boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd) (02/23/90)
Well folks, my wierd problem with the 1.4mb disk drives on IBM comp. has ended. I think this might be rather significant, because I only figured it out by accident. Scenario: Any time I stuck an IBM formatted disk in my ST, and wrote to it in any way, it would no longer work in the IBM's. (Seems kinda obvious to me now). Problem: The &**(@&#$&* Key virus!!!! It is everywhere (I hear that it was originally distributed on the Midi Maze game disks, but that is not confirmed). The damn virus, although benign in it's independent state (ie without a key disk to activate it), was on ALL of my disks, most notably my Utilities disk. I never noticed it because it doesn't do anything on ST's, but it seems that it scrags some info in the boot sector that IBM compatables need to recognize the disk. Thus, PSFORM (a PD formatter that produces PS/2 compatable disks) would not work for me, because the virus would be written to the disk right after it was formatted. Also, whenever I used a disk formatted on the IBM, one write from my ST would destroy the disk (as far as the IBM was concerned). Solution: Get VKILLER from terminator, or someplace, and wipe this one out!! Be careful not to use it on a self-booting disk (and also never use a self-booting disk with your HD on!). It took me about two hours to do, and now I periodically check to make sure is hasn't croped up again. Also, check every disk in your collection. I found the Key virus on some PD disks that I purchased through the mail (and never un-write-protected them). Even originals, unless they are self-booting, should be checked. Note: I highly recommend the afore mentions utility, PSFORM. I got it from comp.binaries (I think), and it does all it is supposed to do. As soon as I get a hard drive, it will be on the Neodesk desktop. Query: What is the newest version of VKILLER? -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------+------------------------------------- Mickey Boyd | "Nobody can be exactly like me. FSU Computer Science | Even I have trouble doing it." mail: boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu | - Tallulah Bankhead ---------------------------------+------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------