You know, I think that I am going to get up in the morning and do a restore on my OLD computer every day just hitting the F11 key and reinstalling the operating system.

That way, I don't have to worry with viruses, malware or any of the CRAP that people use to screw with you. If anybody has any information on why this won't work, please post it here...

Does this restore installed software with the OS? Does this affect user's home folders? I am asking this, cause acer's recovery just rewrites whole disk C:, if I remember correctly. And removing crapware, installing needed software and so on takes time, much more time than recovery itself.

It may work only if a computer is used for internet access only, and all your data lives in the net.

It takes it down to the level that it was when purchased. The trouble is, I am running XP and I have to keep Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3 on a disk so that I can install them as soon as I am back up and running. Then, after that, I can get microsoft updates.

I have everything (probably including some viruses) on a 500 gig portable hard drive. (with no moving parts) my important stuff never really makes the computer hard drive.

I keep the 500 gig unplugged most of the time.

Yes, it DESTROYS everything on the computer resident hard drive when you do this. It keeps the O.S. on a partition that is not accessable except upon start up.

You use the f11 key when you cold boot it and follow the instructions.

A-1 (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2013 5:48 pm It takes it down to the level that it was when purchased. The trouble is, I am running XP and I have to keep Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3 on a disk so that I can install them as soon as I am back up and running. Then, after that, I can get microsoft updates.

I have everything (probably including some viruses) on a 500 gig portable hard drive. (with no moving parts) my important stuff never really makes the computer hard drive.

I keep the 500 gig unplugged most of the time.

Yes, it DESTROYS everything on the computer resident hard drive when you do this. It keeps the O.S. on a partition that is not accessable except upon start up.

You use the f11 key when you cold boot it and follow the instructions.

Quit visiting all those porn sites, and you'd likely reduce your virus count by 98%.

WHAT and loose his position as the head of the beaver patrol?

It would make a lot more sense to have good anti-virus and anti-spyware software. I'm using Norton 360 for both (free for Comcast users) and it has been keeping me safe. I have tons of personal documents, bookmarks, music, videos...etc that it would be a huge pain in the ass having to restore all the time.

I suppose if you have a fresh install and everything pointing to the correct directories and all that. You could do a full system back and restore THAT every day and it would make more sense then going back to the factory version. Especially if you are going to load the service packs AND do all the Windows Updates. I know they are going to stop releasing XP patches soon, not sure about if they'll still be downloadable from MS.

You could also try switching from Windows to a version of Linux if you have nothing to save on the computer.

I would go with the Antivirus first and not bother with daily restores. Although I'd also want Windows 7 not XP

The only information I have to offer is why it will work.

When I have done that with other people's computers, it has worked every time.

*****

Also, for those who enjoy reading:

I have no information regarding why it won't work because, in helping other people who got into "crap" trouble, it has always worked every time I have done a "restore to factory" on any branded or homebrew computer.

For myself, I always, always, buy the factory restore disks for any computer for which the factory restore software comes with the computer only on the computer's hard disk drive. Recent HP Pavilion computers that I have worked with have come with a way to make one set of DVDs that contain the factory restore software, and I have implored people who are not willing to buy the factory disks to make the DVDs, because a hard disk drive may fail in such a way that the F11 restore cannot work.

For backup of my work, I have long used a batch file approach, with a set of consecutive backups of my work on external media. In the days when they were readily available and cost-effective, I used Iomega Jaz disks for this purpose; more recently, an external firewire or USB3 drive is much more cost effective than Jaz or Rev disk backup. Stuff I really want to keep is stored in multiple copies off-premises.

For checking an Internet site that I am not sure could be useful to me, I have a simple, obsolete computer which I use only for such things, well-endowed with viciousware defenses, with two obsolete hard disk drives, one of which is normally powered down and used for restarting the computer from scratch on a fairly regular basis. After I come upon something I find not trustworthy (that computer runs Web of Trust, among other stuff), I simply restore the normally-in-use drive, by first doing a full format and then plugging its usual software on the re-formatted drive.

My first computer was a Librascope/General Precision/Control Data LGP-30, which I had as my home computer in 1969. It came with a nice interpreter, Dictator, and I used it during my undergraduate engineering days when the University's IBM 360 system was down. The look on my professor's face when I trudged in with the printout made on the LGP-30's Friden Flexowriter was thoroughly odd. It never occurred to him that an undergraduate student would have a digital computer at home...

I have never yet had to fix a virus, or other viciousware problem on any of my computers.

With a computer that I use on the Internet, I do, with some regularity, a factory restore and put my software and work back from factory disks for software and a backup of my work, this because I can never be sure what traumatized person may try to scapegoat me with some new-fangled viciousware that the anti-threat software purveyors have yet to recognize.

I tend to add computers to my computer scheme, and not replace a seriously obsolete one with a not so seriously obsolete one.

As for computer technology, if you can buy or build it, it is already obsolete?

kristoff wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2013 6:30 pm Quit visiting all those porn sites, and you'd likel

Riverwind (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2013 7:03 pm y reduce your virus count by 98%.

WHAT and loose h

is position as the head of the beaver patrol?

I wouldn't knock it if I were you guys. How do you think that I found the E.A.?

Go to Microsoft website, and get a free download of Security Essentials (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... s-download).

Clean up and defrag the machine, make a back-up/restore point, then a copy of your disc; preferrably on an external disc. Your DOCs/photos will be safe.

Security Essentials can check anything connected to your PC.

There's a program called DEEP FREEZE which might solve this problem for you. In simplest terms, Deep Freeze undoes any changes, including any damage from viruses/malware, etc, whenever the computer is re-booted (and adds only about 10-15 seconds to boot time, even on an old/slow computer). The only issue is when I say "any" changes, I do mean ANY -- that includes anything you saved to the computer's boot drive (or Desktop or My Documents). So you have to get used to saving everything to a USB Flash Drive or an External Hard Drive (or a Networked Drive, thats what we do at work). In effect, using Deep Freeze would be just like restoring the computer every time you restart, but much faster.

You can put in a Password to "un-freeze" the computer, which will let you save or install things, and they will be there after a reboot. But, while un-frozen, you would not be protected against malware (viruses/spyware). The idea is you'd un-freeze the computer, install something, then freeze the computer again.

You can get Deep Freeze from www.faronics.com -- it costs about $30 if I remember correctly. You can get a free 30-day trial to try it out.

Microsoft used to make a similar program called "Steady State", but I think they have discontinued it. Steady State was free, so if you can find it (Google or Yahoo search?), it would be a cheap option.

I also have to echo what was already said. Get some kind of Anti-Malware (Anti-Virus / Anti-Spyware). Best free ones are Microsoft Security Essentials (already mentioned above), and AVG (http://www.avg.com). But you are FAR better off going with a paid one. The Free ones are decent (much better than nothing), but they do miss a lot of stuff. The only paid one I even consider anymore is ESET NOD32 (www.eset.com), and maybe Kaspersky as a distant 2nd choice. The others, Norton/Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, and most of the ones you see in the major stores these days slow the computer down so badly you can hardly use it (and don't even get me started on the free ones... You talk about slow!!!). ESET will slow the computer down a little, but not too badly. Also, ESET finds stuff the others miss. We have Norton/Symantec on most machines at work (McAfee on the few that don't have Norton), and I regularly bring stuff home to scan it because the two "big guys" won't find the virus on an obviously virus-infected hard drive!!!

One last thing -- you can only have 1 Anti-Virus on the system. If you have 2 or more running on the computer at the same time, you are asking for (and will get) a lot of trouble. Pick one of the above and stick with it. If you decide to change, un-install your current one first, before you install the new one.