Re: System Restore

• From: Sharon F <sharonfDEL@xxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:32:23 -0600

On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:07:33 -0800, Waring, Kevin wrote:

> I made a system purchase in early-August of 2005. It was a Dell Dimension 
> 3000, successor to my prior computer (failed motherboard). With this new 
> system, I wanted to be painstakingly careful. I wanted to download a few 
> files and programs, but with the new security technologies implemented in 
> Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, upon installing any files or programs, a 
> dialog box would appear stating that, "This file could harm your computer if 
> it contains malicious code." (probably not exact quotation). It instilled a 
> bit of fear within me, and I would use system restore to revert my computer 
> back to it's original state prior to the download. I've done this on numerous 
> occasions, and I want to know if restoring your computer an outstanding 
> number of times causes any internal, irreversible damage to your computer or 
> system register?

First: The warning is standard whenever downloading a file with executable
code. When you download a program from a trusted source, you can safely
ignore that warning. Think of it as a warning - a chance to think twice
before clicking to install. 

If you want an extra level of confidence, download and *save* the file.
When the download is complete, scan the file with your antivirus program. 

Another extra step: Read the EULA before installing. Boring, I know, but
often enough notice of "adware" being installed is mentioned in this text
that it is worth the few extra minutes of time. If you catch even one
program *before* installing (don't install it if it says it has adware or
if you can live with whatever there is), you can save yourself from having
to deal with a bucketful of problems.  

For the registry portion of your question: While System Restore is
considerably safe, any system change entails some risk. Besides the
registry reverting to a state where preferences or settings may not be
active, system restore will reinstate older versions of device drivers (if
they were updated since the date of the restore point being used). 

System Restore is a good way to recovery from small "oops" problems. It is
not needed for a warning message about a download that you didn't accept. 

If on the other hand, you accepted and installed the download and then
decided you didn't want it, uninstall it first. Then decide whether or not
you need to run system restore. I would only run it if the program source
was questionable or if I noticed undesirable side effects from the
install/uninstall.  
   
-- 
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User
.

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