I'ts no surprise here that we've received lots of questions about computer viruses in general and Michelangelo in particular. We hope the the following suggestions on detecting and getting rid of viruses will be helpful to you, and prevent problems before they happen. Michelangelo, while it can be passed via a floppy formatted under Concurrent or from a system with Concurrent installed, cannot harm your Concurrent while you are in Concurrent. This is because, in order to destroy files, it has to use system resources that Concurrent doesn't allow any program to grab. However, the presence of Michelangelo (and other viruses) is still a cause for concern if you boot into DOS for other functions

Testing for Viruses

Run CCIDUMP under DOS and check INT12 memory on page 3. If that number is not 640K (or 639K on COMPAQs or IBM PS/2s), that is cause for concern. Possible causes include a virus, or an AMI BIOS with Scratch RAM option 2 selected or an extended BIOS (only if INT12 is 639, confirm by checking Extended BIOS Vector on page 3 of CCIDUMP which should reflect a value of 9FC0). Another test can be used on non-Compaq and non-IBM PS/2 computers: boot CCI Concurrent from a bootable floppy, then boot it from your hard disk. If Concurrent gives you base memory errors (base memory not equal to 640K, etc.) from the hard disk boot, but not from floppy, there is a very high probability that your computer has a virus.

Getting Rid of Viruses

When we recently found ourselves the victims of Michelangelo, we had to low-level every affected computer. While there is anti-virus software available, it must be used ONLY under DOS. If you use it under Concurrent, Concurrent may appear to be a "virus" causing your antivirus software to wipe out the operating system. If you have computers that you suspect to have Michelangelo that you CANNOT check and fix as appropriate prior to March 6 (the date that Michelangelo is set to destroy hard disk files), a temporary fix is to reset the date in your computer's CMOS and DO NOT allow it to hit March 6, either by setting the date back and then ahead, or by setting it ahead and then back.