Windows System Restore

[monsieurhappy]

Been having problems this last day or two with everything slowing down or not working.

Using Firefox but taking an age to open and then finding I cannot access the page I'm after.

In general not being able to update a page and then getting "page not available"

I know there's problems with internet, I'm with BTV in Pattaya and their Techies told us they had problems last week.

I have scanned several times with AVG and picked up a few Trojans which AVG elliminated. Also been using Spywareblaster.

I have defragged several times also.

I thought maybe if I do a System Restore it might help but when I click on it says S/R is turned off!

I have not turned it off! When I go to that page to turn it on again I cannot remove the tick from " Turn off System Restore"

At the side of tick in UNhighlighted print ( that, that looks if it's been rubbed out ) it says "turned of by Company Policy"

What's this? How can I turn S/R back on again?

Is this a bug or virus?

If anyone has an answer, please use simple terms as I'm not an expert when it comes to computers.

Thanks.

PS. It says "Turn off system restore (disabled by Group Policy) next to box with tick.

I'm supposed to untick box to turn on S/R but it won't let me!

Edited January 16, 2010 by monsieurhappy

[Supernova]

How to re-enable System Restore (in Windows XP):

Method 1

1. Copy and paste the following code to Notepad

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore]
"DisableSR"=-
"DisableConfig"=-

2. Save the file to your Desktop. Note: The file must have .reg extension (e.g., myfile.reg).

3. Merge or import the file to the Registry by double-clicking on it.

Method 2

1. Open Start menu, Run and type GPEDIT.MSC

2. Navigate to this path:

 Computer Configuration
|
+---Administrative Templates
 |
 +---System
	 |
	 +---System Restore

3. Set Turn off Configuration to Not Configured

4. Set Turn off System Restore to Not Configured

[monsieurhappy]

Thanks Supernova! Tried method 1 and it seems to have worked.

Could you tell me what the cause of this was?

Also a few days ago Windows Firewall and Auto Updates were constantly turning off without me doing anything.

Is this a virus or trojan of some kind?

[Supernova]

Just in case you were wondering, both methods produce the same results. The first is direct registry edit, while the second uses the Group Policy Editor.

Trojans are known to disable access to certain Windows features to prevent itself from being removed by the user. These usually include: command prompt, folder options, msconfig, regedit. Therefore, it is possible that some malware deliberately disabled System Restore for that purpose. The same could also happen to the Windows Firewall and Automatic Updates I suppose...

Download and install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (the free version).

Make sure the program is fully updated before performing a scan. As a precaution, disconnect your computer from the internet once the MBAM self-update is complete.

Select everything that MBAM finds, click "remove selected". You MUST restart your computer when prompted.

After reboot, run a quick scan again; to make sure the system is clean.

[H2oDunc]

Another tip is to run a scan periodically or when having problems in safe mode. Safe mode only loads the minimum drivers and programs. Some programs cannot be deleted or detected when they are running. To enter safe mode keep pressing the F8 button as your computer is starting

[monsieurhappy]

Thanks!

[welo]

Excellent advise from supernova (as usual)

Using Firefox but taking an age to open and then finding I cannot access the page I'm after.

In general not being able to update a page and then getting "page not available"

This might be due to an unstable internet connection. Firefox checks for updates on startup - in case of connection timeouts (this is different from being offline) its startup might be delayed considerably.

You can also try disabling addons (maybe use Firefox (Safe Mode) from the start menu) and compare the behavior.

Also a few days ago Windows Firewall and Auto Updates were constantly turning off without me doing anything.

Is this a virus or trojan of some kind?

This behavior looks looks very much like a trojan infection to me...

Try Malwarebytes as already suggested by supernova.

Since you suspect an infection you should not rely on one antivirus software alone (escpecially not AVG). I recommend use one of the free online On-Demand scanners available, since it's not a good idea to install more than one antivirus software (with guard/shield enabled).

Pick one (or even more) from here, I recommend one of the more popular choices like Eset NOD32, F-Secure, Bitdefender, or Kaspersky. I personally use ESET since you can download a small installer that will run independently from the browser - so you can run the free version once a month in addition to your primary choice of antivirus - just open the online scanner in any browser other than IE.

welo