Virus detected in the boot

To disinfect a boot virus, several floppy disks will be necessary: one boot disk to guarantee virus-free system startups, and others for disinfection purposes.

It is possible to create a boot disk using the Safedisk utility included with Panda Antivirus 6.0 or using the procedure described below.

The Safedisk tool will create several floppy disks. The first of these is a boot disk, whereas the others are used for disinfection purposes. Otherwise, you have all the necessary tools for disinfection in the DOSWIN3X directory on the Panda Antivirus 6.0 CD-ROM.

The procedure is as follows:

  1. Switch off your computer. Insert a virus-free boot disk (if you are going to carry out disinfection from the CD-ROM, the diskette should load the CD drivers), and reset your computer.

  2. Once you have started the computer, Insert the first disk. If you are going to carry out disinfection from the CD, insert the Panda Antivirus 6.0 CD-ROM and go to the DOSWIN3X directory.

  3. Then execute our command-line antivirus (PAVCL) by typing the following: PAVCL /ALL /CLV /AEX. If you are asked to insert the disk containing the PAVSIG.CMP file, insert the last of the floppy disks shipped with Panda Antivirus or which you generated through the Safedisk utility.

  4. If a virus is detected in memory once, you should continue. When the virus is found on the hard drive, press S to disinfect.

Creating a boot disk without using the Safedisk process

To generate a virus-free boot disk, it is necessary for such a disk to be created on a virus-free computer. The Safedisk utility is designed to create both a boot disk and emergency disks, which can be used for disinfection purposes.

If you created the above-mentioned diskettes with the Safedisk utility before virus infection, use the first diskette as the boot disk. If you did not already create these disks, go to a virus-free computer and follow these steps:

  1. Insert an empty disk and type FORMAT A: /S.

  2. Go to the DOS directory using the command CD DOS.

  3. Copy the HIMEM.SYS and SMARTDRV.EXE files on the diskette by typing COPY HIMEM.SYS A: followed by COPY SMARTDRV.EXE A:.

  4. Edit the CONFIG.SYS file in drive A using the following command: EDIT A:\CONFIG.SYS.

  5. On the editor that appears, type the following two lines: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS and DOS=HIGH.

  6. Choose the Save option in the File menu then the Exit option in the same menu..

  7. Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in drive A using the following command: EDIT A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT.

  8. On the editor that appears, type the following line: SMARTDRV.EXE.

  9. Choose the Save option in the File then the Exit option within the same menu.