Runied Hard Drive

[Mike2002]

Is it possible for somethign like a virus to completely ruin a hard drive so it is no longer usable. Like you could not even reformat and start all over. I was just wondering how much damage a virus could do and was wondering if it is always possible to get the drive working again. Thanks

[CrashOveride]

i don tthink so but they can mess with your BIOS and ruin that...

[stool]

Welcome to the forums.
I don't think that they can actually cause enough damage that you couldn't get a drive operating again. Try downloading the diagnostic software for whatever model drive you have. These almost all have drive preparation software that should get you up and running.

[zachj]

I don't think there's a virus that could do physical damage to your drive. I guess there's always a way, but it would have to be one crafty virus to do it. Thus, any damage done by a virus can probably be repaired with the proper software tools. FDISKing the MBR and wiping the drive clean are the best bets, followed with looking to make sure the BIOS isn't messed up. If it isn't booting at all , either a virus got to the BIOS, or there's a hardware malfunction. Try resetting the CMOS first. If that doesn't work, look for bum hardware. That's what I'd be looking for. Did something happen, or is this a hypothetical?

Z

[AllenSmoker]

At one time there actually was a virus that could destroy hard drives. It would cause the platters to stop spinning but the heads would continue to seek, effectivly scratching the surface area. No drives today are suseptible to this tho.

[zachj]

Good to know . . . A little factoid I can drop at lunch sometime with computer illiterate folks to scare them a little.

Z

[Jhoweeee]

That virus was actually running somewhat rampid about a year ago. (Alot of systems coming in the shop with it when I worked as a technician for an OEM computer company). I thought it was pretty ingenious, however destructive it may be. Customers weren't too happy about it though :)

If you're having bad problems you think is related to your hard disk, try backing up your stuff (if you can) and clearing the master boot record and formatting the drive using a bootable floppy. Then FDISK it, and reinstall the OS. That should fix any problems you have, with the exception of actual damage to the hard drive.

[FTC]

The only other option I can think of to permanently damage a hard disk would be by overwriting the hd firmware... so that the disk no longer operates. But this would require a very specific virii for each particular disk brand.

Regards
FTC