Recently my computer got infected by a few viruses that I believe were mostly the web hijacker type. After multiple failed attempts of removal of the viruses I desided that maybe the safest and easiest way to get rid of them was a disk format. So I backed-up my really necessary files and formatted the hard disk. Sure I had to re-install everything again including drivers and software afterwards and reconfigure my sytem, however so far it's turned out to be far easier that trying to remove the viruses. Plus the computer seems to be running almost as good as new and is fresh from useless junk bits of files. I still need to tweak a few things I guess to make it boot as quickly as before as it feels a bit slow starting up. I did something to it last time I formatted the disk to make it boot up really fast but I can't remember exactly what it was (any ideas?). Now my question is, are there any known viruses designed to survive a disk formatting and am I getting a false sense of security? Also I wondering if using slightly outdated versions of software such as relatively older versions of Windows (like Win 98) or lesser popular software such as Linux rather than Windows or Netscape rather that IE6 is safer for the average home user to prevent virus infection as fewer viruses will be created for them?

Here is a link that may assist your tweaking issues WIN TWEAKS " IF IT AINT BROKE-LEAVE IT ALONE "

No, a virus shouldn't survive a thorough format/reinstall. Forget about the old OS's, keep the MS updates current, run a good up-to-date AV, and use a good 3rd party firewall. Most of all, be careful of what you D/L, and what sites you visit.

See how many icons you have in the system tray next to the clock. These are programs that start up on boot and run in the background. If any are not essential then disable them (preferably using their own control panels). Sometimes they can be disabled and a simple shortcut to the .exe file used instead. Beware clever bars of icons that appear on your desktop, they slow things down something rotten. If all else fails type msconfig in the Run box and see if there is anything that you can disable in the Startup tab. This is one of many websites that might help: STARTUP ITEMS As an aside, go to Start/Settings/Folder Options/View and set yourself up to show all files and not to hide extensions. There are many reasons that you will find this useful and it's fine as long as you don't go deleting files. MS loves to hide things LOL. Derek.W