Miatapower List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>

I think it's more likely that it was a legitimate Media Player update, but =
that the update went awry and nuked the PC. This kinda thing does occasion=
ally happen.
=20
Sometimes windows does the updating during bootup (with nothing more than a=
cursor blinking at you). If your computer is particularly slow and the up=
date is large, it's possible it could take longer than the average person's=
patience.
=20
You might try booting it up and just letting it sit there for as long as 10=
minutes. If it still hasn't finished loading Windows by then, it looks li=
ke you got a bum install on the update and you will probably have to reinst=
all Windows to get the PC back.
=20
Good luck!

-----Original Message-----=20
From: Ray [mailto:(email redacted)]=20
Sent: Thu 6/19/2003 10:26 AM=20
To: Cannon, Skip=20
Cc: Miatapower=20
Subject: Re: Drifter's Video Virus????
=09
=09

I also saved the video last night. No unexpected events here (so far?).
=09
=09
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
To: <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:27 AM
Subject: Drifter's Video Virus????
=09
=09
Hi Ray,
=09
Last night on my home computer, I used the link in the email to view the
Drifters video. I liked it and decided to Save As and put a copy on my ha=
rd
drive (1st mistake). When I closed the media player, there was a pop up
message purportedly from MS Windows that an update was available for my
media player. My computer is a year old Dell and I frequently get messages
like this from MS to update various pieces of software that came with the
computer.
=09
My 2nd mistake was to give it the OK to download and install the update.
When it had finished, it left a message that I would need to restart the
computer for the new update to take effect. The 3rd mistake was to restart
the computer.
=09
After the computer had shut down and started to re-boot, it didn't get very
far before it stalled with a black screen with a flashing white hyphen.
Several attempts to re-start resulted in the same black screen/flashing
prompt. The only reaction I can get from the machine is when I do a
control/alt/delete. That erases the prompt for about 10 seconds, followed
by about 3 seconds of the Dell full screen logo, then back to the black
screen and flashing prompt.
=09
I have a phone company DSL line using an external Cisco modem. I noticed
that the send and receive lights were flashing as if it was doing something
more than the occasional flash. I disconnected the modem, fearing that
behind the black screen, it was uploading the contents of my hard drive to
some hacker.
=09
Can you possibly probe the link to the drifters video and see if there is =
an
embedded virus in there and which one it is?
=09
You might also warn the list members about this possible virus as well.
=09
Thanks,
=09
Skip
(email redacted)
=09
=09

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Jerry Malsam" <(email redacted)>

I agree with Chad's assessment, but have another tactic you can try before
reinstalling Windows. If letting it boot for 10 minutes doesn't work
(Windows needs time to crunch and update stuff), boot into "safe mode" and
uninstall (Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs) the Windows Media Player
update. To boot into safe mode, hold down the SHIFT key as it boots (I
*think* that still works... guys??). Just give it a shot before you go
through the hassle of reinstalling Windows.

FWIW, I've downloaded the video file to two different machines running two
different virus checkers with nary a hiccup. Just for your own peace of
mind, you might consider getting a virus checker.

Also, right-click/Save As... is generally considered the "considerate" way
to view videos, as it keeps you from having to re-download the file every
time you want to watch it, thus saving the host bandwidth. No worries, you
did the Right Thing (tm) there...

Hope you're up and running soon!

--Jerry
'97 FM2 @ 15 psi "Squeaky"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>
To: "Ray" <(email redacted)>; "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
Cc: "Miatapower" <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 10:35 AM
Subject: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


I think it's more likely that it was a legitimate Media Player update, but
that the update went awry and nuked the PC. This kinda thing does
occasionally happen.

Sometimes windows does the updating during bootup (with nothing more than a
cursor blinking at you). If your computer is particularly slow and the
update is large, it's possible it could take longer than the average
person's patience.

You might try booting it up and just letting it sit there for as long as 10
minutes. If it still hasn't finished loading Windows by then, it looks like
you got a bum install on the update and you will probably have to reinstall
Windows to get the PC back.

Good luck!

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thu 6/19/2003 10:26 AM
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: Drifter's Video Virus????



I also saved the video last night. No unexpected events here (so far?).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
To: <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:27 AM
Subject: Drifter's Video Virus????


Hi Ray,

Last night on my home computer, I used the link in the email to view the
Drifters video. I liked it and decided to Save As and put a copy on my hard
drive (1st mistake). When I closed the media player, there was a pop up
message purportedly from MS Windows that an update was available for my
media player. My computer is a year old Dell and I frequently get messages
like this from MS to update various pieces of software that came with the
computer.

My 2nd mistake was to give it the OK to download and install the update.
When it had finished, it left a message that I would need to restart the
computer for the new update to take effect. The 3rd mistake was to restart
the computer.

