Windows XP Recovery Console (Or how to wipe up a
MBR in Windows XP Pro)
I faced a problem with infected Windows XP yesterday, which was
pretty nasty.
The shitty Virus seems to be replicating itself to a brand new
Windows installations,
even when I completely wipe up the hard drive with format.
I spend a couple of minutes in
Google to find a way
to wipe the master boot record.
Seems like the good old days of:
fdisk /mbr
Which was a kinda, fast and easy solution on Windows 98 are
gone.
The way to do fdisk /mbr on XP Pro is through
Windows XP Recovery
Console
It's pretty straight forward to install Windows Recovery Console, I
had to simply follow the link above and follow Microsoft's
instructions.
Available tools through Windows Recovery Console are as
follows:
attrib del fixboot more set
batch delete fixmbr mkdir systemroot
bootcfg dir format more type
cd disable help net
chdir diskpart listsvc rd
chkdsk enable logon ren
cls exit map rename
copy expand md rmdir
However the ones of interest for me were:
1. fixboot
and
2. fixmbr
Whether the one that equals to fdisk /mbr is fixmbr.
This boot loader cleaner would warn you that there is certain
possibility
that all data located phisically on your hard drives is at
risk.
So Beware!
Happily using it in my case, was completely unarmful.
E.g. the tool worked like a charm and flushed the content of my
MBR
In order to make Windows XP Recovery Console available as a choice
during boot time,
Type the following commands (where X: is the CD Drive
letter), and then press ENTER on your keyboard.
X:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons
I still have no clue if that would fix the situation with the Virus
in MBR, right at the present moment a reinstall
of Windows is at hand.
I'll try to post later if that solution would fix the Windows Virus
issues