Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!cert.sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: XPUM04@prime-a.central-services.umist.ac.uk (Anthony Appleyard) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: Stoned (and other boot viruses) & non-bootable floppies(PC) Message-ID: <0005.9101181512.AA09075@ubu.cert.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 17 Jan 91 09:10:28 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 19 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu In reply to this message in Virus-L vol 4 #11:- ..................................................................... "Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 10:48:25 -0600 From: ROsman%ASS%SwRI05@D15VS178A.SPACE.SwRI.EDU Subject: STONED and NON-bootable floppies (PC) I learned something new about the STONED virus today. One of our users' PCs was infected by the STONED virus by attempting to boot from a NON-bootable diskette that was infected! All MS/DOS diskettes (bootable and non-bootable) have a sector reserved for the boot code (the boot sector). I was under the impression that the DOS boot code had to be present (bootable) in order for the STONED virus to move itself to the hard disk. This was an incorrect assumption." I understand from several Virus-L recent messages that PC 'non-bootable' floppies are actually bootable, and their boot sectors contain only a little program that merely prints out "This disk is not bootable". Thus Stoned etc can infect them same as any other PC floppy. {A.Appleyard} (email: APPLEYARD@UK.AC.UMIST), Thu, 17 Jan 91 09:03:52 GMT