“How do you detect if your computer has a boot sector virus?”

(Answer requested by Luis Fuentes)

The most-certain way is to boot your PC with an external, self-contained (a.k.a. “portable”) anti-malware tool, such as one contained on a flash drive or DVD. (Examples.) These self-contained apps don’t rely on the installed operating system, and can instead examine your entire hard drive — including the boot sectors — when it’s inert. Because any malware on the drive is inactive and defenseless, it’s easier to detect and remove.

In Windows, you can do something very similar from within the OS, with a free Windows Defender Offline scan. This option reboots your PC into a special, minimal, protected version of Windows that also can examine the PC’s boot sectors for malware. When it’s done. your PC then reboots into normal operation again.

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