Anything else to wipe other than HDD and BIOS..?

KingNeil1

Solid State Member
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uk
If I think a computer has been infected, is there anything else I should wipe/re-install other than

1. Hard Drive / Operating System

2. BIOS

Is there anything else that a hacker could possibly infect that needs to be wiped/re-installed..?

Thanks
 
Depending on how deep you want to go with that wipe, the best thing to do is use DBAN. A one time pass will suffice.

Using the Windows "format" method will not do the trick, because there's no actual format. It removes the file location indexes and calls it good. During the install, even without the indexes it will scan the sectors and re-use system files. If the system has a root-kit or something nasty on it, a normal Windows format during install will just put it right back to the way it was... depending on how crafty the malware is, of course.

If by BIOS you simply mean that you're going to do a factory reset, that should be fine. If you're super paranoid then you can just get the BIOS update if there is one available. I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure there exist tools to re-flash the BIOS back to N version. I should caution you though, flashing a BIOS is dangerous. If it fails, if something interrupts that process... the motherboard is shot without some intense hacks to get that thing back on there, or calling the manufacturer or a specialty shop.

Unless you've been the target of a hardcore government agency, simply nuking the drive and reinstalling windows with a BIOS factory reset should be just fine.
 
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