For Visiting Rasky's Virus Information Page
Here Is Some Free Information
To Keep Your Computer Happy And Virus Free
What Is A Computer Virus
While There Is No Widely-Accepted Definition Of The Term Computer Virus
The Following Loose Definition Should Be Enough:
A Computer Virus Is An Executable Code That, When Run By Someone
Infects Or Attaches Itself To Other Executable Codes In A Computer
It Does This In An Effort To Reproduce Itself
Some Computer Viruses Are Malicious, Erasing Files Or Locking Up Systems
Others Merely Present A Problem Solely Through The Act Of Infecting Other Codes
In Either Case, Though, Computer Virus Infections Should Not Go Untreated
Closely Related To Computer Viruses Are Trojan Horses And Worms
A Trojan Horse Is A Program That Performs Some Undesired Yet Intended Action
While Or In Addition To, Pretending To Do Something Else
One Common Class Of Trojans Are Fake Login Programs
They Collect Accounts And Passwords By Prompting For The Information
They Work Just Like A Normal Login Program Does
Another Is A Disk Defragger That Erases Files Rather Than Reorganizing Them
A Trojan Horse Differs From A Virus
In That The Former Does Not Attempt To Reproduce Itself
A Worm Is Just A Self-Propagating Virus
Viruses Come In Many Shapes And Sizes, Such As
File Infectors
These Viruses Attach Themselves To Regular Programs
Such As Com Or Exe Files Under Dos
Thus They Execute Each Time The Infected Program Is Run
Cluster Infectors
They Modify The File System So That They Are Run Prior To Other Programs
Note That, Unlike File Infectors, They Do Not Actually Attach Themselves To Programs
Macro Viruses
Word Processing Documents Can Serve As Sources Of Transmission For Viruses
They Take Advantage Of The Auto-Execution Macro Capabilities In Products
Such As Microsoft Word Simply By Opening An Infected Document
The Virus Written In A Product's Macro Language Can Spread
System Infectors
Computer Operating Systems Typically Set Aside A Portion Of Each Disk For Code To Boot The Computer
Under DOS, This Section Is Called A Boot Sector On Floppies
Or A Master Boot Record (Mbr) For Hard Disks
System Infectors Store Themselves In This Area
And Hence Are Invoked Whenever The Disk Is Used To Boot The System
A Virus Must Be Executed By Someone, Perhaps Unwittingly, In Order To Spread, Period
Some Ways In Which This Occurs Include
Booting From An Infected Floppy
System Infectors Are Loaded Each Time An Infected Disk Is Used To Boot The System
This Can Happen Even If A Disk Is Not Equipped With The Files Needed To Truly Boot The Computer, As Is The Case With Most Floppies
With PCs, The Initial Infection Typically Occurs When Someone Boots
Or Reboots A Computer With An Infected Floppy Accidentally Left In Drive A
It Is Always A Good Habit To Check
And Remove Any Floppies That Might Be In The Drives Before Rebooting Your Machine
Running An Infected Program
As Programs Infected With A File Infector Are Run The Virus Spreads
For This Reason You Should Regularly Scan For Viruses
Scan Any Programs You Retrieve From BBS, The Net, A Colleague, Etc.
There Have Been Instances Of Commercial
Shrink-Wrapped Software That Has Been Infected With Viruses!
Some Common Symptoms That Your System Might Have Been Attacked
Your System Has Less Available Memory Than It Should
Unusual Messages Or Displays On Your Monitor
Unusual Sounds Or Music Played At Random Times
A Disk Or Volume Name Has Been Changed Or Renamed
Programs Or Files Are Suddenly Missing Or Fragmented
Unknown Programs Or Files Have Been Created
Some Of Your Files Become Corrupted Or Suddenly Don't Work Properly
Your System Becomes Unusually Slow!
First, Don't Panic And Make The Situation Worse
In Many Cases The Odd Things Computers Do Are Blamed On Computer Viruses
Especially If No Other Explanation Seems To Make Sense
However, In Most Cases
When An Anti-Virus Program Is Used To Check, No Virus Is Actually Found
So, Unless You Have Checked And Confirmed That A Virus Is Actually Present
Don't Panic
It's True That Some Viruses Can Cause:
Unusual Screen Displays Or Messages
Slower Operation Of The Computer Drives To Be Accessed Unexpectedly
And The Drive's Light To Go On
Or A Reduction In The Amount Of Memory Normally Shown For The System
But Even Such Strange Behavior Can Be Caused By Legitimate Software
Harmless Prank Programs Or By Hardware Faults
Safe Guards
The Most Important Thing That You Should Do To Protect Your System And Your Data!!!
