-=> Quoting John Kismul to Rick Collins <=-
-=> FidoMail to 1:163/215, please.-=<
rc> Why not just restore from backup (if necessary) _without_
rc> formatting the disk? 
jk> Because there would probably be files just laying around on the
jk> hard drive and taking space, files which I don't need. And also,
If you mean files that are there you truly don't want, and don't plan
to restore from backup, then why not just delete them?  If you mean
damaged copies of files that you _do_ plan to restore from backup,
then the restore process will overwrite those damaged files.  NO NEED
TO FORMAT AT ALL.
You might argue that it's easier to FORMAT.  Well, you'll be wrong,
and I'll save you the trouble by telling you why:  if you FORMAT,
then the _first_ thing you have to do is re-install your OS.  Then,
you may have to re-install and configure your backup software.  After
you do that, you can do your restore from backup.  Now, if you didn't
FORMAT, all you'd have to do is the last step - the restore.
jk> maybe the antivirus software did not find all the infected files
jk> and then it would be safer to format the hard drive instead of
jk> risking that you might get the virus back. 
That's not how AV software works.  If it finds an infection, it will
either clean the file (which may leave it non executable) or tell you
that it can't clean the file and suggest you delete it.
If you subscribe to this last point you raised, then I would suggest
you should format and re-install all your software every time you use
your computer - just in case your scanner missed a virus.
TTFN. Rick.
Ottawa, ON 4 Jan 19:18 
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