I have recently discovered the Achilles' Heel of all Viruses, and I wish to share it with you. Since I have a Pentium III Computer, it is not practical for me to use a Firewall which makes my Computer unacceptably slow. The problem with Viruses is getting worse since last summer. I recently had a Virus download itself onto my system, and then replicate itself hundreds of times over!!! An unbelievable horror for the average person, but being Computer savvy I managed well. Using Shell, it only took me a few hours to find and delete all copies of the Virus. In case you're unaware, the detestable spammers who send out these Viruses use random IP numbers which means that they find you -- you don't have to download or open the Virus (as an attachment) yourself. Be aware that those irritating E-Mails you get telling you to forward it on to others can contain the instructions for downloading a Virus onto your Computer. So, DON'T OPEN THOSE E-MAILS! Also be aware that those "Windows Messenger Service" pop-up messages don't necessarily mean that your Computer has a Virus. They can come via your IP Address. You can disable the Messenger Service by entering the following Command in Shell: net stop "messenger".
Now, what is the Achilles' Heel of a Virus? Very simply, it is the DATE. A Virus downloaded onto your Computer will be given the current Date. All Windows System Files will have the original Date from Microsoft, or the Date you formatted the Hard Drive or you downloaded a Service Pack. This makes it easy to identify Viruses since they end in ".exe", ".com" or ".bat". Now, it is much much easier to find Viruses using Shell (Command Prompt) instead of the Windows File Manager. Attached are a couple Batch Commands I've written to make it easy to find Viruses in the System Directories, and to help protect your Hard Drive from being infected while logged onto the Internet. You will need to familiarize yourself with using Shell if you aren't familiar with it -- check Windows Help.
The attached Batch Commands, for use in Shell, are as follows (you need to remove the ".txt" from the Filename):
virus_check -- which lists the contents of Windows Directories (Hidden and non-Hidden) beginning with the newest dates. This makes it quick and easy to find any new Virus. To find all potential Viruses on your Hard Drive, enter the following Command in Shell under the Root Directory <c:\ >: dir /a /o:-d /p /s. This will list all Files beginning with the newest dates.
virus_protect -- read its contents or use it with "?" to get a full description. This can only provide a small amount of protection to your system. You're still at risk while on the Internet.
logon.admin.bat -- backs up personal Files for the Administrator from "My Documents" to c:\backup. You can add other Users as desired. It also backs up c:\personal which I use for my personal Files. Rather than storing personal Files in Software-specific Directory Folders which makes it hard to backup your Files, I use this central personal Directory. I recommend that you do the same.
autoexec.bat -- This Command will add "c:\cmds" to your Computer's Command Path. I would suggest saving these four Commands to a new Directory "c:\cmds". The "autoexec.bat" Command is normally placed under the Root "c:\" Directory. If the "autoexec.bat" Command Name doesn't presently exist under c:\, you can copy this there. If "autoexec.bat" already exists, you can add the one line in this Command File to your existing "autoexec.bat" File using Notepad or Wordpad.
NOTE: If a Virus File has given itself the "Hidden", "System" or "Read Only" Attribute, you must remove these Attributes in order to delete the Virus File. In Shell use: attrib VIRUS -h -s -r. In the Windows Properties Box, you can only remove H and R.
This manual technique has worked for me. You do need to regularly Log OFF of the Internet whenever you aren't using it. This is the best way to stop spammers. Also, when accessing the Internet, Log onto your Computer as a regular "User" instead of "Administrator". This will provide some additional protection. Good luck in removing your Viruses.
Mr. Terry Mester
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