If your PC have been infected by viruses and some of your files in the Windows directory become affected or corrupt, is there something we could do to recover it without reformatting the PC?..

If a critical or essential file gets whacked by a virus, we can restore it from the Windows CD.

* Search the filename in the CD by replacing the last character with an underscore; ( for example, Notepad.ex_ ). If it’s found, open a command prompt and enter the command EXPAND, followed by the full pathnames of the file and the desired destination:

EXPAND D:\SETUP\NOTEPAD.EX_C:\Windows\NOTEPAD.EXE

If either pathname contains any space, surround it with double quotes ( ” ).

If the file isn’t found, search for the unmodified filename. It will probably be inside a CAB file, which Windows XP treats as a folder. Simply right-drag and copy the file to the desired location.

When search is done, open a command prompt and enter EXTRACT/L followed by the desired location, the full pathname of the CAB file and the desired filename; for example: EXTRACT/L C:\Windows D:\I386\Driver.cab Notepad.exe

If the destination or CAB file pathname contains spaces, surround it with double quotes.