How do computer viruses spread? will the info i backed up infect a new computer?

i just found out that my computer was riddled with viruses %26 spy ware--to the point that it's basically trash %26 the hard drive needs wiped %26 reformatted to even have the possibility of being functional again...

i'm not sure what kinds of viruses they are, but the guy stopped looking after finding 3 particularly nasty ones %26 2 versions of spy ware... and he's concerned that a virus might even disguise itself as part of the hard drive %26 end up "hiding" during the wipe %26 reformatting, only to replicate %26 mess up the computer again...

anyhow, i have another computer %26 so i'm getting rid of the bad one--thing is, i'm worried that my pictures %26 other data %26 programs that i backed up might contain the viruses %26 then infect my new computer? is there a risk of introducing the viruses in this manner?

i'm not familiar with viruses, so if this is a stupid question, please humor my ignorance! thanks!!

How do computer viruses spread? will the info i backed up infect a new computer?norton

not an ignorant question at all. viruses take on many forms and some even have the ability to replicate themselves after a complete wipe. If you backed stuff up while infected its most likely the backup file is infected too and should be destroyed as well. most viruses are designed for the damage factor,meaning to disable the operating system or dirupt its function so most viruses will not infect pictures or files that cannot execute their program. they will lodge in winlogon file windows.exe and file that is needed to start the computer since these files are mainly .EXE files. so the virus will disguise itself as a say; example : iexplore.exe file. when you start internet explorer the virus will execute and infect the area it was targeted to infect.