got a little problem. i think my hard drive contracted a boot sector virus. i know the best way to solve this problem is an antivirus software so i bought one( McAfee-VirusScan ). The problem is that whenever i try to install it something happens before i can run it. Some things that have had happened are errors, the comp restarts etc. some help or advice. thanks!

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you need to install mcafee on a non-infected computer and create a bootable resue disk. or if the cd (that contains mcafee) is bootable, insert the cd and restart, most computer have it to boot the cdrom before harddrive and the antivirus will automatically scan for viruses, if not, you will need to enter bios and manually configure it to do so. if thats the case, let me know, ill provide more detailed instructions on how to do so.

hope this helped, and good luck.

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thanks for the reply jusunlee,

i used the McAfee installation disk to scan my computer when i turned it on. it scanned and said "unable to read boot sector". after it scanned my whole computer it hanged. im not so much very familiar with bios so im a little reclutant about changing any settings but you sound like you know what your doing and im willing to try any solution. i dont really know what to do now, so if you could help me i would really appreciate it. thanks again!

my OS is winxp home edition.

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if you don't have luck installing a virus scan, i guess you can try housecall.trendmicro.com . free online virus scan

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http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/...e&venid=sym

use that. it'll scan your system and tell of any infected files and type of virus.

when you know the type just put the name in google and you'll prolly come up with a result from symantec that will tell you how to remove it.

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thanks for the replies.

i have tried both online virus scans and nothing was detected. nothing in my memory also. the same symptoms are still present. i cannot install any programs without having a blue screen popup, an error during an installation, or a system file being corrupt that forces me to format the drive and install windows again. also another note: during a windows installation and when files are being copied, some system files are not able to be copied. i hope there is something i can do about this. a friend told me that if you format your drive and the problem is still there that you might as well just buy a new computer bc it is in the memory.

jusunlee, hopefully your method can get rid of this. thanks!

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quote:

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Originally posted by coolant
i hope there is something i can do about this. a friend told me that if you format your drive and the problem is still there that you might as well just buy a new computer bc it is in the memory.

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quote:

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Originally posted by coolant
thanks for the replies.

i have tried both online virus scans and nothing was detected. nothing in my memory also. the same symptoms are still present. i cannot install any programs without having a blue screen popup, an error during an installation, or a system file being corrupt that forces me to format the drive and install windows again. also another note: during a windows installation and when files are being copied, some system files are not able to be copied. i hope there is something i can do about this. a friend told me that if you format your drive and the problem is still there that you might as well just buy a new computer bc it is in the memory.

jusunlee, hopefully your method can get rid of this. thanks!

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screw my files, right now i wanna know what exactly the problem is and if that will get rid of my problem. i think i'd kill myself if i did replace my memory and my hd and still that shit be there.

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if it's on the motherboard, maybe you can take out the CMOS battery for a few hours and then reset the bios settings i guess

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ur computer from a company?
usually dell has that technical support crap, although their phone helpers are the biggggest idiots.
me: "windows wont install correctly, i get an error, even with ntfs and fat32 format"
dell: "ok... press enter when you hit unpartioned disk space..."
me: "did you not JUST hear me"
dell: "oh... lets debug"
me: "i already did"
dell: "its the cd, well replace it for you in three days using express packaging system!"
me: "no its not, windows 2000, xp home and pro, 98, all get the same error.. what part of files cannot be copied unto harddrive because the file can not be replaced do yo not understand? my harddrives messed up, send a new one"
dell: wait wait.. can you say that again? let me find it in the computer solution manual
me: "just send a damn technician over"
dell: "nono, lets try this"
me: "..."

2 hours pass by following their idiotic directions

dell: "technican will come in three days"

yeah... if you have a company that made ur computer.. u might have to go through the crap i went through... its not pleasant talking with an indian woman with a hard to understand english accent =/

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lol they enjoy hiring foreigners.

I had to talk to some chinese woman who spoke worse english than a second grader. Worst phone support ever.

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lol, exactly
indian women.. oh my gooooodness.... their accent is very hard to comprehend =/
everytime i called i thought it was the same woman, lol
and one time i got this white dude... damn... made my life a hella lot easier

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