Will wiping the hard drive still solve all virus issues?

[Mursilis]

My nephew has an old computer he uses for gaming, websurfing, etc., and it was acting strangely/slow recently. Since he and his mom are in NYC for the summer, they took it to Best Buy, where the Geek Squad said it had a virus which "could not be removed". Personally, I think the Geek Squad just wanted to sell them a new computer, which they bought. I told my nephew the old machine is likely still salvagable, if he wipes (reformats) the hard drive and reinstalls windows, his games, etc. This should take care of any and all viruses, right? I've heard that some viruses can infect the BIOS and/or boot sector - is this true? Is this likely? Can we be reasonably certain that a reformat of the hard drive will resolve the virus issue? Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[Sniper82]

Most likely doing a format and reinstall will get rid of everything if it even had a virus. I wouldn't trust Best Buy/Geek Squad anyway. Even if it doesn't get rid of the virus it will likely fix the speed issue.

 

[John]

The Geek Squad should change their name to the Incompetent Squad. Most of the so called "techs" do a half-assed job at fixing a computer. In some cases the local IS fails to fix the customer's computer, charges them anyhow, and then refers them to my shop.

The IS charges $130 for a clean OS install and you'll have to pay an additional $100 if you need them to back up your data. Their on-site prices are even more rediculous. Do yourself a favor and find a reputable computer store to do business with.

Can we be reasonably certain that a reformat of the hard drive will resolve the virus issue?

Yes

 

[kungfoo]

Originally posted by: Mursilis
My nephew has an old computer he uses for gaming, websurfing, etc., and it was acting strangely/slow recently. Since he and his mom are in NYC for the summer, they took it to Best Buy, where the Geek Squad said it had a virus which "could not be removed". Personally, I think the Geek Squad just wanted to sell them a new computer, which they bought. I told my nephew the old machine is likely still salvagable, if he wipes (reformats) the hard drive and reinstalls windows, his games, etc. This should take care of any and all viruses, right? I've heard that some viruses can infect the BIOS and/or boot sector - is this true? Is this likely? Can we be reasonably certain that a reformat of the hard drive will resolve the virus issue? Thanks in advance for any responses.

Formatting most definately will take care of the issue. However, remember to educate him on smart surfing so they dont get their computer infected again. Also if you dont want to format give ultimate boot CD a shot: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com. Download and burn the ISO, boot off of it and run all three of the Antivirus programs it comes with. Often times virii which "cannot be removed" just means they didnt try hard enough. However in some circumstances the machine really is fubar at which time it would be better just to format /y c:

Cheers

 

[lamere]

Viruses as far as i know can't infect hardware, only software. I have had the same problem before, reinstalled and was good to go.
The geek squad may be correct, it may be a virus that cant be removed. I have yet to see an antivirus product catch everything out there, much less heal the file thats infected.
It happens.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: lamere
Viruses as far as i know can't infect hardware, only software. I have had the same problem before, reinstalled and was good to go.
The geek squad may be correct, it may be a virus that cant be removed. I have yet to see an antivirus product catch everything out there, much less heal the file thats infected.
It happens.

All viruses can be removed if you use the proper tools and removal techniques.

 

[T9D]

I did a fresh install on some new harddrives for my moms company. I then moved all the old data onto them. Later I found out that their were about 70 virus's in her data. With the faster computers within minutes the virus's had ruined the OS. It was so bad that I couldn't even format. I couldn't do anything at all. I had to go buy new drives.

So yes they can make a drive unusable for good. But at worst they could have bought a new drive. Buying a whole computer is rediculous.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: tk109
I did a fresh install on some new harddrives for my moms company. I then moved all the old data onto them. Later I found out that their were about 70 virus's in her data. With the faster computers within minutes the virus's had ruined the OS. It was so bad that I couldn't even format. I couldn't do anything at all. I had to go buy new drives.

So yes they can make a drive unusable for good. But at worst they could have bought a new drive. Buying a whole computer is rediculous.

You're kidding right? Viruses cannot kill a hard drive. Did you actually test the drive(s) before deeming it "bad"?

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Most people on Geek Squad are pretty stupid. Just reformat.

