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OFFEROR COMPUTER QUESTION
Rosie
Member Posts: 14,525 ✭✭✭
Will system restore get rid of BLASTER in XP PRO? If I go back before it hit of course. Rosie
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AlleninAlaska
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As you may have heard on the news, many Internet users are experiencing problems with their computers shutting down abruptly. It is the result of a computer vulnerability and is being experienced by computer users around the world. It is due to a computer worm that scans computers checking to see if port 135 is open. If so, the worm takes advantage of the computer and shuts it down.
If your computer has not been infected, you should go to one of the web sites shown below to update your anti-virus software or install a patch to prevent infection.
Here is a Microsoft bulletin regarding this vulnerability:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-026.asp
Here is an update from Symantec:
http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/Content/8205.html
Here is an update from McAfee:
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100547
If your computer becomes infected and gets shut down, you will need to follow these steps (you may want to print them for future reference):
1. Restart computer.
2. Go to Start / Search / For Files and Folders.
3. Confirm that Look in is set for C: drive.
4. Search for files and folders named: "MSBLAST.exe"
5. When computer finds the msblast file(s), right click on the file
names and delete all copies of the file.
6. Shut down the machine.
7. Restart the machine.
8. Go directly to one of the web sites above and install the patch
and/or update.
I'm sorry I didn't catch this sooner. The answer, as said earlier, is no. There are really 3 parts to succesfully conquering Blast.
1. Remove it, manually or with a utility, as a running process in your Task Manager.
2. Turn on XP's Internet Firewall (this is essential to gain enough time to download the 1.7 meg patch before the virus ressurects itself.)
3. Download and install the patch from MS. Try the 32-bit patch first. It works for most people.
T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
To err is human, to moo is bovine.
At work we have (we thought) alle the protection money could buy but we got hit. Shut us down for a day while outside people repaired the system. I have the only computer in the company that is not on the main frame. Not a whimper out of mine! Got home that night and computer just about drove me crazy shutting down before I did any thing about it. Thanks everyone. Rosie
What you are describing is not a part of the normal routine. Sounds like a Windows balk. First question -- is your copy of XP licensed with Microcrap--uh, soft? Not judging, just asking. If your product key is invalid, I suppose you could get a message something along that line. It would be really unfair, though, if MS was using this as an excuse to check the validity of everybody's XP upgrade. Still, as long as you have deleted the Blast elements and turned on your Windows Internet Connection firewall, you should at least not be re-infected until you figure out the patch glitch.
T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
It was a demo computer when I bought it, operating so that anyone could use it who was shopping the store. I believe I registered it upon initial start-up, mainly because I was told if I didn't, there was a bug in the XP program that would cause the system to degrade over a period of time to the point the system would be unusable(they did that to deter unlicensed use). The registration process seemed a bit different to me because I have a cable modem and couldn't connect via phone line, like the system figured the registration would go through. I always figured my registration process worked because I never had the system degrade at all, as I was told it would do.
Because of all this, I don't have a registration code or a restore disc. I was told I didn't need the disc (and it seems like they said it wasn't necessary with the XP system). If this all sounds unusual or incorrect, let me know.
To err is human, to moo is bovine.
To err is human, to moo is bovine.
A failure is a failure. It shouldn't have happened on a healthy OS. If you are entitled to 3 years of service, a phone call is the way to begin. The patch wants to check "the cryptographic system" yet it is apparently not checking, or not getting verified. The error message could be an entirely bogus description of what is really causing the failure. Windows is famous for wildly inaccurate error messages. How often has your dial-up failed to connect, and the box says your ID or password is wrong or your settings are wrong and you need to contact your administrator? ... Then you dial again and get connected normally.
So, since you have a legit system and it is in warranty, I'd take advantage of it, even if it means unplugging the box and taking it in to your techs. They have the necessary XP CD and the utilities to fix the Blast worm and patch your OS on hand. Take your receipt so they know your copy of XP is legal.
Restore only works if Windows XP is working. The idea that Restore substitutes for an XP install CD is not entirely honest. Restore is not able to run on a computer which suddenly can't boot Windows, making Restore pretty much useless at that point. But even when you can boot Windows, the Restore feature will not eradicate the Blaster worm, either. You can go through the entire Restore process and Blast will be back in a few seconds. In fact, if the system has done a restore since you got the worm, it is archived in there, too.
Once you have got rid of Blast, and successfully installed the XP fix patch from Microsoft, you can turn off the Restore feature (in Accessories/System Tools), then restart your PC and turn Restore back on again. This will purge all old restore archives and, when you turn Restore back on, create a fresh new restore point. Only do this after your computer is clean and stabilized. The only way I know of to get rid of viruses in your Restore archives is to do this routine -- turn Restore off, reboot, and turn it back on. Even antivirus software can see viruses in the restore archives, and alert you, but cannot remove them from the hidden folder called _RESTORE .
Beware of techies who want to re-install Windows, claiming that all your files will be maintained. It is not impossible that re-installing Windows will "clean" your hard drive while "fixing errors." Repairing Windows should not always require a re-install, any more than a transmission problem should always require replacing the whole transmission.
T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
Thanks for the info. By the way, I'll be in LaPorte in a couple of weeks, someone told me you were kinda close. Is that right?
To err is human, to moo is bovine.