Nowadays, the internet offers a wealth of interesting content that we browse , and which we often choose to download. Depending on the site we visit, this content can have varying degrees of harmful effects on our computer. This is due to the presence of malware and even viruses that slow it down and cause errors.
How to format a hard drive to remove viruses? – Options
We can suffer some more specific effects in the case of famous viruses like “Ransomware,” which hijacks our data and demands a ransom to prevent its deletion; the progressive destruction of our system in the case of others like “Trojans.” We can even be spied on if we fall victim to spyware. And to avoid this, we must take precautions by correcting bad internet habits and performing cleanup with formatting and programs .
Index( )
- How do I perform a low-level format of my hard drive on my computer?
- What’s the way to prevent a virus from getting onto your PC and hard drive?
- Device update
- Security software
- Why does my computer keep crashing after formatting?
- What programs are best for preventing viruses on your hard drive?
How do I perform a low-level format of my hard drive on my computer?
Formatting as a way to erase viruses can be effective, but it is far from being considered practical, since this performs a general erasure of information, and in case we need to preserve personal data, and even if the disk we plan to format is the one that carries the system, we have to sacrifice a lot of information to format.
However, if we’re backing up specific data, it’s a good permanent solution. To format, follow these steps:
- Back up any information you want to keep, as everything left on the disk will be erased (try to back up as little information as possible to avoid copying virus-infected files).
- Once the backup is done, go to Windows File Explorer.
- If you’re using Windows 7, go to ‘Computer’, and if you’re using Windows 10 or 11, open ‘This PC’.
- Position your cursor and left-click on the device you want to format to select it.
- Click on the option called ‘format’.
- Configure the parameters you want for your format, and select the ‘Quick Format’ checkbox to perform a low-level or superficial format.
- If you want the formatting to be performed thoroughly, leave the ‘Quick Format’ box unchecked. This will cause the formatting to be performed by overwriting the information previously recorded with 0s and 1s, thus preventing any trace of said action from remaining.
What’s the way to prevent a virus from getting onto your PC and hard drive?
The main way to take care of your equipment is through prevention and improving your habits, especially when it comes to web browsing, especially if you’re dedicated to working from the internet and frequently access dubious PDFs or files. This includes avoiding accessing dubious websites and downloading content from untrusted sites.
We also find that the main source of threats is websites that offer “free access” for music, movie, game, and other unofficial content, which are often infected.
Device update
Nowadays, keeping our devices up-to-date plays a vital role in their security, primarily due to the advanced state of the technology.
Every day, many malicious people create many new viruses with different shapes and effects, which, if we don’t update our system, it wouldn’t be able to recognize and avoid them, so we could then eliminate them or at least isolate them.
Security software
Another very important method that cannot be missing on our computers is the use of software such as antivirus, antispyware, firewalls, among others, since these are the main line of defense we can have against viruses in our daily work on the computer.
Since these, apart from eradicating these small malicious programs, are responsible for periodically analyzing that there are no hidden ones in the system, and if there are, they eliminate them.
Furthermore, in recent times, they are the only hope we have to protect ourselves against such devastating attacks as malware attacks that steal highly personal information and even passwords from our computers.
Furthermore, we are only given the option of paying significant sums of money to recover the data, otherwise we run the risk of losing all of our information in any attempt to remove this malware.
Why does my computer keep crashing after formatting?
It is assumed that if the fault is due to a virus, when deleting it, the fault should also disappear, so if you format the device where the virus is , it should be solved immediately, and if not, one of these situations may occur:
- The virus causing the error was not on the disk you formatted but in another directory.
- One of the files you backed up before formatting is the one that has the virus hidden in it, you should check it with the help of an antivirus.
- The failure is not due to a virus, many times when we begin to perceive slowness in our computer this is due to failures in the hardware or components such as RAM memory, the hard drive, or the solid disk, which cause us to have freezes, jumps and even the dreaded blue screens on our system.
- Sometimes, it may be because before we managed to delete the virus, it has already caused significant damage to the system, so we must save the personal information and then proceed to reinstall the system.
What programs are best for preventing viruses on your hard drive?
Currently we have 2 very good free options present in the market:
- Windows Defender: The system antivirus that has been with us since Windows 7, and currently receives frequent and very important updates in Windows 10 to combat malware, and also has some free ransomware protection options.
- Avast Antivirus : It has been the leading free antivirus on the market for several years, as it provides very good overall protection with its Free license, and its virus database is frequently updated.