[GRLUG] Some Viruses Come Pre-Installed

[Bob Kline]

On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 5:07 PM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 4:48 PM, David Pembrook <david at pembrook.net>
> wrote:
> > john-thomas richards wrote:
> >  > On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 10:40:33AM -0400, Casey DuBois wrote:
> >  >
> >  >> Interesting story about Pre-Installed Viruses on Retail devices.
> >  >>
> >  >> http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WireStory?id=4446944&page=2
> >  >>
> >  >
> >  > I bought my wife a laptop that came with a virus pre-installed.  I
> >  > cannot remove the virus until the warranty is up (strangely, the
> >  > manufacturer, HP, voids the warranty if I replace the virus with
> Linux).
> >  > Alas.  In a year or so I can wipe out the virus and put Debian on it.
> >  > My wife even asked me if I would.  :-)
> >  >
> >  Why wait?
> >
> >  You could make those nice restore cd/dvd's that they never bother to
> >  include any more... Use it with Linux, if it need factory work, restore
> >  the original os.
>
> Unless the factory work makes restoration impossible.  This could
> happen in the case of a bad CD-ROM drive, bad hard drive, or a variety
> of mainboard failures.  True, you might be able to put the hard
> drive(assuming it works) in a different box, but that's still more
> work than a simple restoration.
>
>

While not included,  you can call HP and
obtain backup disks.  It's an ordeal.  And
you will probably find yourself in India at
some point.  But I've done it.

Make sure you have a serial number handy.

   -Bob
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