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Computer: Operating System: Windows
Windows CD-R: The Immune Edition   (-3)  [vote for, against]
Always boot Windows off a CD-ROM; Never get a virus!

Bill Gates knows this will work, he's evil for not doing it. If they do find bugs in Windows-CDR they can always send out a new CD to all registered customers.

Like AOL does!

Rebooting from CDROM is guaranteed to instantly restore any OS corruption.
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003

DistroWatch.com - CD-boot Linux http://distrowatch....res.php?resource=cd
[tekym, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Wouldn't work, you could still get viruses. Not all viruses attach themselves to system binaries, and for the computer to be usable you'd have to have the ability to install other binaries on writable media.

For example, several well known email borne viruses install a delivered executable into your Startup group, so they get a fresh start every time you reboot. The Startup group can run any program on any attached disk. So the virus just writes itself to D: or E: or whatever, and points the Startup item there. Windows is untouched, but you still have a virus.
-- krelnik, Oct 23 2003


When I first started using email, it was as virus-proof as a fax. The solution to this is also simple. DON'T ALLOW CODE TO AUTO RUN FROM EMAIL! Whose dumb idea was that anyway? There is the inventor of the virus. Lock him up!
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003


Sure, you can plug that hole easily. But there are lots of other ways viruses can get on your system initially (network attack, floppy disk, etc). The Startup group is available to all of them.
-- krelnik, Oct 23 2003


So just delete everything in the startup group that doesn't belong there.

TCP/IP should have all ports disabled by default until you install things that use them. Why would Windows process an unrequested packet?
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003


Now thats a question that has no short answer, but the fact is, it will.

Ok, so you kill the Startup group and its ilk. What about viruses that attach themselves to your application programs, like your word processor? Those don't come with Windows, so they'd be installed on a writable disk.
-- krelnik, Oct 23 2003


Why should the word processor come on a writable disk? Only make data storage writable (in general).

Also, Microsoft used to have a program I think was called LINKER which would incorporate all the little files in a program into one big one. Everything sharing and/or modifying DLLs sounds dumb. Every program should be a single file with all it needs that is not writable.
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003


Many people leave their PCs on all the time, so startup times would not be a problem. Besides, why does the PC copy disks 100x faster than it installs windows? Obviously the delay is artificial, because disk copying involves moving the disk to the harddrive and then to another disk.
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003


Do you know about QNX's bootable, no-hard-drive needed, windows GUI looking, internet ready floppy demo? If 1.4 Meg can do so much, then what is Windows doing?

When I do a full backup-restore (Windows XP) it takes less time than a fresh install. Seems to me it would also work faster if I replaced my hard drive and did a restore. It has in the past.
-- mr2560, Oct 23 2003


Linux has so many different run-from-CD distributions it's crazy. Knoppix is probably the best known, but there are dozens of others as well as CD-bootable versions of the larger Linux distros (LindowsOS, SuSE, Gentoo, Slackware). See link for a list of all the CD distros of Linux.
-- tekym, Oct 23 2003


umm what about people with no cd drives? or what abotu when your cd drive shits the bed?
-- virus, Dec 01 2003


What do you do if you have a hole in your tyre? Much more convenient to change a CD drive than a hard drive.
-- mr2560, Dec 22 2003


This application already exists: most go under the name of knoppix or linux-live-cd or whathaveyou. try it out for yourself. The difference in OS will assure you will never get a windoze virus again. Duh.
-- nietsch, Mar 11 2004



random, halfbakery