Warning: WinXP flaw can wipe your hardrive clean

[VideoMann]

I saw this in the TV Show "The Screen Savers", some of you perhaps know this. There is a way to configure a webpage that when you visit it it will wipe files from your hardrive and it goes undetected by anti-virus software I believe. This only affects WinXP and the SP1 will fix it but if you do not want to install the SP1 all you have to do is re-name a file in WindowsXP to deactivate this security problem.


"The security hole involves Windows XP help. The hole lets anyone put a link on a website that can wipe out certain hard-drive directories.

If, for whatever reason, you don't or can't download the service pack, there is an alternative. There's a file you can rename or delete to fix the security hole. Here
are the steps:

1.Perform a search for a file on your C drive called "uplddrvinfo.htm."

2.Once you've found the file, delete it or rename it. Doing so will not hinder your ability to use Windows XP."



I just rename the file to "uplddrvinfo.htm.security risk deactivated"


Once you do this you will be safe

[Bel]

Steve Gibson at grc.com also wrote a program to fix the problem. It may do the same thing as your fix, I don't know...

Also, you don't need to actually visit a webpage. The exploit is in the way a hyperlink is coded that when clicked does it.