks for the heads up Vince.

JJ

 

[Vince53]

Right you are, EpesiaNZ. I have seen System Restore fail many times. What it actually DOES is restore your drivers and your settings. Period. It will sometimes delete a program that has changed your settings.

I used to have a shortcut to System Restore on my desktop, but this is impossible with Windows 8. Normally, I would set a Restore Point immediately before installing anything, and it usually worked if I needed it.