🚀 go-pugleaf

> So Stoned copying the original MBR to 0,0,7 should be safe, right?

*Should* be.

If you believe in "benign viruses", you'll believe that Stoned (or any
other MBR virus which overwrites one of the sectors in Track 0 Head 0,
usually unused) is benign. No such thing.

Viruses are guilty of two crimes under the UK's Computer Misuse Act --
unauthorised access and, worse, unauthorised modification. Just
because a virus caused no bad side-effects on the author's machine (if
the author tested it, that is) doesn't mean that it will work
perfectly on *your* computer should you become infected. 

Example: back in the days when Stoned was common, there were *lots* of
of Olivetti M24s around -- they shipped with a version of Olivetti DOS

which started the C: drive at Track 0, Head 0, Sector 2. So 0.0.7 was
very much in use (part of the FAT!) on those machines. 

How wrong you can be when you rely on "should be" :-)

No such thing as a "benign virus". So there...

Paul
Sophos Anti-Virus

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