Re: hard drive problem

Thanks Ken

Im always happy to learn the best known methods and always welcome
correction.

Formatting vs writing all zeros?

I thought, I assume, Im guessing formatting only writes to some block on the
disk, something thats equal to the start of a sector or something saying the
data is "erased"? But formatting doesnt, Im guessing, actually go to each
and every last bit to write something? does it?

If format actually changed every bit on the disk, wouldnt it take much
longer to complete?

so what Im worried about, total guess and speculation on my part, is that
small enough sized code snippets could be scattered on a disk, written all
over the place so even with losing the partition and format, that physical
data would remain?

it wouldnt be mapped on any file system but wouldnt it be at the same
physical address the disk itself uses in the IDE interface?

so isnt it that only data fragments could be left on a disk thats been
formatted?

and youre right, the questions should have had some test first, is it this?
if so then format it

I thought Microsoft sought to turn messenger service off as part of some
security fix thing?


tia
"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OVxFiwasGHA.4752@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Brad wrote:

So the sequence was:
1. installed new disk drive
2. months later got a virus
3. was wiped? reformatted? wiping means exactly what? running the
write all 0's to all locations utility? takes many hours?
4. Windows was re installed?
4a which anti virus, anti spyware were installed BEFORE ever going
online? 5. message from messenger service saying get some program? did
you
go to their website and download something? which website/product
name? maybe this was a trick to upload virus malware to your
computer? 6. registry fix? what does this mean?
7. now when you reboot, the operating system is not found? what exact
message appears?
8. install old disk, the new disk as slave appears fine


thats good, what probably happened is your windows install was
zapped, most newer computers will look for a bootable resource and
boot it up, since you didnt say you changed bios settings sounds like
windows itself got corrupted.

steps now are save anything on that new disk, send them to the old
disk that runs windows

do a full wipe, all zeros,


Although it doesn't hurt to do " full wipe, all zeros," it's entirely
unnecessary and a waste of time. For all practical purposes, just
formatting will accomplish the same thing.

And I wouldn't be so quick to reformat and reinstall. It isn't at all
clear what his problem is, and there may well be a less draconian
solution. You ask good questions in 5, 6, and 7, above. Making
recommendations as to how to proceed before seeing the answers to those
questions is premature.


format, install windows, install
antivirus, etc
set your system not to allow messenger service,


If he was getting Messenger Service popups, it was because he was running
without a firewall. There's no reason to turn off Messenger Service, and
in fact it has provided the warning that he was running without firewall
protection.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


it helps to load as
much as possible from cd rom before connecting online, set internet
explorer to high security



"jenn" <jenn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:382372EB-447F-497E-9733-A0348B46ED29@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
about 6 months ago i installed a new hard drive 160g maxtor,it
worked fine then it was attacked by a virus of some description and
it was wiped and reformatted,in doing so it developed a pop up from
messenger service advising
me to get a regedit/program.these pop ups were happening every
minute or so.i
did a regestry fix however it is not recognised on reboot.the strange
thing
is it can be recognised as a slave when replaced with my old hard
drive. any help would be appreciated
thank you




.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: hard drive problem
    ... I thought, I assume, Im guessing formatting only writes to some block ... that small enough sized code snippets could be scattered on a disk, ... Messenger Service can often be useful. ... Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Fromatting->Installing in a BIG hard disk (120 GB)
    ... the computer with a floppy) and then install Windows. ... may cause this as well as some features in the Disk that may not work ... Windows installation starts ... I select the option for formatting the disk (because it is a new ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: 48-Bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives in Windows 2000
    ... abbreviated measurement of files and drive capacity. ... |>>using the decimal system to convert bytes to gigabytes. ... |>was forced to think things through and I came to the conclusion that a disk ... Formatting would mean creating an index just like in a book. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: hard drive problem
    ... I thought, I assume, Im guessing formatting only writes to some block ... disk space? ... Then when you reinstall Windows and start wring to the drive, ... Messenger Service can often be useful. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Formatting Additional (original) Drive
    ... Original Fat 32 drive is now a second drive Windows ... first uninstall the programs within Windows, ... everything from the disk. ... My intention was to clear the old drive by formatting it to be NTFS (to ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)