What is the hard disk hoax?

Answer 1

The "hard disk hoax" usually refers to any of several phony "computer virus alerts" that warn of a message attachment that could erase the hard drive of a computer. While there are malware attachments and trojans that do this, a virus would not spread very far if it wiped clean a computer when it first gained access.

Most of these virus and trojan alerts are copies of an older hoax that are circulated now and then on the internet. It is very unlikely that anyone would ever encounter a malicious attachment with this capability. Modern anti-virus programs and registry protection protocols would normally prevent erasure of the operating system and other files.

Another "hard disk hoax" is not a hoax. There is a photo from 1956 showing a large cabinet, weighing nearly a ton, that contained a 5-megabyte hard drive for one of the first IBM computers. Before integrated circuits, memory storage consisted of bulky mechanical magnetic disk drives.