Thread: Turning off System Restore

Sometimes a situation may arise when you would need to turn off System Restore on drives. One such situation arises when there is virus attack. Many antivirus software companies recommend to turn off system restore temporarily while scanning system for viruses. This is because Windows Me/XP uses System Restore feature, which is enabled by default, to restore the files on your computer in case they become damaged.



If a virus, worm, or Trojan infects a computer, System Restore may back up the virus, worm, or Trojan on the computer. Windows prevents outside programs, including antivirus programs, from modifying System Restore. Therefore, antivirus programs or tools cannot remove threats in the System Restore folder. As a result, System' Restore might still have an infected file on your computer, even after you have cleaned the infected files from all the other locations.

You can stop System Restore in two ways - First by turning off System Restore on selected drive (s), and second way is turning off System Restore collectively on all drives. Let us now learn about these