Can restoring a computer remove virus

On every system I've worked on due to a tech support scam these remote access backdoor programs are well hidden in the operating system - they don't register as a Windows Service, nor are they listed in the Programs and Features, installed programs via Control Panel. These programs are also locked down with special access permissions, resulting in "access denied" if you attempt to delete the files manually - and that's if you can find it.

Malware authors and scammers that use malware will do anything and everything they can to get your money. In every fake tech support case I've examined, there have been at least 3 to 5 remote access backdoors on each system.

Resetting Windows 10 may not be enough should you decide to go this route I don't recommended it ; your options are to either format the drive completely, or hire a professional like myself contact link here to manually go through the system and examine it in order to remove any threats. If you wipe the drive by formatting it, you will have to reinstall all your programs and user data assuming you made a backup first.

This could take hours or days to complete. On the other hand, hiring a professional like myself to manage it for you will take much less time and you can keep your user data and programs.

For the record, I've helped over 50 people with fake tech support scams and know exactly where to look to remove the threats. Simply contact me , briefly describing the issue and I will get back to you as soon as possible. About the author : Dennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.

With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service currently located at the bottom left of the screen ; optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form.

Wouldn't restoring your system from a backup image remove the malware? Assuming the image is malware free. Many times a disk image backups the entire C drive, including user files. If an old disk image backup was used 6 months from the point of infection, the user would lose 6 months of user data.

This would obviously not be desirable. Thanks for your clear and informative newsletter, I read it daily. On occasion I have helped someone out by using the restore to factory partition on their computer, with the caveat that if the problem were to recur it could be fixed, essentially as you advise, Format and reinstall Windows etc. To date knock on wood I have not had any of these computers come back to me. I should add that I live in a very small, isolated, community and offer my services for free to the elderly and those with limited means.

But, as the community is so small I do see these people regularly and have ample opportunity for feedback. When there is data, I take it off on a new and clean thumb drive, and tell them to wait for a week to ten days before I reinstall it for them. Most often this is photos of children and grandchildren. Malware embedding itself into the restore partition is possible - just search Google and you will find plenty of examples. Here's a page describing rootkits and how you can get infected as I've already described.

Also, how do I disable script blocking protection? Start Norton AntiVirus. Click Options. If you see a menu, click Norton AntiVirus. In the left pane, click Script Blocking.

In the right pane, uncheck Enable Script Blocking recommended. Click OK. I got the scan log from the DDS but I can't attach it because the file type isn't supported. I could email it possibly. Also, I noticed a lot of new threads say their PC has been hijacked. I know my scanner found a virus but could I be hijacked?

DDS Version 1. DLL uRun: [ehTray. If not, restoring to factory settings just may be something to consider. I've been having a problem posting on these forums without getting errors, so if I don't reply, that is why. Hopefully, Dell will fix the posting problem soon.

Perhaps another helper will pick up this thread if I am unable to reply. I just tried a quick scan again. It froze after 29 seconds at files which has happened before. The computer restarted on its own. Is it a guarantee restoring to factory settings will cure it or will the restored factory copy of Vista be corrupted too? Thanks a lot. I don't have too much to lose by resetting to factory. Browse Community. Turn on suggestions. Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.

Showing results for. Search instead for. Did you mean:. All forum topics Previous Topic Next Topic. Except for the virus itself may delete or hide files, the removal of virus files can also inadvertently delete non-virus files. Reliable data recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can scan your entire storage device for any lost files due to false operation or virus removal.

Select the disk drive where you have lost files after using an anti-virus program and click "Scan". After the scan process finishes, all the lost and deleted files on the selected drive should appear.

You can try to locate the antivirus deleted items from the tree-view pane on the left, or use the "Filter" function to specify particular file formats, such as pictures, videos, emails, documents and so on. If you know the file name clearly, directly search the file in the Search box. Double-click a file will let you preview. After that, select the file s at one time and click "Recover". We suggest you select a different drive to save the recovered files to avoid data overwriting.

Sometimes, viruses will not only take over your computer, blackmailing money for decrypting your devices. Some may also hide your files, making you believe that all files were removed.

Actually, these files were not lost but hidden on your PC. Therefore, you can also try to run the following CMD command to unhide files that were hidden by the virus:. Replace "F" with the drive letter of your virus-infected hard disk or USB.

Type del autorun. In addition to offering reliable solutions to remove viruses from your computer and restoring lost files, you may also have some other concerns about virus prevention and data protection. There are many symptoms and signs that may show your computer or laptop is infected by a virus.

For example, the computer suddenly stops working, hard drive gets encrypted or files turn into shortcuts. How to check a virus? Next, you can save a copy of all your valuable files to an external hard drive as a backup. By doing so, you can always survive whenever your computer gets infected by a virus or malware. Here, you may use reliable file backup software to selectively back up all desired files to an external hard drive at one time:. Click the " Select backup contents " button to start backup.

Both local and network files will be listed on the left. You can expand the directory to select the files to be backed up. Follow the on-screen guide, select the destination where you want to save the backup. Click " Options " to encrypt the backup with password in " Backup Options ", set the backup schedule and choose to start back up at certain event in " Backup Scheme ". There are also many other options you can explore, customize the backup task according to your need. Step 5. Step 6.

EaseUS Todo Backup enables users to back up data to both third-party cloud drive and its own cloud drive. If you want to back up data to third-party cloud drive, choose Local Drive, scroll down to add Cloud Device, add and login your account. You can also choose EaseUS's own cloud drive. Step 7. Click " Backup Now " to start backup. After the backup task is completed, it will be displayed in the form of a card on the left side of the panel.

Right-click the backup task to further manage it. If your PC or laptop has a virus, follow the following simple steps to remove the virus from the laptop.