After the computer had shut down and started to re-boot, it didn't get very
far before it stalled with a black screen with a flashing white hyphen.
Several attempts to re-start resulted in the same black screen/flashing
prompt. The only reaction I can get from the machine is when I do a
control/alt/delete. That erases the prompt for about 10 seconds, followed
by about 3 seconds of the Dell full screen logo, then back to the black
screen and flashing prompt.

I have a phone company DSL line using an external Cisco modem. I noticed
that the send and receive lights were flashing as if it was doing something
more than the occasional flash. I disconnected the modem, fearing that
behind the black screen, it was uploading the contents of my hard drive to
some hacker.

Can you possibly probe the link to the drifters video and see if there is an
embedded virus in there and which one it is?

You might also warn the list members about this possible virus as well.

Thanks,

Skip
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Murray, Richard" <(email redacted)>

I usually just go to the Temporary Internet Files folder and copy it from
there, if I decide I want to save it.

I have had trouble trying to do a Save-As from some web sites and my email
program will not let me do it from inside the email.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Malsam [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 10:56
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????

I agree with Chad's assessment, but have another tactic you can try before
reinstalling Windows. If letting it boot for 10 minutes doesn't work
(Windows needs time to crunch and update stuff), boot into "safe mode" and
uninstall (Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs) the Windows Media Player
update. To boot into safe mode, hold down the SHIFT key as it boots (I
*think* that still works... guys??). Just give it a shot before you go
through the hassle of reinstalling Windows.

FWIW, I've downloaded the video file to two different machines running two
different virus checkers with nary a hiccup. Just for your own peace of
mind, you might consider getting a virus checker.

Also, right-click/Save As... is generally considered the "considerate" way
to view videos, as it keeps you from having to re-download the file every
time you want to watch it, thus saving the host bandwidth. No worries, you
did the Right Thing (tm) there...

Hope you're up and running soon!

--Jerry
'97 FM2 @ 15 psi "Squeaky"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>
To: "Ray" <(email redacted)>; "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
Cc: "Miatapower" <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 10:35 AM
Subject: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


I think it's more likely that it was a legitimate Media Player update, but
that the update went awry and nuked the PC. This kinda thing does
occasionally happen.

Sometimes windows does the updating during bootup (with nothing more than a
cursor blinking at you). If your computer is particularly slow and the
update is large, it's possible it could take longer than the average
person's patience.

You might try booting it up and just letting it sit there for as long as 10
minutes. If it still hasn't finished loading Windows by then, it looks like
you got a bum install on the update and you will probably have to reinstall
Windows to get the PC back.

Good luck!

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thu 6/19/2003 10:26 AM
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: Drifter's Video Virus????



I also saved the video last night. No unexpected events here (so far?).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
To: <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:27 AM
Subject: Drifter's Video Virus????


Hi Ray,

Last night on my home computer, I used the link in the email to view the
Drifters video. I liked it and decided to Save As and put a copy on my hard
drive (1st mistake). When I closed the media player, there was a pop up
message purportedly from MS Windows that an update was available for my
media player. My computer is a year old Dell and I frequently get messages
like this from MS to update various pieces of software that came with the
computer.

My 2nd mistake was to give it the OK to download and install the update.
When it had finished, it left a message that I would need to restart the
computer for the new update to take effect. The 3rd mistake was to restart
the computer.

After the computer had shut down and started to re-boot, it didn't get very
far before it stalled with a black screen with a flashing white hyphen.
Several attempts to re-start resulted in the same black screen/flashing
prompt. The only reaction I can get from the machine is when I do a
control/alt/delete. That erases the prompt for about 10 seconds, followed
by about 3 seconds of the Dell full screen logo, then back to the black
screen and flashing prompt.

I have a phone company DSL line using an external Cisco modem. I noticed
that the send and receive lights were flashing as if it was doing something
more than the occasional flash. I disconnected the modem, fearing that
behind the black screen, it was uploading the contents of my hard drive to
some hacker.

Can you possibly probe the link to the drifters video and see if there is an
embedded virus in there and which one it is?

You might also warn the list members about this possible virus as well.

Thanks,

Skip
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "JessMX5" <(email redacted)>

Or reboot in safe mode and let the drivers install themselves one at a time
until the bugger is found.

Jess
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>
To: "Ray" <(email redacted)>; "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
Cc: "Miatapower" <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 8:35 AM
Subject: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


I think it's more likely that it was a legitimate Media Player update, but
that the update went awry and nuked the PC. This kinda thing does
occasionally happen.

Sometimes windows does the updating during bootup (with nothing more than a
cursor blinking at you). If your computer is particularly slow and the
update is large, it's possible it could take longer than the average
person's patience.

You might try booting it up and just letting it sit there for as long as 10
minutes. If it still hasn't finished loading Windows by then, it looks like
you got a bum install on the update and you will probably have to reinstall
Windows to get the PC back.

Good luck!

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thu 6/19/2003 10:26 AM
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: Drifter's Video Virus????



I also saved the video last night. No unexpected events here (so far?).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
To: <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:27 AM
Subject: Drifter's Video Virus????


