A virus written into the boot sectors of a floppy disk. A popular way to spread a virus when floppy disks were widely used, the boot virus relied on people forgetting to remove the last floppy they inserted when they turned the machine off. When turned back on, the machine read the boot sector program, which normally loads the operating system, but ran the infected program instead. Once infected, the boot virus replicated itself onto all subsequent floppies used in the machine. The Michelangelo virus was a famous boot virus that infected the computer on March 6th, Michelangelo's birthday. See virus.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Dell: Turnaround interuptus as share grab hurts net, margins
- Dell's second quarter earnings fell short of projections, but revenue was well ahead of targets. Translation: Dell is gaining share at the expense of its bottom line as price competition heats up. Dell reported fiscal second quarter earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $16.4...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- Windows 7 must avoid the marketing trap that Vista stumbled into
- Windows 7 must avoid the marketing trap that Vista stumbled intoI agree "One OS to unite them all""One price to keep all happy" In the end it's just a marketing ploy different versions each with their own "missing" pieces. In many ways it looks like double dipping...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-28
- We can change your cells and cure your diabetes
- We can change your cells and cure your diabetesWe can change your cells and cure your diabetesThat's cool that they are one step closer to curing diabetes. I'm curious to see what the raw food dieters have to say comparing this technique verses going raw.http://www.rawfor30days.com/http://www.truthpublishing.com/haltdiabetes_p/yprint-cat21267.htmIf either one really does...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-28
- Resurrecting E-voting
- Resurrecting E-votingDifficulty of subverting voting machinesIt seems to me that any system can be tampered with to render the vote dishonest. However, some configurations make such tampering very hard while others are much easier to subvert. You should talk about the relative difficulty and not whether or not...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-28
- Codename of the day: Nitrogen
- Codename of the day: NitrogenCodeword - "Infection"Can't think why ZDnet aren't trumpeting Microsoft's latest embarassing achievement -Wonder if the US army's robots will be running 'Hasta La Vista'?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7583805.stmNasa has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a Windows virus known as Gammima.AG.The worm was...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-28
- FAT Data Recovery Tools (exe)
- Vista FAT partition retrieval software is easy to use solution that helps in restoration of lost files and folders easily. Download Vista FAT data recovery utility to restore data even if root directory, boot sector or file allocation table entries are corrupted. Removable hard drive partition repair tool performs complete...
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- Newfolder Fix Wizard (exe)
- Get rid of New Folder virus infection also known as Iddono and remove malicious folders appearing everywhere in one click with this automated Fix Wizard. The program cures all known modifications of Newfolder virus and fixes associated performance issues and "cannot open drive" error messages. Additionally, live support will help...
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 vs. Firefox 3.0.1
- Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 vs. Firefox 3.0.1All part of the MS plan to keep browsers dumbded down. If we had reallygood browsers, how would they get people to use MS proprietary solutions for rich internet applications.RE: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 vs. Firefox 3.0.1The title says Firefox 3.0.1The graph...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- The Gammima Strain
- Photo: NASA Is the International Space Station just another bot in a botnet? Are criminal hackers tapping away in some dark warehouse now in control of critical command-and-control systems on board? No, that would make a good Michael Crichton novel, though. It seems some...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Virtualization software revives dumb terminals, cuts IT costs
- With computers growing smarter by the day, why would anyone want to step back more than a decade and fill office cubicles with dumb terminals? The answer is simple - to keep cubicle computers in service longer, uncluttered and free of malware, viruses and hacking programs. At...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Feel like taunting an identity thief? Don't.
- Feel like taunting an identity thief? Don't.SurprisingI am a little surprised they would even bother to do this. But not very surprised.I have never been tempted to 'taunt' them in the first place. What I have been tempted to do is send them false information, preferably from an automated source,...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Malware detected at the International Space Station
- Malware detected at the International Space StationBetter use Linux next timeI'm amazed that anything M$ is allowed into space. It's totally insane. What next - avionics powered by Windows? That's one flight I won't be going on :DRE: Malware detected at the International Space StationNorton Anti-virus updates on a daily...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Malware detected at the International Space Station
- Malware is reaching new heights, and going into Space through a removable media carrying the W32.Gammima.AG password stealing malware to the International Space Station. According to SpaceRef.com : "W32.Gammima.AG worm is a level 0 gaming virus intended to gather personal information. Virus was never a threat to any of...
- Blog posts 2008-08-26
- Psystar sues Apple! Claims violation of Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act
- Psystar sues Apple! Claims violation of Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust ActNice!If only Apple didn't ditch a perfectly viable platform in favor of off-the-shelf hardware for their operating system, half of which came from open source freeware, they might actually have an actual claim. Up to 4...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Linux under attack: Compromised SSH keys lead to rootkit
- The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team CERT has issued a warning for what it calls "active attacks" against Linux-based computing infrastructures using compromised SSH keys. The attack appears to initially use stolen SSH keys to gain access to a system, and then uses local kernel exploits to...
- Blog posts 2008-08-26
- Breaking: FAA computer failure slows nationwide air traffic
- Breaking: FAA computer failure slows nationwide air trafficThis is a terrorist attackThe terrorists attack at a very high clock speed at the sys ex level.End virus or loose everything.Gotta love that Vista ad :-)http://www.zoliblog.com/2008/08/26/faa-failure-golden-vista-ad/
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Failed government IT: 'The mother of all databases'
- Failed government IT: 'The mother of all databases'Just another reason to keep government smallThis is just another example of how incompitant our government can be. This is a huge problem all over the government and it is wasting billions of our hard earned money while some would like to...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Go ahead...bring in your laptop
- Go ahead...bring in your laptopWe allow people to use their ownso long as they allow me to install security software and updates and inspect the machines at my discretion. Those who do use their own see this as me doing them a favor, not the other way around.I use my...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Rundll Errors Fix Wizard (exe)
- Get rid of Rundll and Rundll32 error messages like "Windows cannot find Rundll.exe" and "Windows cannot find Rundll32.exe" and many others in one click with this automated Fix Wizard. The program fixes all known modifications of Rundll.exe virus infection and corruption of legal Rundll32.exe file. Additionally, live support will help...
- Software downloads 2008-08-26
- Airscanner Mobile AntiVirus (exe)
- Protect your phone or PDA from wireless airborne viruses! The most trusted name in antivirus software, Airscanner, has brought their powerful antivirus software to the mobile community. Airscanner Mobile AntiVirus is a fast, powerful, feature rich virus scanner for smartphones and pocket PC's designed by Windows Mobile security experts. In...
- Software downloads 2008-08-26
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Visit the all new ZDNet Enterprise Mobility Hub sponsored by Verizon Wireless. It has the latest news, commentary, and resources for your mobile strategy development.
- Read the latest from Matthew Miller's The Mobile Gadgeteer Blog
- Five steps to protect mobile devices anywhere, anytime
- Watch a video about Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)
- Learn how you can fetch your email from anywhere
- All this and more on the ZDNet Enterprise Mobility Hub
