Complete factory system restore is a valueable feature for today’s branded systems.  Some of the new machines don’t even come with restore discs.  They make you create them yourself with your own blank media.  Many of them have built in restore methods to return to factory without the discs.   The problem is that the built in restore can become corrupt or if the hard drive needs to be replaced the built in restore is no use.  That is when the disks need to be found.  If the discs can not be found and the machine is out of warranty then new discs need to be ordered or a new liscense of windows needs to be purchased.  When the manufacturer is contacted to inquire about restore discs they will often try to transfer you from parts ordering to technicial support so they can attempt to charge you an hourly rate to tell you what you already know.  Then they charge you for the discs also.  The other option, purchasing windows, is even more expensive since to properly purchase windows you will need to buy a retail copy from a store which costs $2-300 depending on the version.   Usually after the frustration of calling the manufacturer and the annoyance of the price of new windows the next step is taking it to the repair shop or starting to look for a new computer.
This can all be avoided by keeping the restore set safe when you purchase a new computer even if you have to make it first.

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Initially when I saw all the many names of what I still call XP AntiVirus2008 I thought that every time it was blocked by all the major protection companies the makers just tweaked it a little, changed the name, and sent it back into the world winding its way back to popularity.  I no longer think this is the case.  It seems as though this is an intelligent self-updating program.  I believe the makers place a patch in some location that the program checks periodically and the copies of the virus still in circulation update themselves to survive another day.   These copies could still be in circulation because the operators of the computers where they have installed themselves have not updated their virus protection or have no protection at all.  The program not only patches its vulnerability to the protection programs it also seems to change appearance and name to appear different to the end user.  From what I have heard these creators of turmoil are making tons of cash for the people who believe their program has magically appeared on their system to help them and they pay $50 to register for the full protection.

So spread the word when you see a new name for these doom laced supposed helpers.  Maybe when the money train slows to a crawl these people will leave us alone.  Oh, and Happy Birthday AV2008!

Here are some links:
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2008-050906-3727-99
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivirus_2009

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