Hi Ray,

Last night on my home computer, I used the link in the email to view the
Drifters video. I liked it and decided to Save As and put a copy on my hard
drive (1st mistake). When I closed the media player, there was a pop up
message purportedly from MS Windows that an update was available for my
media player. My computer is a year old Dell and I frequently get messages
like this from MS to update various pieces of software that came with the
computer.

My 2nd mistake was to give it the OK to download and install the update.
When it had finished, it left a message that I would need to restart the
computer for the new update to take effect. The 3rd mistake was to restart
the computer.

After the computer had shut down and started to re-boot, it didn't get very
far before it stalled with a black screen with a flashing white hyphen.
Several attempts to re-start resulted in the same black screen/flashing
prompt. The only reaction I can get from the machine is when I do a
control/alt/delete. That erases the prompt for about 10 seconds, followed
by about 3 seconds of the Dell full screen logo, then back to the black
screen and flashing prompt.

I have a phone company DSL line using an external Cisco modem. I noticed
that the send and receive lights were flashing as if it was doing something
more than the occasional flash. I disconnected the modem, fearing that
behind the black screen, it was uploading the contents of my hard drive to
some hacker.

Can you possibly probe the link to the drifters video and see if there is an
embedded virus in there and which one it is?

You might also warn the list members about this possible virus as well.

Thanks,

Skip
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Jeremy Hendy" <(email redacted)>

>To boot into safe mode, hold down the SHIFT key as it boots (I
>*think* that still works... guys??).

Hit F8 after the boot-up beep (you have to be quick!!)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Ackley, Ray (R.A.)" <(email redacted)>

How (and IF) you can recover your PC is going to depend highly on the OS you're running. If you're on Win2k or WinXP you can boot off your install CD and try to repair your installation. From your description of a blinking cursor, you won't be able to get into safe mode. Step one would be to re-copy all the system files from the CD. Step two would be to overwrite the registry (ouch). You can do both of these after booting from the CD. If neither of these work, it's reinstall time. Beware though, this will overwrite your Documents and Settings folder, which contains your My Documents/My Pictures/etc.

If you're running Win9x or ME...well...this looks like a good time to switch :-)

Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: JessMX5 [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 11:40 AM
To: Chad J. Douglas; Ray; Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


Or reboot in safe mode and let the drivers install themselves one at a time until the bugger is found.

Jess
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>
To: "Ray" <(email redacted)>; "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
Cc: "Miatapower" <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 8:35 AM
Subject: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


I think it's more likely that it was a legitimate Media Player update, but that the update went awry and nuked the PC. This kinda thing does occasionally happen.

Sometimes windows does the updating during bootup (with nothing more than a cursor blinking at you). If your computer is particularly slow and the update is large, it's possible it could take longer than the average person's patience.

You might try booting it up and just letting it sit there for as long as 10 minutes. If it still hasn't finished loading Windows by then, it looks like you got a bum install on the update and you will probably have to reinstall Windows to get the PC back.

Good luck!

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thu 6/19/2003 10:26 AM
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: Re: Drifter's Video Virus????



I also saved the video last night. No unexpected events here (so far?).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cannon, Skip" <(email redacted)>
To: <(email redacted)>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:27 AM
Subject: Drifter's Video Virus????


Hi Ray,

Last night on my home computer, I used the link in the email to view the Drifters video. I liked it and decided to Save As and put a copy on my hard drive (1st mistake). When I closed the media player, there was a pop up message purportedly from MS Windows that an update was available for my media player. My computer is a year old Dell and I frequently get messages like this from MS to update various pieces of software that came with the computer.

My 2nd mistake was to give it the OK to download and install the update. When it had finished, it left a message that I would need to restart the computer for the new update to take effect. The 3rd mistake was to restart the computer.

After the computer had shut down and started to re-boot, it didn't get very far before it stalled with a black screen with a flashing white hyphen. Several attempts to re-start resulted in the same black screen/flashing prompt. The only reaction I can get from the machine is when I do a control/alt/delete. That erases the prompt for about 10 seconds, followed by about 3 seconds of the Dell full screen logo, then back to the black screen and flashing prompt.

I have a phone company DSL line using an external Cisco modem. I noticed that the send and receive lights were flashing as if it was doing something more than the occasional flash. I disconnected the modem, fearing that behind the black screen, it was uploading the contents of my hard drive to some hacker.

Can you possibly probe the link to the drifters video and see if there is an embedded virus in there and which one it is?

You might also warn the list members about this possible virus as well.

Thanks,

Skip
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Ackley, Ray (R.A.)" <(email redacted)>

Note this applies to Win95/98/Me only, not WinNT W2k or WinXP.

Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Hendy [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 11:50 AM
To: Cannon, Skip
Cc: Miatapower
Subject: RE: [NPC] [NMC] RE: Drifter's Video Virus????


>To boot into safe mode, hold down the SHIFT key as it boots (I
>*think* that still works... guys??).

Hit F8 after the boot-up beep (you have to be quick!!)