While some so called “IT Technicians” would like you to believe that this is true, there is NO REASON to replace your hard drive if there has been a virus on it. A simple reformatting of the drive and reinstallation of the operating system will sufficiently mitigate the problem.
Even if your antivirus program or other antiviral tools can remove the virus or delete the infection, it is good practice to start from scratch. The reason for this course of action is that a threat usually exists beyond the virus, worm, or Trojan itself. Often, the virus or worm itself is merely the carrier of something more malicious, and most current infections leave the computer open to further compromise.
In the case of infections that install backdoors, it can be nearly impossible to determine what came through before the backdoor was removed, and how compromised a computer is as a result. Erasing your Windows installation and reinstalling it is the only sure way to guarantee that no further compromises remain.
However, fully replacing the hard drive in addition to the reinstallation of your operating system is completely unnecessary.
If you suspect your computer has a virus, or you have been told that you need to replace your hard drive to fix the problem, please schedule a consult and we will help you get your system back up and running again.
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