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Harddrive question
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
Harddrive question
Is it possible for a virus to destroy a hard drive?
My HDD caught a virus and that was the end of that.
My hard drive will not accept any operating system, at all.
I was told that maybe a virus damaged the "boot segment" part of the HDD.
Is this possible?
Is there such a thing as a "boot segment"?
Is there a test, or should I just buy a new HDD?
Thanks.
My HDD caught a virus and that was the end of that.
My hard drive will not accept any operating system, at all.
I was told that maybe a virus damaged the "boot segment" part of the HDD.
Is this possible?
Is there such a thing as a "boot segment"?
Is there a test, or should I just buy a new HDD?
Thanks.
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 547
Likes: 0
From: Northwest Indiana
Elder User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 749
Likes: 2
From: Phoenix, Az
Some viruses can and do destroy the boot sector. If you have another working computer, you can put the HDD into it, tell the bios to recognize it as a primary slave drive, or secondary master, depending on which cable you attach it to, then boot the computer normally. Your anti-virus should detect the virus on the drive, but if it doesn't, run a scan, and you may be able to delete it.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 361
Likes: 1
From: Lake Almanor
Yes a virus can wipe out your hard drive.
Yes there is a boot sector, its what tells the operating system to start.
Boot sector viruses are nasty critters, there are some virus programs that will clean boot sector viruses, but you have to be able to boot the computer to install and run them. A catch 22 there.
A reformat many times is the way to go to get rid of this type of bug. I would suggest that if you can get the hdd to reformat that you do it two or three times to thoroughly clean it up.
You didn't mention what operating system you were running or any other system specs.
Obvoiusly, you have access to another computer. I suggest that you do a search for boot sector virus removal. I had some programs that did that rather successfully for a friend, but, I don't think I have them anymore and CRS doesn't let me remember off the top of my head what they were as its been more than a year.
If you can find something, burn it to disk and try to boot your computer in safe mode and run the programs your find.
Thats about all I can suggest without more info.
If you can bring it alive, I recommend protecting your system as best you can with a good virus detection software and spy/malware removal tools.
Good luck!
Rich
Yes there is a boot sector, its what tells the operating system to start.
Boot sector viruses are nasty critters, there are some virus programs that will clean boot sector viruses, but you have to be able to boot the computer to install and run them. A catch 22 there.
A reformat many times is the way to go to get rid of this type of bug. I would suggest that if you can get the hdd to reformat that you do it two or three times to thoroughly clean it up.
You didn't mention what operating system you were running or any other system specs.
Obvoiusly, you have access to another computer. I suggest that you do a search for boot sector virus removal. I had some programs that did that rather successfully for a friend, but, I don't think I have them anymore and CRS doesn't let me remember off the top of my head what they were as its been more than a year.
If you can find something, burn it to disk and try to boot your computer in safe mode and run the programs your find.
Thats about all I can suggest without more info.
If you can bring it alive, I recommend protecting your system as best you can with a good virus detection software and spy/malware removal tools.
Good luck!
Rich
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
A virus can destroy the data on your hard drive, but it is absolutely impossible for one to physically damage your hard disk, if that's what you're asking.
There will be one joker who comes along who says that it is possible, but it's just not.
There will be one joker who comes along who says that it is possible, but it's just not.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
Hey Carl, how goes it?
Always surf the suds.
Crazy thing is that I was looking for pics of a Ford GT40 open roof car when I got nailed with this virus; about a year ago.
The hard drive, as far as I know it, is empty.
It just won't accept any O/S.
I've tried XP Pro, XP Home, Linux, even the original backup disc that came with the Dell (Windows ME).
Nothing. It just freezes when I try to load Linux; and I also get some error code warning when I try to load any Microsoft O/S.
Maybe I'll try it again.
Always surf the suds.
Crazy thing is that I was looking for pics of a Ford GT40 open roof car when I got nailed with this virus; about a year ago.
