-=> Quoting Bert Patterson to All <=-
 BP> I downloaded a file called showdup.zip from the internet.
 BP> I have and still use the version of this program I had before.
 BP> I thought the one I downloaded might be a later version.
 BP> I unpacked the zip file and ran it through XTreegold.
Bad Mistake #1: you didn't run any AV programs to check that downloaded file.
 BP> Booting from a floppy showed the file command.com was on the
 BP> harddrive. Upon further investigation, I found a lot of exe and com
 BP> files were longer in size, but not all of them.
Bad Mistake #2: since you had booted clean, you should have run virus
checkers (OFF the floppy, I might hasten to add).
 BP> I formatted the drive and installed the backup I had, which was a bit
Talk about the sledgehammer approach !
 BP> old, but never mind, that's my fault for not backing up regularly.
Bad Mistake #3: but you know already ...
 BP> Looking inside a faulty file showed the letters hol towards the end of
 BP> every faulty file, as well as a lot of code that didn't belong to the
 BP> original file. 
Now, this stinks, wouldn't you agree ?
 BP> After several attempts at getting things right, I decided to fdisk the
 BP> drive and remove the partitions and create them again, after installing
 BP> the backup this finally fixed the problem.
Sounds like you had a MBR (Master Boot Record) virus.
 BP> Running several virus programs while I had the altered files didn't
 BP> show any viruses.
Did you run them when you had booted clean ?
Peter
... The world is coming to an end!  Repent and return those library books!  
--- EBO-BBS Diemen - NL
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