How to Check for Viruses in the Boot Sector
Computer viruses can be located anywhere on your hard drive. A boot-sector virus will infect any type of disk or drive that attempts to boot (or start up). The virus will specifically effect the RAM of your computer. With a boot-sector virus you will experience start-up issues, missing or corrupt files and error messages. Checking for this kind of virus is straightforward as it causes the computer system memory to be 2048 bytes (or 2 kilobytes) smaller than usual.
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Instructions
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1
Click on the "Start" button in the toolbar and select "My Computer."
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2
Open the "Properties" window of the local drive by right-clicking on the "C:/" icon.
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3
Navigate to the "System Information" heading and find the "Memory (RAM)" section. Note the amount of memory by writing it down. It will most likely be displayed in GB, or gigabytes. Exit this window.
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4
Click on the "Start" button and search for "Command Prompt." Double click it.
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5
Type "chkdsk" into the command prompt window. Use all lowercase letters and no quotation marks. Press "Enter" and the disk check will begin. This process may take several minutes to run.
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6
Find the "Total Bytes Memory" description in the command prompt window. Note the number of bytes.
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7
Convert the number of GB in Step 2 into bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes. If the number in Step 6 is 2,048 bytes less than the number in Step 2, a boot-sector virus is present. For example, if the "Properties" of the C:/ drive equaled 655360 of memory, and the "chkdsk" shows 653312, there is a boot-sector virus.
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Tips & Warnings
Anti-virus and virus repair software are available through third-party vendors. Purchasing this software may aid in restoring your computer from a boot-sector virus (see Resources).
A boot-sector virus will infect any CD/DVD, flash or external drive you attempt to connect to the infected computer. Do not insert media or connect devices to this computer until the virus has been removed.
