[Virus] Crashed Win 98SE

I opened an email that I thought was legitiment and to my surprise the screen flashed, went blue, showed a variety of errors, flashed and rebooted the computer. then no operating system at all. A second Win 98 SE machine on my network was also instantly destroyed. I had just replaced the HD and had done a fresh install of Win 98 SE and updated the OS from Microsoft website. I spent several days re-installing all my software, keys, updates, etc. Then kaboom. I can only assume some kind of virus? A rescue disk and Safe mode eventually got the machine to at least boot. After several days of trying all kinds or remedies I kind of got it working again but it acts strange and i still get system errors. I also found that the email had erased itself, but I was able to find it
I was reading that I can somehow perfrom a re-install of the WIN 98 SE CDROM and it will replace damaged files but the existing software will still be operational after this is done. Since I have no idea what has attacked the machine, shouldn't I really wipe the drive completely several times, f-disk it and reformat it hoping that what ever damaged it from the email is truly gone. Could it hide in the master boot sector?
Would like to hear from an expert my options and best choice. Then I'll have to reconstruct the second machine also. Its a 600hz pent. and operates slower than an old IBM xt.

 

I would perform a low level format with something such as Kill Disk or DBAN then FDISK and format the drives. A fresh install after completely cleaning the drives would be the best option seeing as you do not know exactly what attacked the system.

 

I agree with Whiskeyman. However, if you want to experiment a bit and see what the results are, you can try reinstalling Windows if you want. You can always format and start over after trying it.

To do this, boot from your windows 98 cd and choose to install windows. During the install process you'll be asked where you want to install it. Just make sure it gets installed to the same drive and folder it's currently installed to. Windows will then be reinstalled (or repaired if you prefer) and you shouldn't lose anything. Programs should still work, you should still have your data files, etc. There may be a minor glitch here or there after reinstalling windows but it's been my experience that things are usually the same. If there is any problems aftewards, they're usually minor. I'd back things up first though. Just to be on the safe side.

 

Could it hide in the master boot sector?
A few can, there is a command that will rebuild it, just deleting and creating partitions and formatting will not do this.
Do this command three times to be sure. Note: there will be no indication that something was done.
fdisk /mbr
Reinstalling windows will ensure your programs are still installed, but so is the virus.
If everything you want to save is in the Program Files folder, and cannot back these up in anyway you could do this commands in this order
copy c:\windows\command\deltree.exe a:\
deltree c:\windows
This will copy Deltree onto your boot floppy, and allow you to use it to delete the windows folder. Then install windows. It will be like a clean install, but nothing will be installed.

 

Also To Get more protection Upgrade To Windows Xp.

 

Nonsense! XP is no more secure from an attack such as this than 98SE or any other Windows OS.

 

older machine

THe machine I am using is a Dell inspiron 7500 lap top and if I install WIN XP most of the computer accessories quit working. I have already tryed that before I reverted back to Win 98.