Can a Virus infect Printers and other Hardware.
 

Can a Virus stop Printers, scanners and other hardware from working?

If so how?

I dont think so it does, i have never heard about something like this before....

I could do with a definative answer on this, I'd like to take the piss out of a friend who just threw away thousands of $$ worth of equipment because he believed they were infected by virus's.

The hardware could not be infected. (i.e printers)

There are some virii that can cause the printer to do weird things, or affect the printer driver. All could be resolved by getting rid of the virus on the computer itself. No need to throw out good printers. Just a format C: is all it would take. LOL.

from a page at microsoft.com:

Q. Can viruses destroy hardware?

A. There are no known viruses that damage hardware.

Well if your computer crashes, you won't be able to print - duh. Or if the malware affects the operation of your PC it is possible that the print function would be worthless until you ctrl-alt-del.

In theory since communications are bidirectional (on most printers) and since printers and most peripherals have computers embedded in them also, the answer is yes. They could get a virus or some other malware. I have not heard of a situation yet though.

You're PDA would prolly be a more likely target after the PC itself.

Anything that has a computer chip and communicates with something else can in theory get a virus. That includes your car, microwave (if it has a remote), TV, VCR.... The chances aren't high on this stuff, but who knows hackers can be creative.

Those that say blah to the car. Think about it. The car has a computer, the test shop has a testing device that connects to it. That testing device connects to another computer for upgrades and reports.... A long shot, but still possible.

Ya, I have heard of certain cell phones getting infected. Never heard of something directly affecting a printer. I suppose it would have to have some sort of flashable firmware for that to even be possible. I've never seen a printer where you could update firmware.

I think my printer is infected. Everytime I turn it on it prints out:

GOFUCKYOURSELF.COM

:1orglaugh

can't effect the actual hardware, but a virus could affect the device drivers for that hardware. Clean up the virus and try reinstalling the device.