Lost Drivers.....

DeeGee88 · 16th March 2004

I have a 40gig HDD (partioned 20/20) and have just acquired a juicy little virus (off an old floppy, I think) called "Natas-2"

The OS (98SE) seems to still be plugging on, however both CD drivers have been disabled.

I have an absolute pile of Data that I now can't burn to disk.

As it is a boot sector virus (and I don't think I can remove it without a full format, removing partitions etc), I'm wondering if there is some way of saving the Data if I move it to the Extended Partition. Is there some other way of (temporarily) loading CDrom drivers?

Also, I have a smaller PC also with 98SE on it and a spare 3 gig HDD.
If I used the 3gig HDD as Primary Slave, could I copy files from one PC to the other without dragging the virus with them?

Thanks in confusion

Den

**PeteC** · 16th March 2004

Is this any help ?

http://securityresponse.symantec.com..._bugnatas.html

DeeGee88 · 16th March 2004

...I have checked that out (and other sites eg.. "Trend"), but the reality is that I'm fairly certain that I cannot remove the virus - I'm just attempting to salvage my files (mp3s, mpegs, apps etc) before the inevitable 'Format' - there's no other way to rid this virus.

I think the only chance I have is to use the 3gig HDD as a Primary Slave in both PCs and attempt to transfer files without transferring the virus.

Any other suggestions?

thanks,
Den

noahdfear · 16th March 2004

How about giving eTrust a run and see if it finds and offers to clean. What info I found on Natas on their site only said it was detected by current signature files, which is common for viruses easily removed with their software. I have seen few removal tools available from eTrust, and I believe that is due to the AV's ability to clean without extra tools. Online scanner in my signature or free for a year download available here.

**markp62** · 18th March 2004

Start the computer with a bootdisk, one created from Bootdisk's. Double click the downloaded file with a floppy in the drive, the bootdisk will be created for you, do not do this on the sick computer. Slide the little tab so you can see through both holes, write protects it doing this. Important that you do this,
Do this command three times, it will appear to do nothing. It rebuilds the Master Boot Record.
fdisk /mbr
Then
sys a: c:
A format will not fix this area of the hard drive, but fdisk with the /mbr switch will.

DeeGee88 · 18th March 2004

...I will give that a try - it was one of my options, but I was looking for advice before 'jumping in' to areas I was unsure of.

Thanks again. I'll let you know what happens.
Den

DeeGee88 · 19th March 2004

....I thought all my files were gone or, at the very least, I'd have to shuttle a slave HDD between to PCs.

Mark,

your advice was extremely successful (it even brought the CD drivers back)

I'll buy you a beer sometime if we ever meet.

Once again,
Thanks,
Den

**markp62** · 20th March 2004

Thanks for posting back, glad to hear all is well, and easily fixed.
Make it a Jack & Coke \%/, beer doesn't go well with my stomache anymore.