Will a system restore completely remove any viruses or spyware on a PC? Any suggestions on how to completely eliminate malicious spyware?

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Yvonne
Reformed Presbyterian
Currently seeking a Church

"A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions." -T. Brooks

It can do. Failing that, a wipe and reinstall is usually the easiest course.

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Paul
No denomination, affiliated with FIEC
"Deliver me from worldly dispositions, for I am born from above and destined for glory" - Valley of Vision
"They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation" - Peter

I recommend Spysweeper by WebRoot if you believe that you already have spyware on your system.

Otherwise BSafe is a good system with excellent filters for spam, spyware, website blocking, etc,

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Bob, elder, RBC Louisville. 1689 LBCF

"... Of such also, or of those who make a credible profession of being such, all those particular churches consist, which constitute our Lord's visible kingdom. ... Consequently, all the subjects of His government must have spiritual dispositions, , and yield spiritual obedience- obedience proceeding from an enlightened understanding, an awakened conscience, and a renewed heart."- Abraham Booth 1788

So reinstalling the operating system should wipe it clean from any viruses or spyware?

A system restore may or may not remove a virus; it depends on where the virus has "hidden". The only ways to completely remove the virus are:

reformat all drives and reinstall the OS and the applications OR try removing the virus using a good antivirus software.

This is what microsoft recommends:

Removing Viruses ? Remove Unwanted Software ? Microsoft Security

I would also try:

TuneUp America - Download

They have a free 30 day trial and it helps keep your pc running properly, make sure you read th details before acting upon its recommendations.

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Jeff
Heritage Reformed Baptist
Akron, Ohio

Only if you take the option to format the drive when you reinstall, otherwise it reinstalls on top and is likely to leave the malware in place.

A System Restore will NOT remove viruses, although it may delete spyware. System Restore is normally used when there is a software conflict that cannot be corrected through deleting and reloaded the program. The only way to effectively remove a virus from your hard drive is through a thorough scan and virus removal software. There are many on the market. I use Trend Micro.

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Bill Brown
Elder
Reformed Baptist
Maryland

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Guys, what about restoring to "Dell Factory Image Restore"? Would that remove all viruses or spyware?

Spyware? Probably. You have to understand that viruses are virulent critters. They find a resting place in system critical files and can only be removed through software specifically designed for that purpose.

Okay, thank you for your help! I really do appreciate it!

I've found system restore can be more effective than antivirus software in some situations. If a system has a virus the first thing it will do is infiltrate and make useless the antivirus software. If you try to install antivirus software on an infected machine, the virus may not allow it to be installed correctly.

Antivirus software is partly a scam because a) if you know what you're doing you need never get a virus even without antivirus and b) if you don't know what you're doing you will get one eventually even with antivirus. Antivirus software only serves to delay the infection in the latter case. Here's a good page with advice on how to avoid getting malware in the first place: Do You Still Need An Anti-Virus Client? | PCMech. I don't use an anti-virus, but I'd recommend for less knowledgeable people to use a free one as a good benefit to cost ratio. PC Tools Antivirus together with Threatfire seems a good combination.

If I were working on your computer I would first ask "what makes you think you have a virus?"

What is going on that makes you think you need to reinstall the OS?

It may be a virus or malware, but the starting point would be to run a "reliable" anti virus scan and a "reliable" anti malware scan first.

If the Dell factory image is on CD, it would definitely be safe. If it is included on the infected computer then there is the possibility of corruption.

The safest method is a complete wipe and reinstall from CD.

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Blessings!
Greg
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Terre Haute, IN (for now)
Residing in Paris, IL

“The principal damning sin, is to make any thing besides God our end or rest. And the first true saving act, is to choose God only for our end and happiness.” - Richard Baxter -

I would never reformat a hard drive in order to elminate a virus or malware.

The question is far too generic. If it's a virus infecting a file on your hard drive and that file is not in the Windows systems directory then reinstalling the OS will simply be a waste of time.

Reinstalling the OS may "reset" the registry so you have to reinstall all the programs but there are easier ways of dealing with this.

Why don't you download and install a copy of Kaspersky or McAfee or Symantec? They're free for 30 days and will take care of whatever problem you have. I would run ccleaner as well after they're done scanning and removing malware and viruses.

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Rich
PCA, Northern VA
Student, New Geneva Theological Seminary

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