RC> kw> no, you never have to format your hard drive to recover from a
RC> kw> virus infection...
RC>
RC> tv> Absolutely incorrect. There are some times where removing a virus
RC> tv> from your hard drive will leave the boot sector and the FAT
RC> tv> table encrypted, and the only way to recover from it is to
RC> tv> format the drive.
RC>
RC> Sorry, but that's wrong.  FORMAT is, and should be, a last resort -
RC> and then not to "recover" from a virus infection but to "give up".
RC>
RC> What virus encrypts the FAT?  There may be one, but I don't recognize
RC> it.  There _is_ however, a virus that will encrypt the partition
RC> table - is that what you're thinking of?  MONKEY is an example.
There are viruses that encrypts the FAT.
RC>
RC> There are AV programs which _specifically_ get rid of MONKEY - and no
RC> need to FORMAT the drive.
RC>
RC> tv> The MOST IMPORTANT THING to do when you're infected is to BACK UP
RC> tv> EVERYTHING to tape or to a ZiP drive or some other device. DO
RC> tv> NOT immediately remove the virus. You should find out what it
RC> tv> is, and what it does before you remove it.
RC>
RC> I can think of no greater waste of time than "backing up" hundreds of
RC> megabytes of possibly infected files.  Why on earth would you do
RC> that?
RC>
Maybe because he want to get infected later.
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