Can Viruses actually damage your PC?

Johnny Five · 07-11-2006, 09:29 PM

can viruses damage your PC physically?

eg, can it damage the actual parts of your pc?

thanks.

Mattu · 07-11-2006, 10:12 PM

Yes some can. Like the CIH Chernoybl virus would fry the BIOS chip on the motherboard, and if that's destroyed the computer's worthless unless you were a damn good solderer.

Rambo · 07-11-2006, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattu

Yes some can. Like the CIH Chernoybl virus would fry the BIOS chip on the motherboard, and if that's destroyed the computer's worthless unless you were a damn good solderer.

Not the whole computer... Just the motherboard.

But you shouldn't have to worry about that virus, because there should be Anti-Virus Updates to prevent it from executing

Nevakonaza · 07-11-2006, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattu

Yes some can. Like the CIH Chernoybl virus would fry the BIOS chip on the motherboard, and if that's destroyed the computer's worthless unless you were a damn good solderer.

Wow now i didnt know that

I learn lots of things from this place

ChrisDVD · 07-12-2006, 03:15 AM

you shouldn't get an explosion though! lol.
The New viruese are getting worst and worst. Darn! they are disgusted!

jp198780 · 07-12-2006, 04:33 AM

they are? damnn, well i can careless, cause i have about 5 programs on my computers, protecting me.

4W4K3 · 07-12-2006, 04:45 AM

Some can really mess up your harddrive, and even survive formatting. Others i have heard can mess with BIOS features and cause the computer to overhet, etc. But they are usually targeted, and very specific.

wicked859 · 07-15-2006, 11:41 AM

yes this is true, my friend showed me a website called the black gate something. He is a hacker and got a pass to it. We hooked up a old laptop of his and he sent the virus to his email address.......he then checked his email with the old laptop...then after 2 hours of it running....all of a sudden we hear it cut off.......so we go over there and try to turn it back on....nothing...turned out psu had overheated....his plan had worked and I have never again opened another email from him.

Clutch · 07-15-2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambo

But you shouldn't have to worry about that virus, because there should be Anti-Virus Updates to prevent it from executing

It mostly only affected the motherboards based off the Intel 440xx chipsets.

SC7 · 07-15-2006, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Like the CIH Chernoybl virus would fry the BIOS chip on the motherboard

Many of the old BIOSes from the age of that virus, it's very hardware specific, so it wouldn't affect new soldered ones, but many from that era were the good old large pin insert and pry out kind of BIOS chips, I remember I used to mod those BIOSes a few years back.

Quote:

The New viruese are getting worst and worst. Darn! they are disgusted!

That's why I believe it's best to do as much as you can off of Windows.

Quote:

Some can really mess up your harddrive, and even survive formatting.

Yep, they're called boot sector viruses, they get themselves hidden in the MBR, and they can do damage to even a Windows re-install, such as messing with llsas (spelling?), right off the bad. Usually they're code is only Windows specific, so it generally needs and OS, and Windows at that to do it's deed. Of course, proper tools can clean the MBR completely. There's also a virus that waits until a machine is like 5 minutes idle, then starts to absolutely grind on the hdd for wear and tear, runs 100% CPU so it wears down the fans and everything, and can sometimes do heat damage. It also turns off, IIRC, the Windows ACPI services to manage temp shutdowns.

Quote:

Others i have heard can mess with BIOS features and cause the computer to overhet, etc. But they are usually targeted, and very specific.

Yes, very specific, down to specific motherboard models nowadays, because of the complex architecture of motherboards these days. Many of these fake BIOS hacking sites, actually have BIOS viruses targeted to the specific model you download, basically, it comes down to the BIOS, if this BIOS is listed for these three boards, all 3 of them could be affected. BIOS was not designed for the age of virus, sadly we keep using it, a move to EFI would really be beneficial to the PC world. We could use all of it's advanced features and technologies, as well as it's built from the ground up with great security.

07-11-2006, 09:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
Johnny Five New Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 20	Can Viruses actually damage your PC? can viruses damage your PC physically? eg, can it damage the actual parts of your pc? thanks.

07-11-2006, 10:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mattu Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 410	Yes some can. Like the CIH Chernoybl virus would fry the BIOS chip on the motherboard, and if that's destroyed the computer's worthless unless you were a damn good solderer. __________________ My Home Built Machine: Intel Pentium D 925 3GHz 1024MB DDR 2700 RAM Nvidia GeForce 7600 512MB

07-12-2006, 03:15 AM	#5 (permalink)
ChrisDVD Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Age: 18 Posts: 1,042	you shouldn't get an explosion though! lol. The New viruese are getting worst and worst. Darn! they are disgusted! __________________ HP Pavillion a815n, 160 GB Hard Drive, 512 MB Ram, 16x DVD±RW DL Burner, Power suply- 300W Intel Pentium 4, 3.06 Ghz Power suply- 300W Mother board: ASUS PTGD1-LA Windows XP home Editions, Service Pack 2 Video Card: BFG GeForce FX 5500 oc 256 MB PCI HP Pavillion f1503 monitor HP Series 3 in 1 Printer Speakers: Logitech x-530 suround sound system 5.1

07-12-2006, 04:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
jp198780 Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Age: 17 Posts: 4,090	they are? damnn, well i can careless, cause i have about 5 programs on my computers, protecting me. __________________ My computer:Amd x2 4200+@2.20ghz 1gb ram 200gb 7200rpm hard drive X1950XT xp home

07-12-2006, 04:45 AM	#7 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,858	Some can really mess up your harddrive, and even survive formatting. Others i have heard can mess with BIOS features and cause the computer to overhet, etc. But they are usually targeted, and very specific. __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

07-15-2006, 11:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
wicked859 banned Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hohenwald, TN Age: 17 Posts: 644	yes this is true, my friend showed me a website called the black gate something. He is a hacker and got a pass to it. We hooked up a old laptop of his and he sent the virus to his email address.......he then checked his email with the old laptop...then after 2 hours of it running....all of a sudden we hear it cut off.......so we go over there and try to turn it back on....nothing...turned out psu had overheated....his plan had worked and I have never again opened another email from him.

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