Author Topic: Failed install has somehow disabled System Restore & System Information  (Read 2968 times)

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EQBaboon

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Am bringing an old laptop back online and up to date after a few years offline.  Made several attempts to install Avast but for some reason (can't remember what the windows notification actually said now) it never ran correctly.  To my dismay what has happened though is that System Restore & System Information are completely non-responsive.  I've uninstalled Avast using Add/Remove programs - nothing.  I've disabled and re-enabled System Restore - nothing.  I've now installed AVG but neither AVG nor Spybot SD can detect any malicious programs that might be the culprit. 

Any suggestions??  Please help!  I consider System Restore a vital app!

Thanks in advance
EQB

Offline CraigB

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Re: Failed install has somehow disabled System Restore & System Information
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2010, 11:05:24 AM »
You shouldn't have spybot on you system with avast especially if you had tea timer activated, and if you reinstall avast please make sure that you get the removal tool for avg  or any other av you had prior to installing avast back on as avg leave's rubbish all through your system.

SafeSurf

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Re: Failed install has somehow disabled System Restore & System Information
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2010, 11:24:35 AM »
Can you get into Safe Mode?

What is your OS, RAM?

What other security software do you currently have on this machine and in the past, including antivirus, firewall, and other security programs?  How did you uninstall in the past (the vendor's uninstaller tool or some other way)?

You can enable the Windows Firewall for now if you do not have one and Windows Defender if already installed (Windows AV).

- Right now it looks like you have Avast, AVG, Spyboot SD (with TeaTimer or not?)...more than 2 resident AV's will create problems. 

So if you can get into Safe Mode with Networking (download Avast Uninstaller Tool http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility and save it to your desktop.  Run it in Safe Mode for what ever version you installed then reboot.

When you reboot again, go into Safe Mode with Networking, download and run the AVG Uninstaller tool http://uninstallers.blogspot.com/ and reboot.

If you can boot normally now, reboot again.  Try enabling System Restore.

You will need to clean your machine out with something like CCleaner, which is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool.  There is a Slim version available as well at http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds - 4th option down.  It removes unused files (cache, temporary Internet files, etc.) from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.  It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.  Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner.  When doing a registry cleaning, I suggest making a backup in My Documents as a "just in case."

If you are still unable to enable System Restore, go back into Safe Mode with Networking and check your computer for malware with Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (MBAM).
·    Download free http://www.malwarebytes.org/ for an on-demand scanner.
·    Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
·    After install, click update so you have latest database before scanning.  Disconnect from the Internet.
·    Under Settings:
o    General: Automatically Save File After Scan Completes is checked off
o    Scanner SettingsCheck all boxes
o    Updater: Download and install update if available is checked off
·    Once the program has loaded, select "Perform FULL Scan", then click Scan.
·    The scan may take some time to finish, so please be patient.
·    When the disinfection scan is complete, a log will appear in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart. (See Extra Note).
·    Click the “remove selected” button to quarantine anything found.  You will find the infection details under the Quarantine tab.
·    The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
·    Copy & Paste the entire report in your next reply.

If you can enable System Restore and your problem now seems resolved, then try to install Avast after removing the other security software (AVG and Teatimer).  Make sure after each uninstall you do a reboot.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you.




Offline Lisandro

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Re: Failed install has somehow disabled System Restore & System Information
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2010, 01:36:15 PM »
The possibility of running Windows System Restore shouldn't be affected by avast.
Maybe overinstallation can solve the problem and you won't lose your programs, settings, data, files, etc.
Just choose 'Repair' installation of Windows and install 'over' the old installation.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;315341
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314058
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B315341&x=15&y=0
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx


Just my suggestion: Comodo Time Machine does system restoration better :)
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