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From: sam@wolfen.cc.uow.edu.au (Sam Tan)
Newsgroups: comp.virus
Subject: Re: possible macintosh virus (Mac)
Message-ID: <0007.9101111559.AA00331@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 11 Jan 91 00:09:51 GMT
Sender: Virus Discussion List <VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1>
Lines: 27
Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu

mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu writes:

>Does anyone know of a Macintosh virus that will make all floppy disks
>appear to be locked to the computer? At first, we thought the problem
>was with the disk drive, but when it started surfacing on other
>computers, we've become a little suspicious. Any help would be
>appreciated.

>Matt Wu
>mwu@teri.bio.uci.edu

The only occurence I know of this happenning is when you try to recover disks
using MacTools. The programs set the software disklock field on the disk to
ON, thereby making the System think that the disk is locked. You will need to
copy the stuff off the disk, and reformat it, unless you know how to reset
the lock byte.

NB: Merely inserting the disk in your drive and selecting "Erase Disk" won't
work, the System will say the disk is locked. You will have to hold down the
"Cmd-Opt-Tab" keys while inserting the disk. This key combination only works
on the Finder, not all applications.

Enjoy.

Sam

sam@wolfen.cc.uow.edu.au