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anonymous89
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April 15th, 2008 07:00
need your opinion
>As far as I am concerned, when you plug in your pen drive (infected with virus) into the computer and format it, will the virus be gone for good after that? I am aware that since all data is gone when you format it, your computer has already been infected with the virus prior to reformatting. Can the virus infect the newly reformatted pen drive?
>Can performing Dell Factory Image Restore remove a virus from my system?
What if the virus hides itself somewhere in that partition reserved for Dell Factory Image Restore, and when I perform the restore, can the virus reinfect my system when the restore is done??? Is it possible???
>Let assume virus infects my system on Wednesday. Will performing System Restore (say to Monday) remove the virus and puts my system back to the state it was 2 days ago (unaffected)?????
Thanks.
ky331
5 Journeyman
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Posted April 15th, 2008 11:00
much of your questioning seems overly general, and as such, difficult to answer definitively.
there are many different types of viruses (virii)...
some, while very bad, may be highly "localized" in the files/areas they infect. if so, it may suffice to repair/replace those few particular files. system restore might be effective in such a case.
others may (potentially) overwrite [or infect] your entire hard drive, in which case you may have no choice but to reformat.
some may infect/rewrite your boot sector --- or conceivably, the Factory Image Restore information, and if that happens, even reformatting may not be able to fix things.
so rather than debating the outer-realm of potential theoretical impact, if you are currently infected, and wish to remove it, the more specifics you have to offer, the greater the likelihood that a correct/definitive answer can be offered. If you know you're infected, but have no specific details to offer, the suggestion would be to generate and post a HiJackThis log. if you need directions, feel free to ask.