meow2222@care2.com said the following on 20/11/06 08:11:
> Hi
>
>
> Reparing a PC after an attack by viri, sploit & trojan. Have wiped the
> hdd good and proper, and now it appears to boot into dos (from floppy)
> ok until the last bit, when it does all it should, but then adds ^@ or
> sometimes ^@^@ on the command line, as if it had been user typed. There
> is no keyboard response at all, have tried swapping kbds.
>
> Any clues welcome!
>
>
> thanks,
> NT

IIRC, the ^@ is zero which is a marker for file terminator so it's just
displaying to screen what is not normally shown but happens anyway.

See table;
http://www.csgnetwork.com/asciiset.html

Normally, your floppy rescue disk should temporarily install a small
translation file so that everything looks as it should.

The [COMMON] section at the end of my config.sys file on the floppy has
the following;

[COMMON]
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
devicehigh=ramdrive.sys /E 2048
lastdrive=z
device=display.sys con=(ega,,1)
country=044,850,country.sys
install=mode.com con cp prepare=((850) ega.cpi)
install=mode.com con cp select=850
install=keyb.com uk,,keyboard.sys


Notice the last few lines!

mode.com and keyb.com should be files on the floppy.

From the Microsoft site.

>Mode.com Lets you change display parameters such as number columns.




Richard.

--
"Naturally the common people don't want war, but they can always be
brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being
attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
endangering the country. It works the same in every country."
Reichsmarshall Herman Goering, Nuremberg, 1946