virus existing after format

[skuzzy]

can a virus corrupt motherboards or other devices after a HD has been wiped and formatted?

[speeddude2000]

a virus cant "corrupt" anything... only data/software, no hardware

[rave]

but regarding your subject
viruses can exist after format because they have embeded themselves either in the ROM or the BIOS

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by rave but regarding your subject viruses can exist after format because they have embeded themselves either in the ROM or the BIOS

How is this possible? Do you or anyone else here have first hand knowledge of this happening?

[ghost2003]

Ive heard of viruses infecting the BIOS. But I never heard of someone getting infected by one.

[aym]

There are viruses that wipe the mobo's flash memory, there are also those which install themselves into the master boot record.

I don't know if it's possible to fix the mobo after getting infected with the first type.

As for the second type, a zero fill for the hdd and repartitioning it should do the trick.

And yeah, I've seen machines infected with these two types.

[skuzzy]

I have replaced the hd with a new one and it is taking over 20 hours just to install XP and when it is done, the processor hits 100% just to move the mouse. I was just curious if anything else but a virus could be causing all this trouble....

[pam123]

Is that earlier post about the HP computer yours ?
Did it come with a restore disk ?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by skuzzy I have replaced the hd with a new one and it is taking over 20 hours just to install XP and when it is done, the processor hits 100% just to move the mouse. I was just curious if anything else but a virus could be causing all this trouble....

When you replaced the hard drive, did you replace the IDE cable as well?

Check the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors.

Cricket