FAQ << >>

Can a boot sector virus infect non-bootable floppy disk?

Any diskette that is properly formatted contains an executable code in the boot sector. If the disk is not bootable all that the boot sector does is print a message like "Non System disk or disk error, replace and strike any key when ready". As this code in the boot record is executable, it is vulnerable to infections. If the machine is accidentally turned ON with a non-bootable infected diskette in boot drive, the "Non system ..." message is displayed. But before doing that, the virus in the infected disk gets a chance to infect the system hard disk.