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#1
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
I have this floppy I've been sneakerneting among mostly DOS machines for
years. I've been also using it on XP for about six months. Suddenly it had a strange zero bit file with the name MSDOS in it. Then today it seemed to multiply (I tried to delete them) so I reformatted. I'm trying to piece back my steps and I can imagine that using XP right-click send-to might have done it or my installation of PocketPC ActiveSync on the XP. I have hunch (I'm not a computer person but have been near computers since I was ten in 1971) it somehow just messed with one bit in the file name and some invisible file became visible and confused the heck out of everything else. Been using the floppy for about five years so it could even be damaged. - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos] |
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#3
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
From:
| I have this floppy I've been sneakerneting among mostly DOS machines for | years. I've been also using it on XP for about six months. Suddenly it had a | strange zero bit file with the name MSDOS in it. Then today it seemed to | multiply (I tried to delete them) so I reformatted. I'm trying to piece back | my steps and I can imagine that using XP right-click send-to might have done | it or my installation of PocketPC ActiveSync on the XP. | | I have hunch (I'm not a computer person but have been near computers since | I was ten in 1971) it somehow just messed with one bit in the file name and | some invisible file became visible and confused the heck out of everything | else. Been using the floppy for about five years so it could even be damaged. | You may have a Boot Sector Infector which are true viruses and can spread through your "sneakernetting". -- Dave http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp |
#4
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
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#5
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
"Dr.Hal0nf1r£$" wrote in message ... wrote: I'm not a computer person but have been near computers since I was ten in 1971 I'm not a trainspotter but have lived near the railway all my life - I still know very little about trains though. I'm fairly certain that I'd spot a train if it came anywhere near me. |
#6
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
wrote in message ... I have this floppy I've been sneakerneting among mostly DOS machines for years. Learned a new term. Way back in the day, before Win95 and the internet, the surest way to infect your machine was to swap floppies and diskettes. Unprotected sneakerneting should be punishable. Eventually poor computer practices will catch up with you. -- "Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile!" - Kurt Vonnegut |
#7
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
No, the sneakerneting was my own machines. Don't think it's a virus. The initial problem was just one zero bitter sitting around for days. I am starting to remember interrupting some file copy. Maybe some of the debris it left behind. Well, about living near trains. That's about how I know about computers. Sometimes I know a lot and people assume i know more, then other times they are surprised I knew some things. I just use them for math. I abuse them. Programmer types hate my kind. - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos] |
#8
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
Sinner wrote:
wrote in message ... I have this floppy I've been sneakerneting among mostly DOS machines for years. Learned a new term. Way back in the day, before Win95 and the internet, the surest way to infect your machine was to swap floppies and diskettes. Unprotected sneakerneting should be punishable. Eventually poor computer practices will catch up with you. That is true - that's exactly how viruses used to get around before the internet. There used to be ads in the back of PC Magazine for games and other software on floppies, and those were notorious sources of viruses and malware. |
#9
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
Sinner wrote:
"Dr.Hal0nf1r£$" wrote in message ... wrote: I'm not a computer person but have been near computers since I was ten in 1971 I'm not a trainspotter but have lived near the railway all my life - I still know very little about trains though. I'm fairly certain that I'd spot a train if it came anywhere near me. Even if it were an invisible silent train? -- http://www.kustomkomputa.co.uk Personalised Desktop Computers |
#10
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
I have this floppy I've been sneakerneting among mostly DOS
machines for years. I've been also using it on XP for about six months. Suddenly it had a strange zero bit file with the name MSDOS in it. Then today it seemed to multiply (I tried to delete them) so I reformatted. I'm trying to piece back my steps and I can imagine that using XP right-click send-to might have done it or my installation of PocketPC ActiveSync on the XP. I have hunch (I'm not a computer person but have been near computers since I was ten in 1971) it somehow just messed with one bit in the file name and some invisible file became visible and confused the heck out of everything else. Been using the floppy for about five years so it could even be damaged. - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos] Too bad you got so many unhelpful and off topic comments; it's the way of the newsgroups. If you really meant "years" of use, replace the floppy. It's just plain worn out and the magnetic retention is probably just about gone, especially if it's been carried around and not stored protectively. They're so cheap there's no excuse to not replace it. NOTE: Floppy supplies and vendors are beginning to dry up; if you have to order any, get extras. It won't be too long before it's hard to find new ones. NOTE 2: Any floppy, while not being used, should be stored in a cool dry place and everythign copied off and back onto it periodically. Our schedule was monthly "back in the day" and it seemed to work well. Is it possible to switch to CDs? If so, they are a much more stable media and will last much, much longer and are cheap now too. I use CD-RWs now for floppies. Most places will have a CD drive but many machines are now without floppy drives. HTH |
#11
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
"Twayne" wrote in message ... Is it possible to switch to CDs? If so, they are a much more stable media and will last much, much longer and are cheap now too. I use CD-RWs now for floppies. Most places will have a CD drive but many machines are now without floppy drives. CDs or CD-RWs are ok, but you can't carry them in a shirt pocket. I'd recommend a cheap USB flash drive. They're available for under $10, store many times more data than diskettes, don't need drivers on WinXP machines, and it's nigh onto impossible to find a computer without a USB port. Their read/write speed is also, for the most part, comparable to diskettes. |
#12
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
"Twayne" wrote in message
... Is it possible to switch to CDs? If so, they are a much more stable media and will last much, much longer and are cheap now too. I use CD-RWs now for floppies. Most places will have a CD drive but many machines are now without floppy drives. CDs or CD-RWs are ok, but you can't carry them in a shirt pocket. I'd recommend a cheap USB flash drive. They're available for under $10, store many times more data than diskettes, don't need drivers on WinXP machines, and it's nigh onto impossible to find a computer without a USB port. Their read/write speed is also, for the most part, comparable to diskettes. True; I didn't go there because I have a suspicion these are some pretty old machines. though I should have, I agree. |
#13
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XP corrupting a DOS floppy?
wrote in message ... No, the sneakerneting was my own machines. Don't think it's a virus. The initial problem was just one zero bitter sitting around for days. I am starting to remember interrupting some file copy. Maybe some of the debris it left behind. yep I am sure that was it... the interrupted copy. Just format the floppy and don't worry about it |
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