The hard drive, as far as I know it, is empty.
It just won't accept any O/S.
I've tried XP Pro, XP Home, Linux, even the original backup disc that came with the Dell (Windows ME).
Nothing. It just freezes when I try to load Linux; and I also get some error code warning when I try to load any Microsoft O/S.
Maybe I'll try it again.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
If you've tried to load Linux, do this, as I'm assuming you are familiar enough with Linux to attempt it. Ordinarily, I wouldn't recommend it.
boot off the linux cd, and enter rescue mode. This is generally done by typing 'linux rescue' at the first prompt. When you are dropped to the command prompt, type this command in:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
This will rewrite the boot sector of the disk with zeroes, wiping out the MBR completely.
fdisk /mbr does this, but sometimes fails miserably. It is not a very well written tool.
If it fails with a message like, /dev/hda doesn't exist, then try /dev/sda instead.
boot off the linux cd, and enter rescue mode. This is generally done by typing 'linux rescue' at the first prompt. When you are dropped to the command prompt, type this command in:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
This will rewrite the boot sector of the disk with zeroes, wiping out the MBR completely.
fdisk /mbr does this, but sometimes fails miserably. It is not a very well written tool.
If it fails with a message like, /dev/hda doesn't exist, then try /dev/sda instead.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,628
Likes: 0
From: Calgary, Canada
Disinfecting boot sector viruses. Boot sector repair is best accomplished by the use of antivirus software. Because some boot sector viruses encrypt the MBR, improper removal can result in a drive that is inaccessible. However, if you are certain the virus has only affected the boot sector and is not an encrypting virus, the DOS SYS command can be used to restore the first sector. Additionally, the DOS LABEL command can be used to restore a damaged volume label and FDISK /MBR will replace the MBR. None of these methods is recommended, however. Antivirus software remains the best tool for cleanly and accuarately removing boot sector viruses with minimal threat to data and files.
Creating a system disk. When disinfecting a boot sector virus, the system should always be booted from a known clean system disk. On a DOS-based PC, a bootable system disk can be created on a clean system running the exact same version of DOS as the infected PC. From a DOS prompt, type:
SYS C:\ A:\
and press enter. This will copy the system files from the local hard drive (C:\) to the floppy drive (A:\).
C/O http://antivirus.about.com/od/securi...ectorvirus.htm
Creating a system disk. When disinfecting a boot sector virus, the system should always be booted from a known clean system disk. On a DOS-based PC, a bootable system disk can be created on a clean system running the exact same version of DOS as the infected PC. From a DOS prompt, type:
SYS C:\ A:\
and press enter. This will copy the system files from the local hard drive (C:\) to the floppy drive (A:\).
C/O http://antivirus.about.com/od/securi...ectorvirus.htm
Thread Starter
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
I'm going to try to load the O/S several times, and go from there.
All of them.
If that fails, I may go the the garage and grab the ole 32 ounce ball peen hammer, than grab a 40 oz beer.
All of them.
If that fails, I may go the the garage and grab the ole 32 ounce ball peen hammer, than grab a 40 oz beer.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,628
Likes: 0
From: Calgary, Canada
If you have access to a computer with a floppy drive and the pc with the errant drive has a floppy drive I'd suggest trying to repair the drive's first sector and mbr.
www.bootdisk.com
You can also burn floppy images to a (bootable) CD and use them to boot to whatever OS from a CD and run the necessary comands from there.
www.bootdisk.com
You can also burn floppy images to a (bootable) CD and use them to boot to whatever OS from a CD and run the necessary comands from there.
New User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 0
Likes: 24
SB, that was the whole intent of the person who wrote and sent out the virus.
To destroy people's computers and make them worthless or expensive to fix.
They don't laugh so much when they are eventually caught though.
To destroy people's computers and make them worthless or expensive to fix.
They don't laugh so much when they are eventually caught though.