Gunner wrote:
On a whim..I ran the TrendMicro online virus checker called Housecall
on one of the least effected boxes..and it found 167 versions of a
virus called Tenga.A..which appears to be similar enough to Gaelicum.A
to register. This on my kids box btw.

I let it try to heal or recover the 167 infected files..all .exe files
btw...and it appears to have done just that. Subsequent scans by other
programs didnt find any viruses, so now Ill try to do the same to the
server. My box is so infected that it will not boot except in safe
mode..which also doesnt allow the modem to be used..sigh. In regular
mode, it logs on, logs off, logs on, logs off..all by its lonesome, so
Ill have to deal with that..

So I may be able to save most of the files. insert deity of your
choice willing.


Gunner


Buddha has smiled on you.. put the fear of 'im into that kid though.

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...
On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:16:55 -0500, the seventh sign
wrote:

Lee Michaels wrote:
"CanopyCo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Gunner wrote:
My $#@!! kid turned off the firewall (again) and downloaded something
with a nasty malware called W32/Gaelicum.A

Its infected virtually every .exe file in both my server and my
personal computer. Im posting from my non-networked laptop.

It only effects flles with a .exe extension, but thats thousands of
files on all 4 computers on the network. There is very little info on
the net about it, AVG has only been able to detect it for a week or
so.

It appears to be a trojan of some sort.

Anyone got any suggestions of cleaning the sumbitch, other than a
full
hard drive format..which means I have to format at least 14
drives...sigh

Just a heads up on the format option (should that be the rout that you
take);

Be sure to go the extra step and F Disk the drive too.
I have found that many PC Pelages will manage to dodge the format
attack, but cannot dodge the F Disk assault.


"F Disk"??

What is this?

Where do I find out more about it?



it is spelled wrong it is fdisk .
TSS

doesn't exist under Windows XP, but then gunner said he is running
linux.

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

n.

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 11:53:29 -0400, "North"
wrote:

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

n.

I've put Acronis True Image back to work. They have a bootable CD,
that allows you to take-out the original partition(s) ( same as FDISK
) before restoring the Image.

No virus is going to infect the read-only CD, which is nice. I didn't
realize that Acronis had this feature until I looked at the fine print
on the CD. Live and learn. It works just fine.

Acronis -also- lets you boot from a dos 5 floppy set, but I can boot
from my CD drive, and prefer to do it that way. There just isn't any
way a CD ROM is going to get infected, that I can think of.

So it looks like there are a lot of ways to get back to normal on your
computer, the limiting factor being when was the last time you backed
it up.

Lg

North wrote in message
...

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...
On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:16:55 -0500, the seventh sign
wrote:

Lee Michaels wrote:
"CanopyCo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Gunner wrote:
My $#@!! kid turned off the firewall (again) and downloaded
something
with a nasty malware called W32/Gaelicum.A

Its infected virtually every .exe file in both my server and my
personal computer. Im posting from my non-networked laptop.

It only effects flles with a .exe extension, but thats thousands of
files on all 4 computers on the network. There is very little info
on
the net about it, AVG has only been able to detect it for a week or
so.

It appears to be a trojan of some sort.

Anyone got any suggestions of cleaning the sumbitch, other than a
full
hard drive format..which means I have to format at least 14
drives...sigh

Just a heads up on the format option (should that be the rout that
you
take);

Be sure to go the extra step and F Disk the drive too.
I have found that many PC Pelages will manage to dodge the format
attack, but cannot dodge the F Disk assault.


"F Disk"??

What is this?

Where do I find out more about it?



it is spelled wrong it is fdisk .
TSS

doesn't exist under Windows XP, but then gunner said he is running
linux.

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

I ALWAYS fdisk'ed before a standard format and I have done so for years. In
my experience it is
the best way to truly clean the HDD for an OS reinstall.
HOWEVER...I hear that there are some viruses that can survive this
procedure. I've never
seen anything......ever...... survive an fdisk but this is what I hear.
Just food for thought.

Ron Tock wrote in message
news:zKVJe.242$0d.118@trnddc07...

North wrote in message
...

