Expert: James Filmer - 12/4/2008

Question

Hello James.  A few days ago I downloaded a file from the internet which automatically installed dozens of viruses and spyware modules onto my pc without my knowledge. The next thing i knew my pc went totally wild and started sending spam emails all over the uk. Six internet explorer windows opened, and as i deleted the viruses they simply reappeared in their exact same location, the temp folder within the windows folder. Zone alarm said that no treatment existed for this problem as it was too new.
After many hours i gave up and wiped the hard drive with iola drive scrubber, losing all my work, and formatted and reinstalled windows. But i still keep getting problems.
A friend of mine who works within computing said it is impossible to totally delete virus files from a hard drive as old information is always there, simply many layers down
on the platter. At work he said they leave hard drives running for hours on end, simply rewiping them again and again to ensure data deletion.
I was thinking of placing the hard drive near a magnet in hope of getting rid of the information. Do you think this is a good idea?
Is there any way to REALLY clean a hard drive of any old data?
Finally, is there any action that can be taken against websites who spread these viruses and spyware?

Thank you for your time and apologies for the long questions.

Answer
Hi John,

You could delete or lose data from placing a magnet next to a hard drive, but it won't really fix anything.

"Cleaning hard drive of old data...", or cleaning your system of viruses, Trojans, worms, rootkits, adware, malicious code, keyloggers, spyware and malware?

It might be better to reformat your hard drive, but can't say more without more info about your computer's present working(?) condition. Also, would like to know more about "Zone Alarm said...", if possible.

Reformat / Hard Drive Reformatting:
   Reformatting...Hard Disk is wiped clean (all information is re-written). This is normally done when a machine has become seriously compromised..."
(from: albany.edu/its/glossary.htm)

Action is always being taken (by networks, organizations...) around the world. The problem is on-going, impossible to completely eradicate. The best defense is knowing as much as you can about your system, Internet security, and ways to help with that knowledge.

As far as the belief that it's "impossible to totally delete virus files from a hard drive as old information is always there, simply many layers down", that is not true. Reputable anti-virus programs block and detect, remove and permanently block viruses removed from a system.

The important thing is to make sure your anti-virus software always has the most recent updates and monitors your system in real-time.