Boot Record

[Zylstra]

I, Zylstra555, have managed to get, A VIRUS!
And this time, its not just a sample of one (like what you find on the Win 3.0 disks) ITS A REAL ONE!
I need to remove it.
Virus has infected Master Boot Partition!
I don't know what to do! My boot disk virus scanner cannot remove it!
Is there a way to make another master boot record without loosing data?
(I have Avast. I believe the virus got on during boot of floppy)
Where do I start?
McAfee/Dr. Solomons boot disk cant remove it.
(Viruses remind me of the DVD cover of "Stephen Kings, IT" with that ugly clown with the disgusting hands and claws)
I do not want to format, or loose any data!
(I think this may be the NYB virus, but possible something else)
Symptoms:
Windows freezes at start (except safe mode)
Windows warns about virus in boot record
Computer EXTREMELY slow
Avast scans WAY to slow in safe mode. Does not seem to get far before freezing.

[GX1_Man]

What operating system?

[Zylstra]

What operating system?

Sorry. I was in some kind of rush.
Windows 98SE (its really Windows 98 and a half because of an improper installation A LONG TIME AGO)

Here's the message I get
"
This disk is identified as having NYB virus !!!
please examine the partition sector
Partition sector could not be prepared
Infected physical devices: 128
Infected logical drives: None.

Press any key to continue...
"

[GX1_Man]

boot with a clean 98SE startup disk and frorm the a:> type in

fdisk /mbr    and press enter

What happens now? If it is better, run those scans in safe mode!

[Zylstra]

boot with a clean 98SE startup disk and frorm the a:> type in

fdisk /mbr    and press enter

What happens now? If it is better, run those scans in safe mode!

OK. I will look at an overview of the MBR syntax (just so I know whats happening) and I will do that, and hopefully, it will ALL be over.
Could I do this is DOS as well without a boot disk?

[GX1_Man]

Boot with a 98 boot disk and this is DOS. If you are talking about 6.22 or some earlier version, no because  of the file system differences. You cannot do this from within Windows.

This command rewrites the master boot record, creating a new one which should remove a virus lurking there.

[Zylstra]

After FDISK /MBR , my computer seems to be running fine. I haven't noticed any more problems, and Avast found nothing. So, looks like I'm back to normal! And another problem I had appears to be fixed as well...
Thanks GX1_Man

[GX1_Man]

We don't need no steenkin' Norton.

[Zylstra]

We don't need no steenkin' Norton.

Yeah!
I had Norton once, it refused to remove, and it became a problem. I had to go all over Symantec support to find a little program called, RNAV.
(Stupid symantec, leaving its traces everywhere, refusing to leave. ITS a PARASITE!)
So I gave up on Symantec products FOREVER!!!

[GX1_Man]

Boot sector viruses used to be a big deal, but the fix was always there, even before Win95.