System Restore Question

[warhawke]

Ok this is not exactly concerning sims but I hope somebody can help.

I suspected that my pc has a virus. I'm not 100% sure, but I have a rough idea where and when I got it. So I did a system restore to the point before (I believe) I got the virus. The problem I had (not being able to access drive C and D) was reversed but if there was a virus, will it be deleted too or it's still there?

And after system restore I noticed I have these files in C (see picture), which weren't there before the restore. What are they? Can I delete them?

I don't have antivirus because when I installed it before, my pc got "synchronization error" which needed reformat. I do not want to have to reformat because I don't know how to do it. I had to ask my neighbour's help and the last time he keep my pc for 2 weeks before doing it! I hate not having computer for that long...

[ancienthighway]

You really do need to get an antivirus program on your computer.  I think that synchronization error you got when you installed one the last time was a fluke.  At one time either Norton or McAfee had an av program you ran from their website.  That could be worth checking out for the immediate need.  But long term you need one on your computer.

As far as those files showing in your root directory, the ones in the image are all empty.  Quite possibly files used to store data for the system restore.  Open the csb.txt file with notepad and see if it has any explanation if you're interested, or just delete them.

[Nightywolf]

ancienthighway knows what he's talking about.  You need an antivirus or this will probably happen again.  Should you get an antivirus software, I recommend McAfee and I strongly advise avoiding Norton Antivirus at all costs.  It works, but for a very high percentage of the viruses I got with that program, it would continually say it could not delete or even quarantine the files, thus, the program was basically useless.  As for the system restore question, I would be baffled if the virus were to remain after system restore.  The only thing that would cause this to fail would be if the system wasn't restored to a date prior to the infection.

edit: I also forgot to warn you that it was indeed the virus that disabled your C and D drives.  I haven't had that happen to my C drive, but I've had a virus that totally disabled my D drive and stopped it from reading disks.  Seriously, it's worth the money to get security programs over having a computer with limited ability of reading and transporting storage data.  I put up with no D drive for more than a year...

[warhawke]

Thanks for the explanations. I used McAfee before and it was all right. After reformatting I installed the same thing again. So I don't know how I got the synchronization error. Maybe I did something wrong. I just have to be brave and try install it again :toothy5: