Can an email virus cause a hard disk problem?

What do you mean a hard disk problem?

Beats me. I have a little flag down in my tray. I click on that and it says Microsoft has been unable to access files 44 times. due to a hard disk probem. I have auto updates at 3 AM. I did the first troubleshooting step they told me to do. It was OK for a couple days now the flag is back with a similar message. I attempted a system restore but it didn't go through, My freezing and slow problems go back maybe a week. I'm taking it to my tech person tomorrow, very reasonably priced. I switched from DSL to satellite about a month ago, so it might be that has something to do with it. I just want to make sure its not my neighbor's email. This guy has infected my computer two previous times, not maliciously, he's just an idiot. So he's blocked, even though we are still friends.

Make sure you have a back up of anything you can't afford to lose before proceeding.

Chkdsk is your best immediate option here. It'll take a look at your hard drive and fix any issues it finds (if possible.) It'll take a while to go through the hard drive, but it should find and fix any errors it finds. Directions for how to use chkdsk will vary depending on which version of Windows you're using, so you'll have to Google "chkdsk Windows ?" where your version of Windows is inserted in place of the question mark.

I wouldn't rule out a virus as a possible cause, but the issue is more how to fix the problem at this time.

Someone I knew sent me an email, which I opened. Unfortunately, it had a "worm," which took out my operating system. I had to purchase a new operating system, but also had to pay for tech help to undo all the damage on my hard drive, as my husband could not spare the time away from work.

It's hard to know if we, as private parties, can have the kind of security needed to block and eat these viruses/worms, etc. I worked for some years, not a long time, for the DoD and believe me nothing got through to our computers.

On 10/29/2014 sfnative said:

Someone I knew sent me an email, which I opened. Unfortunately, it had a "worm," which took out my operating system. I had to purchase a new operating system, but also had to pay for tech help to undo all the damage on my hard drive, as my husband could not spare the time away from work.

It's hard to know if we, as private parties, can have the kind of security needed to block and eat these viruses/worms, etc. I worked for some years, not a long time, for the DoD and believe me nothing got through to our computers.

I know this is after the fact but, most computers made in the past 5 years have a recovery partition you can use to restore back to factory conditions. All you need to do is is access it and you can put the computer but to new. There are several ways to access it. Go to all programs and look for recovery, find the recovery partition on the hard drive through Windows Explorer/Computer or press a F key (it varies from brand to brand) while the computer is booting.

You also have the option to make either recovery DVDs or a recovery partition on a USB/thumb drive when new. I always made a set and bought a set of recovery disks from the manufacturer when I had a new computer with an optical drive. My Dell doesn't have one and I made a recovery partition on a USB drive.

Had you posted your problem on this board, one of use could have either given the instructions or provided a site to help you restore your computer yourself. Not only is it easy, it free.

Anyone who buys a new computer, make the recovery disks or USB drive when prompted. While you will have the recovery partition on your computer to restore to factory condition, you never know when you will need the other way.

I guess I have had a ""virus"" or ""worm"" on my school computer one time. I think it messed up adobe documents. Adobe documents were put into dropbox before the re-image. When I tried to open them after the re-image I got an error message that said they were damaged.

Its a week after I took my computer into my tech. She installed a new hard drive, mine crashed while she was working on it. I swore I would give up and buy an Apple, I mean Mac, the next time I had a problem, but she fixed it for less than $200.00. I don't know if that was a new or used hard drive for that price. This is a Dell Inspiron from QVC that was delivered to me with a bad battery and a bad fan. Those were fixed under the Dell warranty. This is my last Dell. But this still may be my neighbor's email problem. The tech wouldn't tell me anyway because he is also a customer.