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...
On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:16:55 -0500, the seventh sign
wrote:

Lee Michaels wrote:
"CanopyCo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Gunner wrote:
My $#@!! kid turned off the firewall (again) and downloaded
something
with a nasty malware called W32/Gaelicum.A

Its infected virtually every .exe file in both my server and my
personal computer. Im posting from my non-networked laptop.

It only effects flles with a .exe extension, but thats thousands
of
files on all 4 computers on the network. There is very little
info
on
the net about it, AVG has only been able to detect it for a week
or
so.

It appears to be a trojan of some sort.

Anyone got any suggestions of cleaning the sumbitch, other than a
full
hard drive format..which means I have to format at least 14
drives...sigh

Just a heads up on the format option (should that be the rout that
you
take);

Be sure to go the extra step and F Disk the drive too.
I have found that many PC Pelages will manage to dodge the format
attack, but cannot dodge the F Disk assault.


"F Disk"??

What is this?

Where do I find out more about it?



it is spelled wrong it is fdisk .
TSS

doesn't exist under Windows XP, but then gunner said he is running
linux.

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be
done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

I ALWAYS fdisk'ed before a standard format and I have done so for years.
In
my experience it is
the best way to truly clean the HDD for an OS reinstall.
HOWEVER...I hear that there are some viruses that can survive this
procedure. I've never
seen anything......ever...... survive an fdisk but this is what I hear.
Just food for thought.



Here's what I've heard (only heard, never experinced):
Some fingerprints of a nasty can be left after an fdisk. These fingerprints
in somecases will rebuild the virus 'after' the user goes back online.

In these cases do the fdisk twice (fdisk then reformat then fdisk again then
reformat then reinstall the OS).

If that doesn't do it, throw the infected box out of the window, head to the
electronics store to buy a new box and a 'hardware' based firewall.

n.

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...
On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 11:53:29 -0400, "North"
wrote:

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be
done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

n.

I've put Acronis True Image back to work. They have a bootable CD,
that allows you to take-out the original partition(s) ( same as FDISK
) before restoring the Image.

No virus is going to infect the read-only CD, which is nice. I didn't
realize that Acronis had this feature until I looked at the fine print
on the CD. Live and learn. It works just fine.

Acronis -also- lets you boot from a dos 5 floppy set, but I can boot
from my CD drive, and prefer to do it that way. There just isn't any
way a CD ROM is going to get infected, that I can think of.

So it looks like there are a lot of ways to get back to normal on your
computer, the limiting factor being when was the last time you backed
it up.

Lg


My system(s) except my new sony laptop and my HP desktop, will not boot from
the CD, IOWs they need a driver for the CD drives that is installed after
the OS is installed, thats why I have to do a floppy drive boot when I'm
reinstalling my OS after an attack.

n.

I sometimes have to wipe track 0 from a hard
drive to do a clean install/repair if it had been
formatted with NTFS/corrupted. Conceivably
that's where a "bug" can also reside. FDISK
won't fix this regardless of how many times you
run it, but there is this teeny, weeny utility called
"hardcure" that will. It's all over the Internet as
Hardcure.zip.

Also "MBRTool" is suppose to do this as well,
but it looks to be a more elaborate utility. You
can Google for that also.

-BC

North wrote:

Ron Tock wrote in message
news:zKVJe.242$0d.118@trnddc07...

North wrote in message
...

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...

On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:16:55 -0500, the seventh sign
wrote:


Lee Michaels wrote:

"CanopyCo" wrote in message
oglegroups.com...

Gunner wrote:

My $#@!! kid turned off the firewall (again) and downloaded

something

with a nasty malware called W32/Gaelicum.A

Its infected virtually every .exe file in both my server and my
personal computer. Im posting from my non-networked laptop.

It only effects flles with a .exe extension, but thats thousands

of

files on all 4 computers on the network. There is very little

info

on

the net about it, AVG has only been able to detect it for a week

or

so.

It appears to be a trojan of some sort.

Anyone got any suggestions of cleaning the sumbitch, other than a

full

hard drive format..which means I have to format at least 14
drives...sigh


Just a heads up on the format option (should that be the rout that

you

take);

Be sure to go the extra step and F Disk the drive too.
I have found that many PC Pelages will manage to dodge the format
attack, but cannot dodge the F Disk assault.


