text: do computer viruses get erased if you restore your hard drive to its original factory condition? if my computer gets a virus and i wipe the hard drive clean by restoring the machine to its original factory condition, does the virus also get destroyed or is it still on there? hi jfitznc,  the good news is, yes, most of the time; using the system restore disk is your surefire bet to getting rid of the virus.  immediantly after you format/restore your system, i highly reccomend that you download a virus scanner (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=amvldykgcntphhyt6wuz9afsy6ix?qid=1005120804379 ) and to a scan right away.  if your updated antivirus software does not detect anything -- you should be in the clear.  keep your scanner running after this recovery so you don't get a virus again!