Including the boot sector
The boot sector is critical to the proper start up of your computer. On startup, the computer checks the master boot record (MBR) for instructions on how to start the operating system and loads much of this data into memory. The boot sector is special, and usually off-limits to most programs--they can't touch it. Nor can you see the boot sector using Explorer, for example.
Any boot viruses that are infecting the computer are loaded into memory along with the valid data during boot up (system start-up). It's from their perch in memory that they infect files on the hard drive whenever they are opened, closed, etc.
What makes boot viruses especially nasty is that even if all the files on the system are cleaned, and the memory is cleaned, the next time the computer is restarted, the whole infection will come back -- unless and until the boot sector itself has been cleaned. And besides cleaning the c:\ boot sector, if you ever have a boot virus, be sure to clean every floppy, ZIP, and other removable, bootable disk that you have.
You may also want to run a quick scan of the boot sector of any floppies or disks before using them to start your computer (including game disks!).
To include the boot sector in a Manual Scan:
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On the PC-cillin window, click Settings. The Settings window appears.
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On the Settings menu, click the Virus Scan link. The menu expands.
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Click the Manual Scan link. The Manual Scan screen appears.
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Under Scan file types , select the Include boot sector check box.
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Click Apply.
See also: