How to Remove MBR Viruses

The first sector of a hard drive or disk is the Master Boot Record (MBR). The MBR has the data your computer requires regarding the partition sizes of the hard drive as well as the operating system partition information. When a computer driven by MS-DOS is started, operating system support files are searched for upon booting, and then the Master Boot Record is loaded into the computer's memory. The MBR then continues to load the next operating system support file, which loads the computer's operating system. MBR viruses infect the boot sector, which allow them to avoid detection by your computer's anti-virus system and can continue to spread through copying themselves to new floppy disks inserted into the computer, or through other computer files. Use of updated anti-virus programs is the easiest means to remove a MBR virus from a Windows computer.


Instructions

1. Download a anti-virus program if you do not have one installed on your computer. If you do, update the anti-virus definitions by selecting the "Update virus definitions" from your anti-virus program main menu.
2. Restart your computer in Windows safe mode by depressing the "F8" keyboard function key during the rebooting process. The MBR virus will be activated one more time by rebooting, but restarting in Windows safe mode will permit the anti-virus program to fully remove the MBR virus from all drive labels.
3. Run a complete virus scan of the infected drive with your anti-virus program by selecting "Scan local drives" menu option from your anti-virus menu.
4. Select "Delete or repair infected files" menu option after the anti-virus scan is complete. Then, reboot your computer normally and the MBR virus should now be removed.