"F Disk"??

What is this?

Where do I find out more about it?



it is spelled wrong it is fdisk .
TSS

doesn't exist under Windows XP, but then gunner said he is running
linux.

When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be

done

before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

I ALWAYS fdisk'ed before a standard format and I have done so for years.

In

my experience it is
the best way to truly clean the HDD for an OS reinstall.
HOWEVER...I hear that there are some viruses that can survive this
procedure. I've never
seen anything......ever...... survive an fdisk but this is what I hear.
Just food for thought.




Here's what I've heard (only heard, never experinced):
Some fingerprints of a nasty can be left after an fdisk. These fingerprints
in somecases will rebuild the virus 'after' the user goes back online.

In these cases do the fdisk twice (fdisk then reformat then fdisk again then
reformat then reinstall the OS).

If that doesn't do it, throw the infected box out of the window, head to the
electronics store to buy a new box and a 'hardware' based firewall.

n.


Visit the source: IBM.
They have free program called Wipe that works.
19 kb.
Use with care.

North wrote:

In these cases do the fdisk twice (fdisk then reformat then fdisk again then
reformat then reinstall the OS).

I use "autoclave", which is no longer offered. The people who wrote and
supported it now recommend Darik's Boot and Nuke:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

I have not tried that.

With Autoclave, I just boot to floppy and kick back, usually using a
single write with 0, rather than multiple over writes. Then go through
the normal format and install process.

No fuss, and no left over code contaminating whatever is installed.

Lawrence Glickman wrote:
On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 11:53:29 -0400, "North"
wrote:


When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be done
before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

n.


I've put Acronis True Image back to work. They have a bootable CD,
that allows you to take-out the original partition(s) ( same as FDISK
) before restoring the Image.

No virus is going to infect the read-only CD, which is nice. I didn't
realize that Acronis had this feature until I looked at the fine print
on the CD. Live and learn. It works just fine.

Acronis -also- lets you boot from a dos 5 floppy set, but I can boot
from my CD drive, and prefer to do it that way. There just isn't any
way a CD ROM is going to get infected, that I can think of.

So it looks like there are a lot of ways to get back to normal on your
computer, the limiting factor being when was the last time you backed
it up.

Lg

I have a love hate relationship - Acronis still uses only CD's to backup.
DVD's are here and should be used if there.
It did bail this computer out of a makers mistake - small C drive and large D drive.
Nice if you are saving something... - install software and C fills up.
I was using both for software - then remembered Acronis - steel 20G from D and use
it as C (same disk in this case) - now there is plenty for now disk. Some data bases
are growing by the day - books is getting large. Nice thing, did this with the software
there - just re-mapping (as it should be done).

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

North wrote:

Lawrence Glickman wrote in message
...

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 11:53:29 -0400, "North"
wrote:


When I need to fdisk, I simply boot from my dos 5 floopy set.
fdisk is an old dos command that erases the HD. Fdisk should aways be

done

before formatting. I's the sure fire way to clean the HD.

n.

I've put Acronis True Image back to work. They have a bootable CD,
that allows you to take-out the original partition(s) ( same as FDISK
) before restoring the Image.

No virus is going to infect the read-only CD, which is nice. I didn't
realize that Acronis had this feature until I looked at the fine print
on the CD. Live and learn. It works just fine.

Acronis -also- lets you boot from a dos 5 floppy set, but I can boot
from my CD drive, and prefer to do it that way. There just isn't any
way a CD ROM is going to get infected, that I can think of.

So it looks like there are a lot of ways to get back to normal on your
computer, the limiting factor being when was the last time you backed
it up.

Lg



My system(s) except my new sony laptop and my HP desktop, will not boot from
the CD, IOWs they need a driver for the CD drives that is installed after
the OS is installed, thats why I have to do a floppy drive boot when I'm
reinstalling my OS after an attack.

n.


I have a new tower without a floppy. I don't like it - have to use a usb stick -
better - but I can't boot from them (or haven't modified Bios to do so)
Can't run memory diags that must boot floppy. I'll try CD but hum...

