Fran,

A virus is not going to physically harm your hard disk in such a way that you would need to replace it.

Viruses impact only the software installed on your machine and software can be fixed.

Your disk may have bad sectors, probably because it's wearing out. Before replacing the hard drive, I would use malwarebytes, then windows disk check. If you still have problems and can't boot to windows, then perhaps a fresh install will work. If after all that and your computer is not running correct, then a new hard drive is the answer.

Then again, hard drives are cheap, and you may just want to start with a brand new one...or a new computer. Windows 7 is awesome, and IMO as good as a MAC, at a much much lower price

Hi Fran

1. Not all threats detected are real, there will always be some false identifications thus causing you to delete a file that is fine, normally this is a minor inconvenience however if it is a system file it can cause the problems you experienced.
Always transfer the file to the vault, and then type the virus name that has been identified into Google to see what comes up about it before deciding whether to delete it or not.

2. Be wary of any files sent from anyone that uses a Mac or the Linux OS, as they can easily be infected due to most not having antivirus software. As most viruses are written for Windows, it will not affect the operation of a Mac or Linux machine, but it does mean that these users can unknowingly pass the virus on to a Windows user.

3. The big boys constantly monitor the internet from secure centres (Usually old nuclear bunkers) so that a new virus can be identified within hours or less, allowing the antivirus writers to produce a fix almost as quick.

4. Most paid for versions usually have an active update system that allows the manufacture to implement updates (And virus ids) as soon as a fix becomes available, (They can also be set to ask first) whereas free ones just check for updates at pre-set times, thus (Depending on how the update settings are configured) they have an open window which can cause compromises to the system. (It’s not that often that this occurs, but it is always best to be aware of it)

5. Always make sure you do daily backups, as if your system does get screwed up, you can get it back up and running relatively painlessly.

6. The more popular something is, the more likely it is to get targeted, and AVG Free is one of (If not the) most popular out there.

Hope this helps

Bill

Hey Fran

Sorry about your problem, seems like a lot to deal with Like I told you last week on the phone, get a Mac. I get spam but have never had a virus problem (Fingers crossed) But then again Roland is all PC based so you need two computers.
Hope to see you next week. Waiting on the Podiums