Operating system reinstallation

Operating system reinstallation

Reinstalling the operating system is another approach to virus removal. It involves simply reformatting the OS partition and installing the OS from its original media, or imaging the partition with a clean backup image (Taken with Ghost or Acronis for example).

This method has the benefits of being simple to do, being faster than running multiple antivirus scans, and is guaranteed to remove any malware. Downsides include having to reinstall all other software, reconfiguring, restoring user preferences. User data can be backed up by booting off of a Live CD or putting the hard drive into another computer and booting from the other computer's operating system (though care must be taken not to transfer the virus to the new computer).

[edit] See also

Adware Antivirus software Computer insecurity Computer worm Crimeware Cryptovirology Linux malware List of computer virus hoaxes

List of computer viruses List of computer viruses (all) Malware Mobile viruses Multipartite virus Spam Spyware Trojan horse (computing) Virus hoax

[edit] References

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