On Thu, 2009-10-08 at 21:23 -0400, Allen wrote: > Kevin Kinsey wrote: > > christopher floess wrote: > > > > > >> All in exchange for taking someones "trash". > > > > Indeed, you can run a piece of junk computer on FreeBSD > > and do things Windows never could ... well, I shouldn't > > say never, but it can't now, unless you're still willing > > to install 3.1 from floppy or Win95 from the 14th-generation > > CD-R copy of your original from 14 years ago. > > I wasn't around for those days... Heh, I have a fairly pristine copy of > Windows 95 and two copies of Windows 98. They're in good condition > because when I got my VERY first computer, my Mom bought it from my > Uncle, it was running Windows 95, had I think a 133 MHz CPU, and like 32 > MBs RAM, but I'm not even sure... This was September of 1999. > > I know the month and year I got my first Computer, because I had started > using it, got hooked on the idea of a machine I controlled, and two > weeks after getting it, without manuals to read, without help, I started > screwing with it until I figured it out. > > Some people who know me think and say "How is it you can fix any > computer no matter what it's running, without a manual, without > classes... And you seem to understand how your fix worked?" and it's > because the night I started, I still remember opening Microsoft Word, > sitting there for two hours screwing with buttons on it, and then > figuring out "OK, I highlight the text, and THEN press that "B" and then > it's in Bold.. Ahh OK!" And then going from there. The next night I > started messing with Explorer, and saw all the files and so on, and got > how to move files around. I was lucky enough not to try system files. I > just used dummy files. > > A week later, I was done with everything in the start menu except this > "weird little box called MS-DOS prompt" which didn't seem to have many > buttons, and typing stuff didn't help because it just said bad something > or other"... Yea lol I know, dumb. Hadn't ever seen a command line > before so cut me SOME slack though ;) You have to understand that before > this, I had not ever touched any computer except for an AppleII for 5 > minutes at school when I was like 4. So I literally had only touchbed a > computer for 5 minutes before this and it was an Apple II I knew nothing > about. > > On week two, I had learned what online meant, and "accidentally" watched > my Uncle type in his Prodigy password to go online. > > He left for a week and I had un-restricted access. I still thought > "Restart your computer" meant restarting it from scratch and I'd lose > all programs, so I always shut it down and turned it back on after an > installation, which I figured out myself too. So I wasn't by any means > good at it. > > I saw the Prodigy home page and got online for the first time one > afternoon, and thought "Wow.... This thing has neat pictures of Pamela > Anderson" lol... Hey, I'm a German American and damn proud of that, we > like nudity right? lol. And for a 17 year old punk rocker this was a new > experience and I loved it. > > On week two of having a computer, I signed up for an account on Bolt.com > and started learning what a social networking site did, and since they > always said "this person joined on this date" that's how I knew when I > got a computer; I had memorized it. So, I've had a computer since > September of 1999, and within 6 months, I screwed up the machine bad by > opening something by accident. > > See, within a few months, I learned what Computer Security meant. The > idea someone could control a computer from somewhere else, grabbed me > hard.I LOVED the idea of security in computers. I started slow by seeing > what those weird DoS tools were, and thought "OK, annoying, but the idea > is interesting" and then I started a virus collection because I didn't > collect baseball cards and every boy needs a hobby ;) > > That would seal the fate of that PC. A friend I had met who was into > this stuff too, said he found some great ones for my collection, and I > grabbed a floppy disk to store them on, and he was like "by the way, one > of these isn't Zipped, be careful" and I'm like "OK man".... > > I was a little side tracked by porn at the moment, and when I went to > close a Window that had all my new viruses on it, I for some reason > Double Clicked on the one he warned me about.... > > OK, just for the record, I was just collecting these. I wasn't infecting > a Company or something, I just thought the idea of them was kind of > neat, so I collected them. Just making sure no one thinks I was one of > "those" kids. > > Now, this thing turned out not to be a virus at all. Instead, it turned > into the ONLY ONLY ONLY .exe I've EVER come across that does PHYSICAL > damage to a machine.... I'm in no way kidding. > > I saw what I had done fast.... I had went to close the window and > accidentally double clicked on it instead and instantly hit for the > power switch to shut the machine off.... It was to late though. I saw a > DOS Prompt come up saying something or other, and when I turned the > machine back on, it wouldn't even boot. > > This machine ran Windows 95, had a lot of MP3s, and some movies and > pics. When that happened, I couldn't even get Windows 3.1 to install. > > A friend and I worked on it all the time, and I was shocked. I couldn't > do anything.... I managed to install PC-DOS on this thing, and then when > I tried to install Windows 3.1, it said the drive wasn't big enough! > > I the next day, went and bought my first paidfor computer, and used it > insted which I still have, but the fact that later in life when I > started using Linux, about a year later, I tried again to install Linux > on the drive that thing killed. > > Linux wouldn't install either, it said the drive was screwed up and > couldn't even fix it except for a small DOS partition which was like, a > few MBs. > > I remember shutting the power off before it finished running, but it was > FAST, and this thing actually killed somehow a portion of a disk drive, > and had it run all the way probably wouldn't have allowed DOS either. > > Fdisk couldn't even work on it. I was literally shocked. > > 9 years later, I can still remember it, and I STILL have the floppy disk > I copied all that stuff too he sent me that night. And yea, I STILL have > that executable that destroyed my first PC lol. I didn't know about > hardware at the time so the fact that a new drive would have been a > better fix didn't cross my mind until it was too late and I had given > the thing to a friend's Dad. > > To this day I don't know what's on that thing, and yes, I've popped the > floppy in since then to look, and saw all those olden days of my later > teen years sitting there... And the thing that ripped up the disk drive, > which I've now zipped up and made a tarball just in case lol. > > I still have it, and friends have asked for a copy, and haven't ever > figured it out either how it did all that. > > > > > Oh, and games. It's like heroin. Don't start, or > > your life gets sucked into the monitor ;-) > > > > Thanks, Java, for six months of wasted life over the last > > 5 years. > > Java isn't Heroin, it's Crack ;) > > > Kevin Kinsey > > ________________ > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-chat@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-chat > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-chat-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Viruses which flash your BIOS have been done before, and therefore effectively damage hardware. As for your disk, try filling it with 0s and then start again. Jonathan _______________________________________________ freebsd-chat@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-chat To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-chat-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
