System Restore preventing deletion of unwanted files
By JOHN TORRO
Published May 3, 2004
Q. When I run McAfee virus scan on Windows Me, I get a list of potentially unwanted items such as "C:\RESTORE\TEMP\A001XXXXXX.CPY for program ADWARE-HOT BAR." I try to delete them with McAfee but get a note saying they cannot be deleted. What does this mean and how do I correct it?
A. They are probably protected by the System Restore process. You need to turn it off. To turn it off, click Start, Settings, Control Panel. Open the System icon. Click the Performance tab, then the File System button. Click the Troubleshoot tab, then click to select the Disable System Restore option. Reboot into Safe Mode (hold the Ctrl key down while rebooting, choose Safe Mode) and then delete the file. After that, reboot again normally.
Finding the Recycle Bin
Q. My Recycle Bin has disappeared. Not only is it off my desktop, but it can't be found in Windows Explorer. I have searched for it, but can't find it. I can delete items, but there is no way for me to retrieve them if they are deleted in error, and no way for me to empty the bin.
I am not sure if I had a virus that infected my computer, but there were other files that were deleted. I have McAfee Virus Scan, which is up to date, and have not detected any virus. I am running Windows Me that was upgraded from Windows 95 three years ago.
The computer is 5 years old and running at about 35 percent free disk space. Any ideas short of a reinstall?
A. Try this: Right-click anywhere on your Desktop and select New Folder. Name the folder:
Make sure it is exactly as it appears above. The long number is the Class ID that Windows uses to identify the Recycle Bin. This will create a shortcut to your Recycle Bin, which is just hidden. You could have found it through Explorer after enabling "Show hidden files and folder" by selecting Tools, Folder Options, View tab.
Removing spyware
Q. One of our residents is getting this error message on her machine: "Runner Error. Invalid BackWeb Application id: 7288971." She has a Gateway 500 that's about 3 years old, running Windows 98 SE and has 256 megabytes of random access memory, McAfee Virus Scan (used weekly) and no new applications. No one has used her computer except her since last summer. Her main use of the computer is e-mail, word processing and Solitaire. Have you any suggestions on this problem?
A. BackWeb is a generic downloading tool used by various software companies that incorporate it into their product to download data such as product updates. BackWeb can collect information from your PC and deliver it to the collection site. When you connect to the Internet, BackWeb also connects to retrieve advertisements that are then displayed on your browser as popups. I'm sure you know by now that this is not something you want on the PC.
Here's how to get rid of it: Try uninstalling it using the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. If there does not appear to be an uninstall program, go to C:\program files\BackWeb\ and remove this directory. Run MSCONFIG (Start, Run, type MSCONFIG), check the Startup tab and disable anything related to BackWeb. Look for any .EXE file starting with BackWeb and delete it.
Finally, download one of the spyware detectors (I like Spybot), install it, check for and install any recent updates, then run it and have it fix the found problems.