Install A Reputable Anti-Virus Program On Your Computer!!!
There Are Many Companies That Currently Provide This Type Of Software
You Can Find Them By Doing An AntiVirus SoftWare Search On Google.Com
Many Of Them Offer Free DownLoadable Trial Versions From Their Web Sites
Update Your Antivirus Software Regularly
Over 500 Viruses Are Discovered Each Month, So You Will Want To Be Protected
These Updates Should Be At The Least The Products Virus Signature Files
You May Also Need To Update The Product's Scanning Engine
Download Files From A Trusted Source Only
Scan All Floppies With An Anti-Virus Program
Scan Anything From An Outside Source
Friend Or Co-Worker, Before Using The Contents
Do Not Open Any E-Mail Attachments From People That You Do Not Know
Scan All E-Mail Attachments Before Launching Them
You Cannot Get A Virus Simply By Reading A Text Message
Back Up All Of Your Files On A Regular Basis
If A Virus Destroys Your Files At Least You Can Replace Them With Your Back-Up Copy
You Should Store Your Backup Copy In A Separate Location From Your Work Or Home Files
One That Is Preferably Not On Your Computer
You Can Run A Free Virus Scan On Your Computer
While You Surf The Net
The First Time We Ran It
It Found A Virus That Our Regular Virus Scanner Kept Missing
It Was Called Gift.Exe And Had Been On Our Computer For Two Years
The Link Below Is Free
And Highly Recommended By Rick, Bobbie And Rasky
https://www.virustotal.com
Computer Humor
Bobbitt Virus
Removes A Vital Part Of Your Hard Drive Then Re-Attaches It
But That Part Never Works Again
Oprah Winfrey Virus
Your 200MB Hard Drive Suddenly Shrinks To 80MB
And Then Slowly Expands Back To 200MB
AT&T Virus
Every Three Minutes It Tells You What Great Service You Are Getting
MCI Virus
Every Three Minutes It Reminds You
That You Are Paying Too Much For The AT&T Virus
Paul Revere Virus
This Revolutionary Virus Does Not Horse Around
It Warns You Of Impending Hard Disk Attack, Once If By LAN, Twice If By C:
Anold Schwarzenegger
Terminates And Stays Resident, It Will Be Back
Dan Quayle Virus
Their Is Sumthing Rong Wit Your Komputor, Ewe Jsut Cant Figyour Out Watt!
Government Economist Virus
Nothing Works, But All Of Your Diagnostic Software Says Everything Is Fine
Jimmy Hoffa Virus
Your Programs Can Never Be Found Again
Kevorkian Virus
Helps Your Computer Shut Down As An Act Of Mercy
Health Care Virus
Tests Your System For A Day
It Finds Nothing Wrong And Sends You A Bill For $4,500
Cleaveland Indians Virus
Makes Your Old 486/50 Machine Perform Like A 286/AT
Lapd Virus
It Claims It Feels Threatened By The Other Files On Your PC
And Erases Them In "Self Defense"
Chicago Cubs Virus
Your PC Makes Frequent Mistakes And Comes In Last In The Reviews
But You Still Love It
I Was Having Trouble With My Computer
So I Called Rick The Computer Guy To Come Over
He Clicked A Couple Of Buttons And Solved The Problem
He Gave Me A Bill For A Minimum Service Call
As He Was Walking Away, I Called After Him
"So"
"What Was Wrong?"
He Replied
"It Was An ID Ten T Error"
I Didn't Want To Appear Stupid
But Nonetheless I Inquired
"An ID Ten T Error?
What's That In Case I Need To Fix It Again?"
Rick, The Computer Guy Grinned
"Haven't You Ever Heard Of An ID Ten T Error Before?"
"No," I Replied
"Write It Down" Rick Said
"I Think You Will Figure It Out"
So I Wrote It Out
"I D 1 0 T"
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