Here’s a different way to protect your computer system against malware and other threats. Returnil Virtual System makes it easy to recover your system from harmful attacks and I’m sure other problems. To me, it sound a lot like System Restore but easier to use.

It also sounds like this could cause more problems than it prevents…at least to me. I would agree that it could be good for testing downloads, as long as you only turn it on before the download and turn it off right after. If you were to have it on all the time, you’d loose everything you did once you turn it off. That includes downloads, bookmarks, installed software, and who knows what else.

My personal opinion is it’s not worth it, even if it is free. Here’s the description written by Erik Larkin:

[quote]A security tool that can wipe clean any malicious changes to your system, but also clears away files or bookmarks you might want to keep.

The Returnil Virtual System offers a different sort of protection for your PC. Instead of trying to block malware before it can infect your system, it allows you to reset your computer to how it was before you turned on the software’s virtual environment, so that any Trojans or other nasties that might have wormed their way in are wiped clean as if they were never there.

This can be an effective approach, but there’s a drawback. Any good changes you make while the virtual protection was on–such as downloaded files, installed programs or bookmarked pages–also get rolled back.

Once installed, Returnil keeps a small bar at the top of your screen and an icon in the system tray. It doesn’t do anything until you turn it on by right-clicking either place and choosing ‘enable.’

From then on, everything you do takes place in a virtual copy of your system, but doesn’t change the ‘real’ Windows installation on your hard drive. So you can surf the Web, read e-mail, and even install downloaded programs, but after you turn off the virtual protection (which requires a reboot), everything goes back to how it was before you turned on the virtual system protection.

That can be handy for testing a new download, but it might cause some headaches if you happen across a site you’d like to bookmark, or download an e-mail attachment you’d like to keep. Those changes go away as well–though the company offers a $25 a year Premium edition that allows for selecting files to keep in the ‘real’ system.

If you’re willing to change your own habits and put up with its limitations, Returnil can provide strong protection for your PC. But it does mean putting up with major changes. [/quote]