Patent ID: 8352438

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for contextual evaluation of files for use in file restoration, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving a request to replace a damaged file on a computing system with a clean instance of the damaged file; identifying a clean file that corresponds to the damaged file; identifying, in a file set database, at least one file set that includes the clean file, the file set including one or more additional files that are expected to be present on a computer when the clean file is present on the computer; evaluating the suitability of the clean file for use as a replacement for the damaged file by: determining whether the computing system includes an instance of each file in the file set from the file set database; and deciding, based on the determination of whether the computing system includes an instance of each file in the file set, whether to replace the damaged file with the clean file.