System Restore

[mike11111]

Will a system restore remove trojans which have appeared on my computer recently?

[rojash]

Nope

[rojash]

... but this will:
http://fileforum.beta...iMalware/1186760019/1

[mike11111]

Thanks anyway, just a thought.

[AlBags]

In fact .. you should switch system restore OFF before doing a scan .. as it can be very good at restoring/replicating them back to where they were installed to start with!
I hardly ever see anyone offering this advice .. but it is good advice. It does not work 'every' time, but has a good chance to.

[bibblebub]

As alternative advice, turn off system restore completely (including via Microsoft Group Policy, required in XP don't know about other OS's), do regular disk image backups and save the registry using ERUNT. A couple of years ago System Restore let me down very badly, and as a consequence I have never used it since, and now I never have problems getting my system back up and running should something screw it up big-time.

[mike11111]

Thanks for your advice. As a result of visiting some dodgy websites a couple of weeks back (most of which I was directed to without my knowledge) every time I switch on I get a black screen saying in large red letters, "YOUR SYSTEM IS INFECTED". It then starts a scan, even though I tell it not to. The first time this happened I let it scan and was told that it had identified 92 trojans and no suspect sites. When asked if I wanted to remove the trojans I was then asked to pay the equivalent of $49, which I was reluctant to do, if it wasn't going to work. Basically it takes me me four extra clicks of the mouse to bypass this every time I log on. No big deal, I know, but just wondered if anyone had a simple solution, or do I need to take it to a specialist.

[rojash]

As I said, the simple solution is malwarebytes antimalware, which is free, (there is a paid version, but you don't need it).

[ChuckFickens]

As others have said, switch off system restore (personally I think it's one of the worst things Microsoft ever included in windows) before doing a scan.

If you have access to another computer download malwarebytes on that and put it on a USB memory stick or CD, then start the infected computer in safe mode with networking (you'll need it connected to the router using a USB cable for it to work if it's XP, wireless won't work) then install malwarebytes on the infected computer while in safe mode, let it update (hence why you need networking) and then run a full scan while still in safe mode and remove anything it finds.

[mike11111]

Thanks, Chuck. I don't have a router, I use an O2 mobile USB. Is that OK? Also, my OS is Vista. Does that make a difference?

[mike11111]

To all who gave me advice on this:

I have finally got round to downloading malwarebytes, direct to my infected laptop, and it seems to have cured the problem. Many thanks for all your help.