Cap'n Refsmmat

On the desktop. They popped up again about the same time the screen went blue.

Just how well do Windows emulators work? And will the default office application be able to open .doc documents?

Update: Deleted Norton entirely Tried to install it again Was missing a .dat file, so it could not install Went and got AVG (internet works on the computer now) Scanned with AVG It found nothing, even after being updated Rebooted Tried to reactivate Windows at the prompt It showed the background but nothing else, and sat and did nothing Hit the "emergency reboot" button on the computer Rebooted Skipped activating None of the icons appeared Went through the Start menu to Firefox and got Zone Alarm, since we have no good firewall on it now Installed Zone Alarm properly Rebooted for installation None of the icons appeared After about five minutes the background turned blue Continued trying to search Symantec's site for the problem Can anyone figure this out?!

Ah, so if I want to emulate something it has to not take up as much system resources?

Why not install Linux after Windows? And how well does Wine work?

After my virus adventure, I thought it would be useful to learn a bit about Linux and see what's better or worse about it. (stupid Windows) So, what makes Linux better? What makes it worse? How is it compatible? Etc. Thank you.

Uh... I did try that, and it didn't work. Didn't you read what I said? And this computer has quite a few files on it that we need, and by "quite a few" I mean more than a gig. And it has no CD burner!!!! Many of the ones on Symantec's website try to shut down the AV program. Would redoing it all in Linux make the virus not able to run? And would I be able to get all of the Word documents back?

I CAN'T UNINSTALL IT!!!!!!!! It gives me an error and tells me it can't be uninstalled!!! We tried booting it off of the Norton disc to let it do a scan but the disc is too old to get anything. And no, it does NOT take me to DOS when I boot up. This is XP. It just boots up with a different start bar and a thingy saying you've fiddled with the startup options.

It won't let me uninstall norton!! It says that there's a serious error! Should I delete the files manually?

No no no. It's evolving in the simulated environment. The program does this: Does something useful (or is a virus) Simulates its own environment in a portion of the program "evolve" in the simulation, not in the real program Evaluate if the evolution makes it better at replicating (if it's a virus) Replicate as the new version if it's better So it is replicating as a virus, then the virus will destroy the system, and test to see if it can be any better.

Aha! You're drunk! That explains a lot. And trust me, there are monkeys/apes that have 98% genetic similarity with humans. Then again, some people I know ARE monkeys. Edit: Actually, :

Ok, here goes. At boot-up Windows pops up and says it needs to be reactivated because of "significant hardware changes" (none have actually occurred). It tried to do it on the internet but could not connect. Then Windows totally boots up, and I try to get norton up. It says there was a "significant program error" and it needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled. I hit OK and go into it. Norton AV for all of the status things (It's the 04 version of Internet Security) says it's been "Tampered" and thus refuses to do anything until it is uninstalled and reinstalled. The same thing happens in safe mode. Currently that computer is off completely so nothing else will happen.

Tell me a) what it might be and b) what I can do about it.

I can't download anything on that computer either, as the internet won't work. The closest virus I've found is http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.donk.s.html

Symantec doesn't seem to have anything since September like it...

My parents just received a few emails on their computer from someone saying they had received emails from my parents with a virus. My parents hadn't emailed them in a long time. Then the E-mail part of Norton Anti-virus quit working. I rebooted it in safe mode and the thing said that windows needed to be reactivated because of "significant hardware changes." Norton AV said it had been tampered and needed to be reinstalled. WHAT SHOULD I DO? I'm looking at Symantec's site to see what it says and what virus it is...

It sure seems so. You make it change the simulated program randomly and test to see if the new version works better in the simulated environment.

Why? The code is here trying to "evolve." It tests to see what makes it better, then uses that and copies itself into a better form. That way it keeps getting better and better until the whole thing turns into something unimaginable. (Who knows what it "evolves" into?)

Well isn't it how the browser allows the image to execute script?

Theoretically the program could simulate the environment it's in by itself and see if random mutations make the program survive better in the simulated environment. At least I think so.

Now just how does this work? Is it a browser thing that lets it execute or do you have to download the picture in the first place? If it's browser, then I'm glad I'm on FF.

Ha! I have the speakers that came with the computer.... Why bother? Can't you just buy $150 fancy headphones that work just as well and cause less clutter?

Not when they're done properly. Vaccines use "dead" copies of the virus. (even though viruses aren't even "alive") The smallpox vaccine is a different example: The original vaccine was a dose of cowpox still alive. You got cowpox, but it wouldn't kill you.

Probably the OS itself. Having that many AV progs, zone alarm, adaware, and spybot running would really take a toll on performance.

And how do you like the extension?