[Lady Jag]

Was just wondering if a virus could contribute to a hardware failure.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a tremendous coincidence to have occurred at the same time? Unless I mucked up a reboot?

This is when I wish I knew more. Times like this are reminders that I’m not as good as I think.

[derekr44]

Was just wondering if a virus could contribute to a hardware failure.

It absolutely can. I've seen it destroy sector construction on a hard disk before. Like I posted before, some hardware-level rootkits can be so embedded into your computer's hardware that it can even survive a brand new hard drive and Windows installation.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

It appears that if the computer is worth keeping (not too old), then a trip to a repair facility is in order. You'd probably need to have your BIOS and other firmware 'reflashed' to specifications.

After that, i'd install a Linux distribution on the machine, dual boot. You don't have to USE it if you're not comfortable with it, but i'll let you know a little secret:

AVG antivirus has a Linux version. You can run it out of linux, and scan your WINDOWS partition.

i've been running OpenSuSE 11.1 on this old 2005 HP Pavilion since it came out. i don't need or miss Windows. Be advised though, Linux is NOT Windows . It's not better or worse, but it IS different. There is a learning curve. These days i wouldn't go on line with Windows. The next virus found in the wild that affects Linux will be the first one.