[comp.virus] Stoned virus in partition table

awl@uunet.UU.NET (Tony Locke) (11/28/89)

We have the stoned virus in the partition table of one of our hard disks
on an IBM-XT clone.

I don't know much about partition tables, but I've tried using
Nortons "WIPEDISK C:" and "SF C:" (low-level format program) both to no
effect. I've even deleted the DOS partition and re-created it.

Can I "wipe" this partition table and start again or do I need a program
to kill it ?

My floppy disk with dos 3.3 is uninfected and write-protected.

Sorry if this is yesterday's news but I'm not a regular reader of this
group.

Thanks in advance (email any help direct to me)

Tony Locke
Sydney University Computing Centre

brinkley@cs.utexas.edu (Paul Brinkley) (01/23/91)

I work in the CS Student Lab at UT Austin.  Doing a routine check on
the IBM compatibles, I found the Stoned virus on the partition table.
This sounds harmless enough, but this virus is VERY much stuck there.
I've done a low- level format, high-level format, and repartitioned
the disk, and Stoned is still there.  Someone at the lab suggested
using a Norton utility called ZeroDisk; unfortunately we don't have a
copy of Norton Utilities available in the lab.  Anybody have any
ideas?  E-Mail or postings would be appreciated.

Paul Brinkley
brinkley@cs.utexas.edu

jesse@altos86.Altos.COM ( Jesse Chisholm) (02/01/91)

The STONED (and other partition table) virus is tricky to get
rid of.  I recommend getting the CLEAN program from McAfee
Associates.

		McAfee Associates
		4423 Cheeney Street
		Santa Clara, CA 95054
		408 988 3832 (voice)
		408 988 4004 (BBS)

The current versions of SCAN and CLEAN may be downloaded.  With
these the STONED virus can be removed without the hassle of
removing/losing data on the hard disk.

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jesse@Altos86.Altos.COM |  Understanding without belief is theology;
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