Boots to ^@ ??

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

meow2222@care2.com wrote:

> Reparing a PC after an attack by viri, sploit & trojan.

You sure it was actually attacked and it wasnt just a hardware problem ?

> 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.

What happens if you boot that floppy in another system ?

What happens if you boot a Bart PE or Knoppix CD or XP CD in that system ?

> Any clues welcome!

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

Richard Brooks wrote:
>
.... snip ...
>
> --
> "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

Note my sig. Which is accurate? Or is it a matter of translation?

--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country
and our people, and neither do we." -- G. W. Bush.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the
leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being
attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism
and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way
in any country." --Hermann Goering.

CBFalconer said the following on 20/11/06 15:52:
> Richard Brooks wrote:
> ... snip ...
>> --
>> "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
>
> Note my sig. Which is accurate? Or is it a matter of translation?

You don't have a sister by any chance called Jenni who presents tv in
the UK ?

<http://www.sexydesktop.co.uk/jenni.htm>


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

Richard Brooks wrote:
> 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.


Thanks Richard. I've checked whats on the flop, and its exactly as you
said, with all the files and entries you mention.

It runs fine in the only type of linux I've got that will work on that
machine (the others all wont work with its i810 chipset), but its a
dedicated purpose linux with no console access, and my linux knowledge
is patchy anyway.

If I fail to find a solution I may end up getting win up on another
machine and putting the hdd back in this one.

One thing I've not tried yet is freedos.


ta, NT