kc0rkx_finch, your incompetence is neither appreciated nor will it be tolerated. People like you a security problem for the society. You, my dear friend, are not helping anyone at all. You may even cause serious trouble. Either you do not have any clue at all what you are talking about or you are actually spreading dangerous false information on purpose.

And no, whether people have a key or not, you have absolutely no right and no legitimation to copy Microsoft Windows 2000 installation media. What you are suggesting is clearly copyright infringement.

Furthermore, stop encouraging people to send you some of their files or run dubious programs of yours.

i followed all of your directions (which were very helpful, thank you) up to where i have to open regedit.exe. i copied it to the desktop, but when i double-click it a window that looks like the command prompt opens for a fraction of a second and then closes, and no window opens where i have to do all of the stuff with finding references to the bad file. What do I do???

Bussinator - Okay, try re-copying regedit to your desktop. If that doesnt work, open LW and look for the following file.
" 125894 regedit for LW prob "
That is a copy of MY regedit file, i imagine yours has been corrupted somehow. Just use doubleclick it after it opens up and follow the instrucions as posted.

I_have_no_account -

1. It is 100% perfectly legal to copy the install disk for ANY windows Operating System. If you have purchased a key for Win2k, why the crap should you have to fork over more money for another disk and another key which you dont need!!! I have been told by our local computer techs, which is where i got the disks, that its legal to copy the program but i cant give you a key. Eat that!
2. Quit falseifying the information that has been given here. For one I did NOT wrrite this info, Bobby Naini DID. I have posted that in the original instructions if only you were smart enought to read them. He knows i have used it here and kind of took over so dont throw copyright infringement in my face for that too! If there were some way i could ban you from posting here i would because you apparently have NO CREDIBILTY whatsoever. Look at all the other people here who have used these instructions and are happy with the results. As far as i can tell you are the only one who (A) hasnt used them at all and yet (B) youre knocking them before even trying them. I dont know who you think you are coming here and telling everyone that you have to reformat a hard drive to get rid of a virus when really you just sound like an amatuer who knows absolutely nothing about pc's and just wants to annoy people. What do you think antivirus systems do, tell you they removed the virus and reformated youre hard drive without youre knowledge. NO!!! they simplify the process of removing viruses by doing everything we are doing here in an automated process. Only thing is antivirus companies miss stuff too and turns out this one hasnt spread enough for them to notice it yet so thats what were trying to prevent. If you want to say something to me or cuss me out go ahead. Either get yourself kicked off of here or do it in private where innocent bystanders who dont give a hoot dont have to read it too. Please feel free to email me with all the 4 and 5 letter words you want. Id be more than happy to read it. If you really think you actully have some credibility at least ry helping the people here instead of hurting them.

All - sorry bout that little spat but scum like him make me angry. Anyway, please as i have posted before go to the other forum (link above in another of my posts) and vote on the instructions given here. You might also send BoobyNaini a PM and tell him thanks for writing the original instructions. Cya

kc0rkx_finch, you're like these wonder doctors you claim they can heal even cancer and tell their patients that they do need to go to a hospital. Unfortunately, you cannot "reinstall" a human's software or hardware. It's very easy to do this with a computer and it's the only reasonable way to get rid of an infection.

I do not need a single bit of credibility as I'm not telling any fairy tales or things you-just-have-to-believe. These are nothing but hard facts and the plain truth. If you don't trust me ask an independent expert - not some script kiddie or someone working for an AV tool vendor.

Giving a recipe without even diagnosing the problem at hand is anything but respectable.

Regarding the Win2k CD: No you have no permission to give away copies of the installation media. In any case, you'd have to check whether the receiver has a license first and that's something you cannot do. If you so certain about your words, then share the Win2k on Gnutella or put in on your web server. Only people with a key will be able to use it, right?

I'll give you a hint: The key is only half-baken technical protection because many people do not care about copyrights and copyrights only work in the court not in the wild.

There are also different license models and Windows versions. For example, if you have a OEM version, you have no permission to use the server version etc. Your offer is highly questionable in any case - even when you ignore the copyright issues. At least, I don't install operating systems
- or any software whatsoever - offered by anonymous random people at a web forum.

This is malware has been identified as
Worm.Win32.VB.an, the "AN Worm", sometimes called the "Zodiak Worm".

I was able to obtain a sample of this malware. I got free trial versions of both Norton Anti-virus and Kaspersky Anti-virus from Downoad.com.

Norton's 6/22/2005 virus definition library misses this malware.

Kaspersky catches it and quarantines it.

http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=kaspersky

Let us all know if you find any other anti-virus scanners that catch this worm. It might be a new variant, because Norton's website claims they've been able to catch this worm since October 2003.

I've submitted a sample to Norton.

TrendMicro's webserver gave me an internal error when I tried submitting it via their web form.

Sounds like were almost done here. If you would rather not follow the instructions and use the virus removal tool go ahead it should work just as well. Im glad its beggining to get caught and removed by antivirus companies. For some reason i think ive been hit again, My firewall has been crippled. I cant change any settings on it. as for I_have_no_account. Im not even going to bother answering you anymore. You havent a clue what youre talking about so just leave me alone. I will not answer you anymore and any emails you send will be treated as harrasment. It sounds like this forum thread is not going to be needed anymore anyways. Cya guys l8er and im glad i was able to help someone. Cya

kc0rkx_finch, I've never ever sent you any mails nor will I do so in the future. Why would I?

I know, it can be painful to realize that well-done and well-meant are quite different. It is very common to give well-meant advises which seem to be useful and may actually work sometimes under the right conditions. Unfortunately, such advises come with bad side-effects like causing a false sense of security, confusing hacks with The Right Thing(TM), ignorance of reasonable concepts to keep your computer safe etc. Like usually, The Right Thing(TM) is often less comfortable than some botch but in the long run the former is a clear winner.

It's too bad that these pseudo-experts are ubiquitous all over the web. You can't fight them all without becoming a modern Don Quixote. This is really bad because it'll spoil the majority of people. Most people know very little about computers and how to use the internet properly. You cannot blame them at all because nobody teaches them. We're living in the mediaeval times of computer technology and people have more trust in computer "religion" than computer science. Virus scanners and other snake oil is the modern incarnation of excorcism.

KASPERSKY CAN AND WILL NOT DETECT THIS HIDDIOUS WORM. FORGET IT. IF ANY OF YOU CANNOT FIND ESSENTIAL FOLDERS, IT'S BECAUSE YOU XP'S DEFAULT SETTING TO "HIDE" THESE FOLDERS IS ACTIVE. CHOOSE "SHOW" AND YOUR IN.

I_Have_No_Account

You need to just stay out of this forum. kc0rkx_finch just helped me get rid of a virus and a problem on my computer. Everyone is trying to help everyone in here. Why even bother to come in here and start problems? I guess no one will ever know. But please if you dont like what we are doing then stay out of here. Thanks again kc0rkx_finch.