Where are the virus held when they infect a computer in the cpu on the memory card or in the hard dr

friend bought computer and didn't get virus protection started fast enough and got a virus and wants to fix the computer because he pay to much for it

Where are the virus held when they infect a computer in the cpu on the memory card or in the hard drive?ariel

Viruses are mostly in the Hard Drive but can go anywhere. However the RAM memory is temporary and what is in it usually deletes when shut down.

There are Anti Virus programs that first will check for them and if found, remove them. I would try that first. Semantic is good.

If you have a Western Digital and have it's "Tools" disk you can use it to "zero" out everything, repartition, format and reinstall your OS.

Or you can just buy a new HD and start again but you need OS (Operating System) disk in order to install or reinstall the OS

Where are the virus held when they infect a computer in the cpu on the memory card or in the hard drive?computers

Viruses, Trojans, and Spyware are much like miniature software programs; they are stored on the hard drive but in order to do their damage they must "wake up" and come into the RAM, just like software programs must in order to operate. Good luck.
Viruses go anywhere. It depends on what kind of virus it is; Trojan, worms, etc. Each virus is desgined to attack certain parts of the system and nowhere else. For example, worms are common (but a minor threat) viruses that spread through emails or documents. Of course, there are other lethal viruses that really damage the system. Such viruses attack the components stored in the Windows Folder in Drive C:. They damage the system in a way it reduces the speed of the computer. So, virus can hide anywhere in the computer. The only way not to spread the virus is not to open that infected file. Delete it if you must to rid the virus. Run a System Scan regularly with your Anti-Virus software and quarantine any infected files detected. Leave the rest to the Anti-Virus.
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