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 03:42:31 GMT, "Martin H. Eastburn"
wrote:

I have a love hate relationship - Acronis still uses only CD's to backup.

No. Definitely not. Acronis backs up to any media now. I'm
presently using it to back up to a 120 Gig USB hard drive.

DVD's are here and should be used if there.

Since programs/data/settings/tweaks change so often, you're wasting
money on DVD media. Get a USB external Hard drive.

It did bail this computer out of a makers mistake - small C drive and large D drive.
Nice if you are saving something... - install software and C fills up.
I was using both for software - then remembered Acronis - steel 20G from D and use
it as C (same disk in this case) - now there is plenty for now disk. Some data bases
are growing by the day - books is getting large. Nice thing, did this with the software
there - just re-mapping (as it should be done).

Martin

Acronis makes a number of different products. Not sure of which one
you're referring to here. I am using Acronis True Image for backups.

Lg

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 03:44:46 GMT, "Martin H. Eastburn"
wrote:



I have a new tower without a floppy. I don't like it - have to use a usb stick -
better - but I can't boot from them (or haven't modified Bios to do so)
Can't run memory diags that must boot floppy. I'll try CD but hum...

Martin

Stick in a floppy...they are $12 at Frys

Gunner

If you are going to use that phrase then you should use
the full phrase of "**** Off and Die and Rot In A Ditch
and Get Eaten By Maggots and ****ed On and **** On By
a Dysenteric Elephant (but not necessarily in that order)."

Crash Street Kidd

Offbreed wrote in message
...
North wrote:

In these cases do the fdisk twice (fdisk then reformat then fdisk again
then
reformat then reinstall the OS).

I use "autoclave", which is no longer offered. The people who wrote and
supported it now recommend Darik's Boot and Nuke:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

I have not tried that.

With Autoclave, I just boot to floppy and kick back, usually using a
single write with 0, rather than multiple over writes. Then go through
the normal format and install process.

No fuss, and no left over code contaminating whatever is installed.

LOL, I remember the old days, before hard drives. I had an IBM PC with two
floppy drives, no internal HD. When ever I had a bad floppy, I would break
out a BIG magnet and erase the disk with that...lol Of course the disk would
be totally useless afterwards but at least no one could read the data that
was on the disk to begin with.

I'm going to buy a new desktop that is designed for linux, although the
linux OS's that I've played with suck IMO.

n.

Martin H. Eastburn wrote:

I have a new tower without a floppy. I don't like it - have to use a
usb stick -
better - but I can't boot from them (or haven't modified Bios to do so)
Can't run memory diags that must boot floppy. I'll try CD but hum...

Floppies are too handy when things go gunny sack. I'm going to try to
remember to get only a mo-bo that support them when this one gives up.

Still, though, snooping through the bios is a good idea. You'll have to
get in there some day, anyhow.

Gunner wrote:

Stick in a floppy...they are $12 at Frys

Some of the newer mother boards don't have a port for one.

USB port floppy drives are on the market, at about $50, but I don't know
if they can be booted from.

North wrote:

I'm going to buy a new desktop that is designed for linux, although the
linux OS's that I've played with suck IMO.

I don't like the user/root type OS's, including the NT series, though
I'm getting used to not having root/admin privileges.

I Linux was badly over hyped. It's getting better, but that's hard to
tell because there are so many options it's hard to sort through and
find the one that suits me best.

Propeller heads don't mind taking the time, but I have other things to
do. Like earn a paycheck.

Offbreed wrote:
North wrote:

I'm going to buy a new desktop that is designed for linux, although the
linux OS's that I've played with suck IMO.

I don't like the user/root type OS's, including the NT series, though
I'm getting used to not having root/admin privileges.

I Linux was badly over hyped. It's getting better, but that's hard to
tell because there are so many options it's hard to sort through and
find the one that suits me best.

Propeller heads don't mind taking the time, but I have other things to
do. Like earn a paycheck.

One word: Ubuntu

-BC

BC wrote:

One word: Ubuntu

Uh huh. What a "Kumbaya" site.

Now, now...

