dos prompts before booting

[Dennis27]

before my pc will boot 98,i get about 100 or so dos prompts first.....starting with "delete windows and all subdirectories??" what's up with this????

[Whyzman]

Hello Dennis27,

Are you running any Anti Virus software?

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!

Whyzman

[bassman]

Hmmmmmmm, sounds like a virus to me. Do you have to respond to these prompts before getting to windows or do they just move along on their own?
Run a scan with a current AV and let us know what you find.

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[BigBlue66]

Hey,

What are the contents of your config.sys and autoexec.bat files?

BB 66

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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

[Dennis27]

no,i have to type in y or n at every single prompt......has anyone ever heard of such a virus???

[Dennis27]

ok,how do find the contents of my config.sys and autoexec.bat files?

[mjc]

When in Windows type sysedit in the run box....it will bring up an editor for your system files....and then you can copy and paste the info from there.....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Dennis27]

will "sysedit" work on '98???? i just tried it on ME and it didn't!!??

[mjc]

Yes sysedit will work in 98...ME doesn't use autoexec or config.sys files so MS felt no need to include it in ME....but your question stated that you were running 98 so that is why I suggested sysedit, you can also use notepad and look for the files config.sys and autoexec.bat and then open them in notepad....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Dennis27]

k,thanx,yes,i have several pc's,the one with the prob runs 98.....what should i be looking for in sysedit?

[BigBlue66]

Sysedit is nothing more than a command to use when you want to look at the important system files. Once you go to the Start/Run command and type "Sysedit", without the quotes, a series of windows will open. The autoexec.bat file should be the top window, with the config.sys file being the one directly behind it.

What you should see in these files depends on whether you have some DOS program that uses extended memory, or whether you have DOS level CD-ROM drivers loading at startup. Other than those two instances, there should be nothing in these files. And, if you have neither DOS programs using extended memory or DOS level CD-ROM drivers being loaded at startup, then those files should be empty because Windows does not use them.

So, what we're asking is, what are the contents of those two files? Give us the details of the line item commands you find there.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

[Dennis27]

Will do......i will check it out and get back,thanx

[Dennis27]

ok,here goes......in autoexec.bat it is as follows....@ECHO OFF

PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\UTIL

REM \util\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000 /M:4

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 /V

cd c:\

deletes.bat

and in config.sys it reads

REM LASTDRIVE=Z

REM DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TEST:ON

REM DEVICE=\util\TAISATAP.SYS /D:MSCD000 /N:1

DEVICE=C:\CDPRO\VIDE_CDD.SYS /D:MSCD001

[mjc]

Nothing there that looks like it would cause it...back to the virus, if you don't have an emergency disk for your AV app try an online scan like this (http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/) and you can also grab Fprot (http://www.europe.f-secure.com/download-purchase/dos_updates.shtml) (the DOS version is free for personal use)

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Dennis27]

sorry,had forgot to mention that i scanned with my nav and the online mcaffe but neither came up with any viruses......it will still boot,so no immediate danger from what i see,but is a true pain in the neck to type "n" 100 times prior http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

[BigBlue66]

Hey Dennis,

Hmmm, this is indeed a mystery here. Not quite sure what's going on, but there is one thing I would do for certain. And that is, get rid of the "deletes.bat" line item command in your autoexec.bat file. I'm fairly certain that this command is the one that asks you if you want to delete Windows, etc..

That sounds like a virus to me. Anyway, delete that line item, Save and Exit. Then, reboot and let us know what happens.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

[Ghost_Hacker]

I think BigBlue and MJC both nailed this one. You might have or had a virus that added lines to your startup files.( or one of your friends is playing with you http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif ) In addition to what BigBlue says I would take a look at that "deletes.bat" file. I'm betting you'll find your startup questions inside.


Good Luck http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Dennis27]

HEY GUYS,
I think you guys nailed it! It was SABATAGE, http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif (LITTLE BROTHER WATCHING TOO MUCH TECH TV) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif he said he was trying to get myst3 to play on the pc......but can't remember quite what he did in there.....so you think it may be the deletes.bat???? I will try it.....you guys are great

[mjc]

Ahhh....the old "little brother" ploy......yeah can delete.bat and you should be ok.....


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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Dennis27]

OH YEAH,THAT'S THE TICKET,will keep light fingers off keyboard from now on
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif thanks for the help