Can a virus damage hardware - I think one has to me!

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 16:56

hi, i got a bad virus yesterday and as a result reformatted my pc to XP Pro SP2.

now here is the problem (which i never had before), when i power on the pc, it will either freeze on the POST screen, or just after there is a screen which says something like verifying vmi pool or something, it freezes here also. Out of maybe 10 attempts or so it very rarely passes these problems and boots up ok.

I know in my sig it shows ive overclocked, all overclocks have been removed for the timebeing, ive reset cmos and changes the cmos battery. on one of the occasions i managed to get into xp, i scheduled a error checker, which only found 8kb of bad sector.

getting to the point, is it just a coincidence im getting these problems after the virus, or has the virus managed to unsettle my hardware in some form? one other bad experience i had after the format, was listening to music on JetAudio and everything froze, except the mouse!

your thoughts and suggestions please, i might not be able to get back on after tea :eek:

what would cause the symptons, one more thing to add, is my motherboard has diagnostic codes actually on the motherboard, if it freezes on the POST screen, the code is '75', if freezes on the vmi pool screen the code is '96'.

all hardware is the same in my signature.

Thanks everyone

Dano · 23 Apr 2009 at 16:57

Bad memory probably, download and run Memtest86+

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 17:09

the ram is about 4 months old, is it possible to get corrupt so quick?

i will check that out anyway thanks, i have spare 4x1gb XMS2 to use if its faulty or something.

cheers

Dano · 23 Apr 2009 at 17:19

toon_mad said:
the ram is about 4 months old, is it possible to get corrupt so quick?

Yes, easily. May also be worth resetting the BIOS just to make sure it hasn't been corrupted.

Fonz-Valo · 23 Apr 2009 at 17:24

toon_mad said:
the ram is about 4 months old, is it possible to get corrupt so quick?

i will check that out anyway thanks, i have spare 4x1gb XMS2 to use if its faulty or something.

cheers

My last batch of OCZ memory went faulty within 2 months so yes it can easily happen

i would definitely run memtest86 on your memory first.

tibbsey · 23 Apr 2009 at 17:30

Run MemTest, but also run a hard drive bad sector test.

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 17:44

well im currently just backing up some files, now you mention it, im thinking the ram could be the problem - for months now i get BSOD in games, mostly gta iv, far cry 2, but games like fifa 09 are ok.

can you run memtest from windows or do i have to burn it as a iso?

thanks everyone

khrall · 23 Apr 2009 at 18:06

Burn and boot, runs independent of OS.

Darkninja462 · 23 Apr 2009 at 18:47

yea virus can attack most things so I'm to presume as I was fixing my friends computer and found that there was a virus on the gfx card :S which was rather weird

Ninja

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 19:51

ok, well i was unable to burn memtest - dont have any blanks lying around. what i have done is removed one of the sticks, i had it setup dual-channel, one 2gb stick in dimm1 and the other 2gb stick in dimm3, dimm2/4 empty. so i removed the dimm3 stick (before i removed it i tried accessing the bios several times with no luck), having removed the ram, i was able to get into bios straight away, and booted up fine.

seems like a dodgee stick of ram. so what can i do now, is this stick useless completely, will it work if i put it in dimm1, and the dimm1 ram in dimm3? this ram is native at 1000mhz, should i remove the other stick and put the 4x1gb xms2 ram in (only 800mhz native).

what would you suggest :confused:

Cheers

Dano · 23 Apr 2009 at 20:05

I'd suggest buying some blank cd's and burning memtest.

Art · 23 Apr 2009 at 20:13

You could try running it from a USB drive if your machine boots from them.

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 21:20

i have a 8gb usb pen here, how would i boot from it, just set it up in the bios? i also have files on it, will i lose the data?

cheers

westie17 · 23 Apr 2009 at 22:20

Look Here:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/testing-your-system-for-usb-boot-compatibility/

Im not sure what happens to your files though, i think they should be fine.

BAMBI · 23 Apr 2009 at 22:36

Darkninja462 said:
yea virus can attack most things so I'm to presume as I was fixing my friends computer and found that there was a virus on the gfx card :S which was rather weird

Ninja

What? how can a virus be on a graphics card? Do you mean a virus cloned itself in the graphics driver folders?

toon_mad · 23 Apr 2009 at 23:36

westie17 said:
Look Here:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/testing-your-system-for-usb-boot-compatibility/

Im not sure what happens to your files though, i think they should be fine.

thanks, ill try it now with the 1 stick in dimm1, then the problematic dimm3 stick - if the usb boots memtest

linktoinsanity · 23 Apr 2009 at 23:45

BAMBI said:
What? how can a virus be on a graphics card? Do you mean a virus cloned itself in the graphics driver folders?

Yeah I was thinking that too. Possibly in the firmware? Or the poster is talking rubbish...

Berserker · 23 Apr 2009 at 23:52

toon_mad said:
i have a 8gb usb pen here, how would i boot from it, just set it up in the bios? i also have files on it, will i lose the data?

cheers

Data will probably be gone - or at least I would advise that you assume it's going to be gone.

BIOS-resident proof-of-concept viruses have been done (reformatting, even replacing the hard disk, doesn't get rid), so a firmware-resident virus is at least a possibility.

Brand new memory sticks can be bad, so there's no reason why a four-month-old one couldn't be.

coupe69 · 23 Apr 2009 at 23:59

toon_mad said:
on one of the occasions i managed to get into xp, i scheduled a error checker, which only found 8kb of bad sector.

Can't believe people have either A: totally missed this information or B: Thought it was ok to have 8kb of bad sectors?

Your problem sounds like a classic case of believe it or not hard drive failure, the random freezes, the locking up at the splash screen and the giveaway one the 8kb of bad sectors. Back up to a new hdd as soon as possible if you value your data.

P_A_N_I_C · 24 Apr 2009 at 00:00

dont think dmi pool data is a memory fault. sounds like the pc is having probs detecting the hard drive (detecting drive during post and dmi is just as it's looking for windows files to boot), or it's having problems reading the data on the hdd.

/edit, above posted just beat me to it.