The Ubuntu Linux package itself is awfully
good and logical: download the Umbuntu ISO
image; burn it to a CD; then just boot and
install. It will autodetect most hardware and
install a good looking OS complete with a nice
selection of application softwa Firefox
browser, Thunderbird email, Ximian Evolution
as an Outlook lookalike/workalike, Open Office
for word processing, spreadsheet, etc., as well
as graphics and multimedia apps. Once done, you
have a fully operational, extremely secure PC
good to go for work or fun, which is the whole
point.

It uses the Debian flavor of Linux at its core,
and by default the dangerous "root" superuser
account is disabled. There is maybe a half-dozen
Linux commands you should know for system stuff,
most especially "sudo" -- which gives you
temporary elevated privileges without having to
resort to "root" and it's very simple and DOS-
like.

And if you are really stuck on Microsoft Office
and some other supposedly Windows-only apps,
I can personally vouch for this:
http://www.codeweavers.com

A few months back, for sh*ts and grins, I
downloaded the trial version on an Ubuntu
setup I was experimenting with, then installed
MS Office 2000 Pro, including Internet Explorer,
and -- get this -- was even able to run Windows
Update from IE! All on Linux. Not surprisingly,
Microsoft a short time later modified their
Windows Update software and the IE update
stopped working. But Office 2K, including IE,
worked exactly as though it was on a Windows PC.

Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya...

-BC

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 12:35:39 -0700, Offbreed
wrote:

BC wrote:

One word: Ubuntu

Uh huh. What a "Kumbaya" site.

but its not bad software. Though I far and away prefer Mepis

www.mepis.org
www.mepis.com

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long

Hmmm...that Mepis distro does sound
interesting. I overlooked that on my last
looksee at the various Linux packages.
I'll give it a test run -- thanks for the tip.

Until then, Ubuntu is still a very good
package for people wanting a I-don't-
want-to-have-to-learn-to-be-a-geek Linux
install.

-BC

I would have blistered his ass with a 3" leather strap.
is the kid able to sit down yet ?

I think I survived a couple of ass whipping when I was a kid.
One thing is sure I never did that( whatever I got the whipping for )
again.
OOPPS You live in Kalifornia ...

I think you can only have him stand in a corner now, but
that might be too severe. You might inkur (G) the wrath
of child protective svs ( or what ever it is called )
Just what you need, a bunch of simpering , bed whetting,
whinnying liberal shrinks and therapists telling you how bad and mean
you are.
You would have to attend parenting classes, run by the same limp
wristed, assholes who would tell that you were a bad Dad.
Snicker
Mark


"Even Islamic terrorists don't hate America llike liberals do. They
don't have the energy. If they had that much energy, they'd have indoor
plumbing by now.
Ann Coulter



Gunner wrote:
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 12:35:39 -0700, Offbreed
wrote:


BC wrote:


One word: Ubuntu

Uh huh. What a "Kumbaya" site.


but its not bad software. Though I far and away prefer Mepis

www.mepis.org
www.mepis.com

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 12:35:39 -0700, Offbreed wrote:
BC wrote:

One word: Ubuntu

Uh huh. What a "Kumbaya" site.

Well, whatever, but it's a damn find linux distro. It's Debian with
newer packages, basically. Exactly zero dicking around to get it
working on 5 out of 5 various types of systems I'm using it on.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 14:12:33 GMT, Marc wrote:

I would have blistered his ass with a 3" leather strap.
is the kid able to sit down yet ?

I think I survived a couple of ass whipping when I was a kid.
One thing is sure I never did that( whatever I got the whipping for )
again.
OOPPS You live in Kalifornia ...

I think you can only have him stand in a corner now, but
that might be too severe. You might inkur (G) the wrath
of child protective svs ( or what ever it is called )
Just what you need, a bunch of simpering , bed whetting,
whinnying liberal shrinks and therapists telling you how bad and mean
you are.
You would have to attend parenting classes, run by the same limp
wristed, assholes who would tell that you were a bad Dad.
Snicker
Mark

Did I mention the kid is 27 yrs old and is living in my house with his
wife and my grand daughter?

We had something of a go around. He now understands that young, stupid
and cocky will always loose to age and treachery..

A painful lesson for him, in more ways than one.


Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long