 

[Mursilis]

Thanks to all for the replies so far. I don't think my nephew was running any anti-virus on his machine (not smart, I know), so when we reinstall, I'll at least put Anti-Vir or another free one on there as some sort of protection. Good to know a reformat/reinstall of the OS will solve the problem. And I have to agree with what John said; when I heard the virus 'could not be removed', I thought they just weren't trying hard enough!

 

[bahamasc]

10characters

 

[savvy]

Geek Squad is a horrid service.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: savvy
Geek Squad is a horrid service.

My friend works at Geek Squad. Unlike most people, he actually knows stuff

 

[Lemon law]

I have heard of some real security fanatics saying its an added protection---if you go the wipe the drive clean route--to then overwrite the drive again---just to make sure the virus is really gone.---and do check that boot sector also.

But if anyone tells you that a virus can't be removed----doubt that person's credability---and then post a HJT logfile at spyware warriors or a similar forum.---and then make a liar out of them.

The only real terror is a rootkit---and they are detectable in most cases.

 

[0roo0roo]

geek squad is part of best buy. where they lie to customers and always try to sell them things they really dont need to fluff their profits. its the way their sales people are trained. i guess their techs are just the same.

 

[Rockhound1]

Reformatting will get rid of the virus. In addition to installing an antivirus program, I recommend you also install a firewall (like ZoneAlarm) and at least one anti-spyware program (like ad-aware and spybot).

Cheers!

 

[Rubycon]

Just be sure to wipe it with a anti septic cloth. It will truly remove any kind of pathogen. :laugh:

Most of the time you can hook a drive up to one of those USB to ATA adapters and clean it from another machine with a good scanner. It will be impossible for the malware to be running in system memory and it can be removed. If the infection is truly "hooked" then a format (after backing everything good up) is your best bet to avoid re-infection.

 

[trOver]

if i worked for geeksquad i would make a note on the desktop after fixing someones pc saying, "next time go to newegg and install your own stuff"

 

[Baked]

Do yourself a favor and clone (yes, clone, not image) the HD after a fresh OS and programs install w/ True Image. You'll save many hours of pain and much money for repair on the long run. I know I did.

 

[lumbus]

Formatting the hard drive definitely gets rid of all the viruses. Besides installing antivirus (AVG or avast! for example) and firewall (Kerio for example) (all examples are free software), it can help to make sure that this boy is demoted from administrator to regular user on his computer, for every day use. This way he simply won't have OS level permission to do some of the stupid stuff he does.

 

[lumbus]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
I have heard of some real security fanatics saying its an added protection---if you go the wipe the drive clean route--to then overwrite the drive again---just to make sure the virus is really gone.---and do check that boot sector also.

The only reason to overwrite things several times is when you want to ensure that data on the drive can never be restored... For example, if you sell a drive that has had secret/sensitive/classified data on it.

 

[w00t]

Geek Squad is truely bad

To answer your question:
Yes, a clean install should do it

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: w00t

Geek Squad is truely bad.To answer your question: Yes, a clean install should do it

I really love accurate and concise, non-pedantic responses! Well done, w00t.

 

[Lemon law]

Before we out of hand bad mouth the geek squad----consider the practical alternative---having the geek squad remove that virus and all the other malware likely to be on that PC.

Lets say the shop rate is $50.00/hr.--------and the customer says save my beloved PC and the data on it.

Well I had somewhat of a similar experience when I bought a fairly powerful used PC on ebay cheap. And discovered they included well over 2000 pieces of malware at no extra charge.

It took about me an hour to remove 99% of the infestation with just spybot, adaware, and avast.---and old definitions at that.

Getting that remaining 1% took me damn near forever because just about every known scanner under the sun missed the last 10 or so. And it took posting a HJT log to catch them.

If I had paid myself $50./hr I would have been able to take that money and buy a state of the arts gaming system.---and then buy another for my wife.

But all in all, the geek squad, if they were honest, should have told the customer the only practical way was to reformat the drive and reinstall windows. And that particular geek squad proved themselves dishonest---to say that all geek squads are dishonest would take a N of far higher than one.

 

[Old Hippie]

I really love accurate and concise, non-pedantic responses! Well done, w00t.

I love it when I learn a new word.