Dr Solomon's sounds grim virus warning for notebook users

NEWS The latest CIH virus can kill notebook PCs completely or force users to dismantle desktops, according to security software specialist, Dr Solomon's. When infected, Pentium machines based on the Intel 430TX chipset have their Bios disabled. Two cases of the virus have already been 'found in the wild' Dr Solomon's reports. Graham Cluely, senior technical consultant at Dr Solomon's, explained that not many anti-virus toolkits can detect it; not even Dr Solomon's latest product. He continued: "Once the virus is on your machine, and the system has been started up, the Bios dies. Users then have to dismantle the hardware and replace the Bios." But there's even worse news for users of notebooks,. Most portable computers have the Bios soldered in, in which case the damage "could be irretrievable," said Cluely. The virus comes into play on the 26th of each month, and is capable of splitting up the body of the Bios code to place it within unused parts of a file. Dr Solomon's claimed the virus does not affect Windows NT users.