Viruses Live On Regardless (W98)

[Hally]

Hi I just read another forum a guy that had a bad virus (???) was saying when he formats his computer the virus will still be there after he installs Win98 & all his other programs. Is this true because I would've thought when you format your HDD its like the teacher at school rubbing out the chalk board (Virus & all) & starting again. . . The guys point was he'll have to remove the virus first & then format his HDD. I'm eager to know the answer to this one virus experts thanks in advance


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<font color=blue>&gt;&gt; Hally &lt;&lt;</font color=blue>

[tnguy]

Expert=NO

IF the virus is memory resident, you should unplug your PC from wall for couple of minutes also. I always do this when wiping a computer that I suspect is infected. I also repartition the drive, just in case.

TNguy
Network Administrator
(I am looking for an employment change, see my BIO)

[Hally]

Hi Tnguy & thanks for your reply, Just A Thought
if you unplug the computer isnt the memory etc still ok because of the battery in the mother board.


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<font color=blue>&gt;&gt; Hally &lt;&lt;</font color=blue>

[Andy-S]

Hally,

The battery is used to maintain the contents of CMOS. These contents contain, among other things, the hardware settings detected or set in the BIOS, the time and date and the system serial number. CMOS has no relationship to memory.

When you power down your system (whether the power cord is plugged in or not) the contents of memory are lost. With the power cord plugged in an auxilliary voltage is applied to the system to maintain volatile information in some of the chipset components and also CMOS. The reason the auxiliary voltage maintains CMOS is to increase the battery life. The battery is actually only used when the system is totally disconnected from the mains power supply.

Hope this answers your question.


Cheers
Andy

[Hally]

It certainly helped me understand things better!
Thanks Andy

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<font color=blue>&gt;&gt; Hally &lt;&lt;</font color=blue>

[jdharm]

I wonder: what is the virus he keeps finding? He isn't finding the jdbgmgr.exe or sulfnbk.exe 'viruses' is he?/images/forums/icons/smile.gif


Josh

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

[Paul S]

It does sound like one of these 'viruses' that go round.

jdbgmgr.exe info</font color=blue> (http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/jdbgmgr.exe.file.hoax.html><font)


<font color=green>Paul</font color=green>

[Hally]

Hi jdharm & thanks for replying! I can't remember if he said the virus, I guess he must of but it wasnt a hoax. . . probably one of those viruses in the memory &lt;&gt; Thanks Again! /images/forums/icons/wink.gif


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<font color=purple>&gt;&gt;&gt;Hally&lt;&lt;&lt;</font color=purple>

[jdharm]

Well, if it isn't one of those faux viruses that will show up in any install the only way that the virus could survive a hdd format is if it is a boot sector virus, resident in the hdd's own control data, and the format wasn't thorough enough. Pulling the cpu's power cord, pulling the CMOS battery, and discharging any stored charge (sometimes not neccessary, sometimes a jumper or letting the thing sit unpowered while you're at work one day) will destroy any virus in the system memory or CMOS, though I don't believe I have heard of a virus in the CMOS. If it is a boot sector virus I believe that can be eliminated by the command fdisk /mbr after wiping out the partitioning and formating. The Master Boot Record is the only part of the 'chalkboard' that doesn't neccessarily get wiped clean at the reformat.

It is either that or he is installing his software from infected install packages.

Josh

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by jdharm on 06/14/02 10:09.</FONT></P>

[Hally]

Thanks Josh sounds like you know what you're talking about, I'm learning about Viruses & Trojan's
now. Its a sleazy buisness I saw a site that teaches you how to write a virus, can you believe this crap I was stunned when I saw that


<font color=purple>&gt;&gt;Hally&lt;&lt;
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[jdharm]

My brother and I were just talking about this kind of thing the other day. I am the type of person that would have a hard time making myself do anything to hurt someone even when I had just cause. I just can't comprehend a frame of mind that would desire the injury of someone else. My mind puts myself in the position of the person on the receiving end of my action. If I sat down to write a virus I might enjoy the technical aspect of designing something to accomplish a goal by foiling defenses, but I would end up thinking about some lower middle class family that just managed to save up enough spare cash to get a computer and how the virus I just wrote would ruin their computer and they couldn't afford to take it to a shop to have it fixed and don't know any one...I couldn't do it.

My brother has been going to college and hanging out with a large, diverse crowd and he was shocked to find that most of the people he has come into contact with have little or no conscience when it comes doing someone else wrong, and a disturbing number of them actually take some pleasure from it. He said he had always heard the phrase "man's inhumanity to man" but only understood the depth of it after college and the history classes. I think the whole experience has turned him into a nihilist.

If it wasn't for the occasional shining light of altruism like these forums I'd be right there with him.

Josh

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

[Hally]

Hi Josh I agree with everything you said, I think its par fo the course nowadays (some) people are so selfish & everyones in a hurry. . . After your brother seeing that & telling you, I bet you both make sure you have the best AV you can get, I get almost every update that I can for my VET AV Thanks for your reply. . .


<font color=purple>&gt;&gt;Hally&lt;&lt;
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[dawillie_99]

jdbgmgr.exe is a hoax, not a virus.

David Williams

[Paul S]

Hence why I placed it in inverted commas. The link I provided said hoax on it.

Apologies to anyone who thought I implied this was a virus.

<font color=green>Paul</font color=green>