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138843
December 3rd, 2011 20:00
System Restore - Will it affect partitions other than my default C:\ (OS) drive?
Hello,
I have a Dell Studio XPS 435mt and have a two-part question. First of all, I am recovering from a pretty serious virus infection and seems i still have a rootkit virus hiding in my system that just does NOT want to leave. Also, I have my pc set up to dual-boot Vista and Ubuntu linux on different partitions. Partitions are D:\ recovery, C:\ OS, the main ubuntu partition and the ubuntu swap file partition.
First Question: Will using Dell's system restore (f8 at startup, advanced boot options, then dell factory image restore method) be enough to wipe all traces of the rootkit I have? If it helps, I'm pretty sure I have some variation of the TDSS TDL3 rootkit, if that means anything...
Second Question: Will using the system restore erase/wipe my other partitons, including D:\, while it is resetting C:\?
Any help is appreciated, let me know if there's any more info I can post to help you help me solve this :). Thanks!
-Climber
jackshack
6.4K Posts
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December 3rd, 2011 22:00
System Restore is a Windows feature that allows you to restore earlier copies of the registry so that you can use an earlier configuration of Windows to eliminate a problem that results from installation of software. Using this feature does not affect files and only causes the loss of any software installed after the date of the registry copy that has been restored.
Dell once called the feature that you describe "PC Restore" to differentiate the act of restoring the Dell back-up image from the Windows System Restore feature. If you restore the Dell image, only the C: drive is affected. All data and programs on the C: drive will be replaced by the original software and data that was delivered with the computer from Dell. Since the boot selector is often found on the C: drive you may find that you will need to repair it in order to be able to boot from your Linux partition.
With regard to the virus; since it is simply a program like any other it will also be overwritten by the Dell image when you choose to execute the F8 procedure. Since the computer will no longer have the affected registry and the virus file data will be overwritten you should have no further trouble from it.
Climber247
3 Posts
0
December 4th, 2011 06:00
Thank you so much! You're right, I meant PC restore, not the Microsoft system restore. When my computer boots the Linux GRUB boot selector shows to allow me to select what OS i load. Are you sure that is on the windows partition and not the linux side?
From Ubuntu website:
"GRUB2 is the boot manager installed in Ubuntu by default. If you use the Alternate CD you can choose GRUB or Lilo instead. GRUB2, GRUB and Lilo are open source boot managers that install the main parts of the boot loaders inside Ubuntu. This means Ubuntu is independent and avoids any need for writing to other operating systems. To accomplish this, the only thing in your computer outside of Ubuntu that needs to be changed is a small code in the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the first hard disk. The MBR code is changed to point to the boot loader in Ubuntu. You will be presented with a list of operating systems and you can choose one to boot. If you do nothing the first option will boot after a ten second countdown. If you select Windows then GRUB or Lilo will chain-load Windows for you at the Windows boot sector, which is the first sector of the Windows partition."
Sorry, for so much trouble but I don't want to loose my configuration :emotion-1:. Will the MBR be affected by the PC restore?
Thanks again, for any help!
Hilman Bobo
2 Posts
1
May 10th, 2014 22:00
Yeah I know this post is old...
I had bad experience with Dell Datasafe Local Backup... I mean, really really bad... I've done the recovery at least 3 times since I've bought my notebook, using this tool... and it was okay.
Somehow recently, the recovery deleted all my partitions! Even it says will only affect the C:\ partition!!! Been struggled few days to figure how to recover my deleted files. No success so far... so, just be careful and do a full backup first before the recovery.