Wishful Thinking?

[techgranny]

  I wish that everything on my computer was just the way it was last week. I've heard a lot of talk about restoring to a certain date. Is this possible?

[Allan]

If you have system restore enabled then yes (to a certain extent). System restore can return your system files and registry (and a couple of other files) to the state in which it was at the time the restore point was created. A much better solution is to either purchase or download a Disk Imaging utility and use it on a regular basis. Programs of this sort take a "snapshot" of your drive and you can restore that image at any time.

[techgranny]

  I have been to System Restore but can't find a way to restore to a date. Is this available on Win98?
 

[Allan]

I don't believe Win 98 had a system restore feature. If I'm not mistaken it was introduced with Win ME and then Win XP. You can restore a backed up registry if you want. What specific problems are you having?

[techgranny]

  That's what I figured. Can you recommend a free Disk Imaging utility. It won't help now but could come in handy in the future.
  Is it possible that I have this feature in one of the utilities I have now? Maybe Ccleaner or Avast?

[Allan]

Since you haven't said what the problem is we can't offer much help other than to answer your questions directly.

1) No, you do not have a utility that can do what you want

2) If you want to restore the REGISTRY to an earlier date see this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221512

3) Good FREE disk imaging utilities: http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml

[techgranny]

  Thanks for the links! Good stuff!
  For some reason my display has reverted to the 98 defaults and there is no record of my custom settings. I have tried changing fonts and colours and the likes but I can't remember exactly how it was I just know this isn't it. It's like living in someone else's house! I'm also seeing strange things like the occasional missing Icon for a file or a programs parts out of place. I have tried deleting them and downloading again but they still display oddly.

[Allan]

First, when you create custom display settings you should save them with a specific name so you can always recall it. Second, if I were you I'd do a full system scan with my anti virus utility. I'd also suggest downloading and running a scan with MalwareBytes. Better safe than sorry.

[techgranny]

  They were saved but they aren't on the list anymore that's why I was trying to find a record of them.
  I just ran Spybot, Sas, and Avast on Friday but I will give them another shot. I will run Malwarebytes as well. Thank you
 

[techgranny]

  OK, I ran Avast, SAS, Spybot and a thourough Scandisk and didn't find any problems. Interestingly though, when I opened DirectX diagnostic my desktop icons were fine but the background shrunk to a little square in the middle of the screen. A restart fixed it and when I opened DirectX again it didn't do it.
  Some of my programs are still displaying oddly. Either the parts are out of place or completely out of view. Some things that use to max can't anymore. Even web pages are narrowed when I used to have a scrollbar at the bottom.
  Any thoughts?

[Allan]

Did you run a scan with MalwareBytes?

[techgranny]

  No. It doesn't work with 98se.

[techgranny]

  I have found that some files from an old AV have appeared in C:\ and program files and maybe other places. There are two entries for it in "Auto Exec. bat" in the System Configuration Utility which were unchecked but I never had time to find out how to remove them. I have heard that competing AV's can give the appearance of infections. Might this be the problem or am I way off base? Either way it would be nice to get rid of all the unnecessary files.
  How do I find everything associated with the old AV and get rid of it? I tried running some words through "Find" and got very confusing results.