rec.autos.simulators

I got this email this morning and wanted to know is this file a real virus
or just BS? "SULFNBK.EXE" So after readinf please reply & tell me
if this is the "real deal!" or just BS.. Tia..Cheers Thom_j.
Here is the email for fyi!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

URGENT. A VIRUS could be in your computer files now, dormant but
will become active on June 1.
FOLLOW DIRECTIONS BELOW TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE IT
AND TO REMOVE IT NOW.
It was brought to my attention yesterday that a virus is in circulation
via email. I looked for it and to my surprise I found it on mine. ..
Please follow the directions and remove it from yours TODAY!

No Virus software can detect it. It will become active on June 1, 2001.
It might be too late by then. It wipes out all files and folders on the hard
drive. This virus travels thru E-mail and migrates to the
'C:\windows\command' folder. To find it and get rid of it off of your
computer, do the following.

JUST FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
Go to the "START" button.
Go to "FIND" or "SEARCH"
Go to "FILES & FOLDERS"
Make sure the find box is searching the "C:" drive.
Type in; SULFNBK.EXE
Begin search.

If it finds it, "highlight" it, DO NOT OPEN IT.
Go to 'File' and delete it. lose the find Dialog box
Open the Recycle Bin
Find the file and delete it from the Recycle bin
You should be safe.

The bad part is: You need to contact everyone you have sent ANY
E-mail to in the past few months. Many major companies have found
this virus on their computers. Please help your friends!

DO NOT RELY ON YOUR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. McAfee
and NORTON CANNOT DETECT IT BECAUSE IT DOES NOT
"BECOME" A VIRUS UNTIL JUNE 1ST. WHATEVER YOU DO,
DO NOT OPEN THE FILE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a Hoax.

See this write-up:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/sulfnbk.exe.warning.html

It's rubbish. Try www.symantec.com and look under virus definitions - hoaxes

Doug

Someone is trying to***with you. I have that file too and it is
not a virus. From:
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

The following hoax email has been reported in Brazil. The original
email is in Portuguese; it is followed by an English translation.

CAUTIONS:

This particular email message is a hoax. The file that is mentioned in
the hoax, however, Sulfnbk.exe, is a Microsoft Windows utility that is
used to restore long file names, and like any .exe file, it can be
infected by a virus that targets .exe files.

It's a hoax, but delete that sucker anyway... it serves no usefull purpose.

After falling victim to this one and reading about the so called virus I
thought: "Hmm... long file name recovery tool... very interesting." So I
went through the trouble of manually extracting it from the installation
files again. To test I got some files off a CD I'd burned without having
long filename support turned on, copied them to my HD and removed the
read-only tag.

No joy though, the util declared itself "unable to recover" the filenames.
Well thanks a bunch!! -Needless to say I've now re-deleted it.

Jan.
=---
"Pay attention when I'm talking to you boy!" -Foghorn Leghorn.

Ok Great Jan, Nos, Oddbj?rn, Douglas E & everyone !! Thank you very
much for the reply!! "O" Yes..Sorry everyone for not putting an OT in the
subject line!! I was rushed and forgot..
"Ok then Thom 300 lashes of the whip to ya." Okeedoekee OUCH!.<g>
Cheers Thom_j.

| It's a hoax, but delete that sucker anyway... it serves no usefull
purpose.
| After falling victim to this one and reading about the so called virus I
| thought: "Hmm... long file name recovery tool... very interesting." So I
| went through the trouble of manually extracting it from the installation
| files again. To test I got some files off a CD I'd burned without having
| long filename support turned on, copied them to my HD and removed the
| read-only tag.
|
| No joy though, the util declared itself "unable to recover" the filenames.
| Well thanks a bunch!! -Needless to say I've now re-deleted it.
| Jan.
| =---
| "Pay attention when I'm talking to you boy!" -Foghorn Leghorn.

Bollocks. See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-05-31.htm

  Nonsense Thom,,,we wouldn't THINK of using a whip...however you WILL have
to spend the weekend circulating around the RING in a BRM.
dave henrie

Actually, I do prefer a babe beating me with a 'wet noodle' all night!!
yummmmmmmy :o)~ Btw: I like all the chassis-s in GPL & the BRM
aint that bad but dont expect to see me for about 2yrs. AhHaaa I see
what ur doin'.. Bad Dave Bad Bad!! hahaha

|   Nonsense Thom,,,we wouldn't THINK of using a whip...however you WILL
have
| to spend the weekend circulating around the RING in a BRM.
| dave henrie

it's a hoax, this *.exe is just a regular Windows program.
And if you delete it, you will have problems with the files
with more than 8 characters.

The files on the CD didn't have the LFN information on the CD.  To recover
information, you need the information.  I wouldn't delete it because you
didn't know about it.

--
Philip D'Amato

00 ZX-6R
00 S4

Don't delete sulfnbk.exe.  It ships as part of windows, and provides some
backward compatibility (sort of) for long file name translation to legacy
8.3 file name format.  The "lfn" in the name stands for "long file names".
There is a virus that is out there that tries to delete this file, but this
email you got isn't it.  This email is from someone that's trying to get you
to delete your own OS components.

--
Philip D'Amato

00 ZX-6R
00 S4

Thank you Phillip for the advise.. I have already put it back..
Cheers Thom_j.

| Don't delete sulfnbk.exe.  It ships as part of windows, and provides some
| backward compatibility (sort of) for long file name translation to legacy
| 8.3 file name format.  The "lfn" in the name stands for "long file names".
| There is a virus that is out there that tries to delete this file, but
this
| email you got isn't it.  This email is from someone that's trying to get
you
| to delete your own OS components.
|
| --
| Philip D'Amato

| 00 ZX-6R
| 00 S4
<snipped>

Ok, if it's not meant to recover "lost" long file names, then exactly what
does it do?

From the Symantec pages I got the impression this component is not used
"automatically" by Windows (i.e. the user has to invoke it). So if, as you
seem to indicate, one can only use it to back-up long filenames alongside
the 8.3 version for recovery later, then I don't really need it... or do I?

Jan.
=---

<snip>

You will likely not need it.  As time goes on, fewer applications, operating
systems, and utilities are 8.3 dependent, so it's usefulness lessens with
age.  You use it first by backing up the LFNs, then restoring the LFNs.  For
example, some outdated zip utilities aren't LFN aware and will strip the
LFNs replacing LongFileName.txt with a name like LongFi~1.txt.  When you
then extract the file back onto a system that is LFN aware (like Win9x), the
file is still named LongFi~1.txt.  But if you have the LFN backup file, then
you can extract the file, run the LFN restore command line and viola,
LongFileName.txt appears again.  Delete it if you want, I'm just pointing
out that this file isn't a virus and is part of Microsoft's Windows product.
If you like, there's probably several hundred other Windows components,
applets, and utilities you can delete without much pain.

--
Philip D'Amato

00 ZX-6R
00 S4