Windows Vista Restore (WindowsVistaRestore) Virus Removal Guide

Virus Type: Rogue Security Application
Threat Level: 8 / 10

Windows Vista Restore is a fake disk optimization application. Windows Vista Restore makes up one of three fake applications which was recently released which targets users using XP, Vista, and Windows 7. For XP, Windows XP Restore was released. For Windows 7, Windows 7 Restore was released. These three fake applications are new versions of Windows XP Recovery, Windows Vista Recovery, and Windows 7 Recovery. While the creators of this fake application have changed the name of the virus, it has many of the same symptoms.

Windows Vista Restore is modeled after disk optimization programs which are designed to optimize the computer hard drive. Windows Vista Restore warns the user about issues and then provides the program as a fix. However, the user needs to remove Windows Vista Restore instead of buying Windows Vista Restore. Windows Vista Restore will hide files on your computer in order to scare the user into purchasing the program; however, it is important to note that the files are hidden but still there on the computer. Further in the guide we will discuss how to get the files unhidden. Before attempting to remove Windows Vista Restore, we recommend reading the comments posted by users who were infected by Windows Restore, the comments posted by users who were infected by Windows Recovery, and the comments posted by users who were infected by Windows XP Recovery since these viruses are similar.

Below is our recommended removal tool for Windows Vista Restore. The removal tool has been rated 5 cows out of 5 by Tucows and was previously CNET’s Editor’s Choice. Feel free to download it below.

If you are unable to run the removal tool, or are unable to run any programs in general, you may need to stop the processes associated with Windows Vista Restore with task manager. If task manager has been blocked by Windows Vista Restore, try using Process Explorer. Also, try renaming the removal tool to iexplore.exe or to a random series of characters in order for the program to not be blocked by Windows Vista Restore. However, Windows Vista Restore can also be manually removed. The details are at the bottom of this guide. If you would like to manually remove Windows Vista Restore, we recommend checking our removal tips which will help to remove Windows Vista Restore.

Important - Windows Vista Restore will hide other files and folders in the computer in an attempt to try and convince the user that there are issues with the hard drive. Therefore, by turning on “show hidden files and folders,” the user will be able to see their files. In Windows 7, you can search “hidden files and folders” in the Windows Search Bar to find the folder options. To bring up the Windows Search Bar, click on the Windows 7 logo in the bottom left hand portion of the screen, which will bring up the programs. In Windows XP, the user will need to go to tools and then go to folder options in the file manager. In folder options, click “View” and scroll down to “Hidden files and folders.” This will allow the user to see the hidden files and folders. In order too make these files unhidden, you will need to go to the following location.

Windows Vista & Windows 7 – C:\Users\

Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\

The user will need to locate the folder with their username. They will then need to right click on the folder and left click on properties. This will bring up the properties. Deselect the hidden box and click ok. A box will come up and select to apply changes to the folder, subfolder, and files.

Below are some warnings shown by Windows Vista Restore.

“Hard Drive Failure

The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.”

“System Error

An error occurred while reading system files. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors.”

“Critical Error

RAM memory usage is critically high. RAM memory failure.”

Windows Vista Restore, like many other fake fake programs, will also claim that there are many issues with the user’s computer. Some of these issues can be found below.

“Registry Error – Critical Error
Boot sector of the hard drive disk is damaged – Critical Error
RAM temperature is critically high. Urgent RAM memory optimization is required to prevent system crash
RAM memory temperature is 83 Celsius. Optimization is required for normal operation.
Read time of hard drive clusters less than 500 ms – Critical Error
A problem detected while reading boot operating system files
Drive C initializing error
Bad sectors on hard drive or damaged file allocation table – Critical Error
Data Safety Problem. System integrity is at risk.
Hard drive doesn’t respond to system commands – Critical Error
32% of HDD space is unreadable – Critical Error”

Below are additional warnings created by Windows Vista Restore.

“Critical Hard Disk Drive Error

Critical hard disk drive error has been detected!

Windows Vista Restore detected a bad sector on your hard drive.”

“Critical Error

Hard drive critical error. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors. Windows can’t find hard disk space. Hart drive error.”

“Critical Error
Damaged hard drive clusters detected. Private data is at risk.”

“Critical Error
Hard Drive not found. Missing hard drive.”

“Low Disk Space
You are running very low disk space on Local Disk (C:).”

“Windows – No Disk
Exeception Processing Message 0×0000013.”

“Critical Error
A critical error has occured while indexing data stored on hard drive. System restart required.”

As previous mentioned, the purpose of these messages are likely just to scare the user into purchasing the fake program and to make them believe that there are major issues in the computer. For example, if there really was a hard drive failure, the computer would not even load Windows. We recommend removing Windows Vista Restore and then restoring the computer to its original state.

It is recommended to use safe mode when removing the virus because Windows Vista Restore will generally not be able to load in safe mode. To enter safe mode, restart the computer and press F8 multiple times before the Windows screen to bring up the boot options.

Boot Menu

The safe mode with networking option will allow the user to be able to use the internet in safe mode. Windows Vista Restore can be removed by using the

or by manually removing the virus.

View Windows Vista Restore Files
View Windows Vista Restore Keys

Manual Windows Vista Restore Removal – In order to manually remove Windows Vista Restore, the processes associated with Windows Vista Restore must be stopped, the files associated with the processes must be removed, and the registry entries must be corrected to the previous state before Windows Vista Restore entered the computer.

Important: Before attempting to manually remove Windows Vista Restore, we recommend that the user read through comments posted by other users on how they removed specific fake antivirus programs since many fake antivirus programs are similar. These comments can be found by clicking here. These comments may provide additional information which may be useful in removing Windows Vista Restore. However, please use discretion since these specific comments pertain to other fake antivirus programs.

Stop Windows Vista Restore Processes (Learn How To Do This)
[random].exe

To clarify, [random].exe means that the executable for Windows Vista Restore will be a set of random characters. This executable will be different from computer to computer. There may be multiple random executables associate with this virus.

Remove Windows Vista Restore Files (Learn How To Do This)

Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\[random].exe

Windows Vista & Windows 7 – C:\ProgramData\[random].exe

Remove Windows Vista Restore Registry Keys (Learn How To Do This)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Windows Vista Restore
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Windows Vista Restore
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Windows Vista Restore

Remove Windows Vista Restore Startup Entry (Learn How To Do This)
[random].exe

Your feedback is very highly valued by others so please feel free to comment below. Please feel free to share a solution that you may have used to remove Windows Vista Restore.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2023 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Malware Removal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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