[comp.virus] possible macintosh virus

sam@wolfen.cc.uow.edu.au (Sam Tan) (01/11/91)

mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu writes:

>Does anyone know of a Macintosh virus that will make all floppy disks
>appear to be locked to the computer? At first, we thought the problem
>was with the disk drive, but when it started surfacing on other
>computers, we've become a little suspicious. Any help would be
>appreciated.

>Matt Wu
>mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu

The only occurence I know of this happenning is when you try to recover disks
using MacTools. The programs set the software disklock field on the disk to
ON, thereby making the System think that the disk is locked. You will need to
copy the stuff off the disk, and reformat it, unless you know how to reset
the lock byte.

NB: Merely inserting the disk in your drive and selecting "Erase Disk" won't
work, the System will say the disk is locked. You will have to hold down the
"Cmd-Opt-Tab" keys while inserting the disk. This key combination only works
on the Finder, not all applications.

Enjoy.

Sam

sam@wolfen.cc.uow.edu.au

brenda@jade.cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Brenda Barabash) (01/14/91)

mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu writes:

>Does anyone know of a Macintosh virus that will make all floppy disks
>appear to be locked to the computer? At first, we thought the problem
>was with the disk drive, but when it started surfacing on other
>computers, we've become a little suspicious. Any help would be
>appreciated.

>Matt Wu
>mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu

We are also experiencing problems with floppy disks appearing to be
locked when they aren't.  This is happening on both new disks and old
disks.  It's definitely got to be a virus.  If anyone knows which one
please let us know.

Brenda Barabash				...{calgary,arcsun}!jade!brenda
Jade Simulations

pasrich@boole.SEAS.UCLA.EDU (Puneet Pasrich/;093091;eeugrad) (01/16/91)

jade!brenda@jade.cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Brenda Barabash) writes:
>We are also experiencing problems with floppy disks appearing to be
>locked when they aren't.  This is happening on both new disks and old
>disks.  It's definitely got to be a virus.  If anyone knows which one
>please let us know.

No! It does not "definitely have to be a virus".  Just as with all
hardware the floppy drive mechanism can be mal-aligned.  So, if the
part of the drive that checks to see if the disk is locked is not in
the correct position is may 'sense' the disk is locked, uncorrectly.
When I was working for a VAR, a number of Macs came in w/ similar
problems (ie. All floppies are locked).  Just letting the rest of the
world know...
==============================================================================
== Puneet Pasrich ============ Internet:  pasrich@seas.ucla.edu ==============
== Karate Kid ================ Macs rule, and that's all there is to it ======
== In Capitalism, man exploits man. In Communism, it's the other way around. =

milton@ccu.umanitoba.ca (David A. Milton) (01/18/91)

>jade!brenda@jade.cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Brenda Barabash) writes:
>>We are also experiencing problems with floppy disks appearing to be
>>locked when they aren't.  This is happening on both new disks and old
>>disks.  It's definitely got to be a virus.  If anyone knows which one
>>please let us know.

It definately does NOT have to be a virus! Are you using Virus
Blockade II?  This nifty little utility automatically locks ALL disks,
even after they have been formatted. It is also possible it to
configure it to leave the hard disk unlocked.

David A. Milton, University of Manitoba.