Warp2Search.net » News » November 2005 » Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows

Sysinternals' Mark Russinovich has performed an analysis of the copy restriction measures deployed by Sony Music on its latest CDs: which he bluntly calls it a 'root kit'. Using conventional tools to remove Sony's digital media malware will leave ordinary users with a dead Windows systems.

TheRegister

FaaR Unregistered

#63113 Posted on: 11/02/2005 12:36 PM Leave it to the register to either through incompetence or sensationalism distort reality and turn it into lies. Nowhere in the original article does it state removing the sony crap kills windows.

Fuzzywuzzy Unregistered

#63115 Posted on: 11/02/2005 03:15 PM What lie? If a user simply tries deleting the files that the Sony DRM installs, it WILL kill the system, it cannot even be booted into safe mode as the DRM crap loads then, too. It takes manual editing of the registry to get rid of this thing. Now it appears that YOU are the incompetent one here. Try doing a little browsing around before you start slinging accusations next time.

FaaR Unregistered

#63117 Posted on: 11/02/2005 03:59 PM Did you read the blog? The author never states he killed his windows install by deleting the files. While sony's DRM crap is completely deplorable, everybody should get their facts straight nevertheless. Exaggerations doesn't help the situation. Here's what the guy writes: " deleted the driver files and their Registry keys, stopped the $sys$DRMServer service and deleted its image, and rebooted. As I was deleting the driver Registry keys under HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServices I noted that they were either configured as boot-start drivers or members of groups listed by name in the HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetControlSafeBoot subkeys, which means that they load even in Safe Mode, making system recovery extremely difficult if any of them have a bug that prevents the system from booting. When I logged in again I discovered that the CD drive was missing from Explorer." As you can see in the last sentence, it WAS possible to boot up windows again and log in after deleting the files! Hence, the Reg got it all wrong when they say it destroys windows. And you was a little too quick in attacking me I might add.

Fuzzywuzzy Unregistered

#63163 Posted on: 11/05/2005 03:11 PM Why are you so quick to defend this stuff? Do you work for Sony in some manner? You claim some aversion to exaggeration, but you err on the opposite extreme, by minimizing an issue and trying to brush it aside as "no big deal". You're also very quick to attack others here, but don't like it when you're called to task? You seem a bit hypocritical there. Regardless of the technicalities, for most people, deleting the files would be an essential "kill" of their system, it would require a reinstall of the OS to solve. An experienced "techie" would perhaps fare better but they are not the average person.

Warp2Search.net » News » November 2005 » Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows