Windows 95 Customer Advisory for Virus on Disk 2 Problems

This article contains a copy of the information in the Windows 95 Customer Advisory.

When a floppy-based Setup gets to disk 2, it can halt with a message indicating a bad disk 2, or may be unable to locate disk 2 even though you have inserted it in the drive. You will be required to exit Setup at that time. Since it is early in the process there should be no effect on your ability to run your previous configuration.

We have tracked down a handful of disk sets nationwide from customers who have reported this problem. In every case, the second disk turned out to have been corrupted by a virus on the customer's computer that had infected the second disk during Setup. In each case, the virus was on the customer's computer prior to the installation of Windows 95 and not caused by the Windows 95 disks. This generally happens on disk 2 because this is the disk that stores customer registration information, so Setup writes to this disk. The virus, which installs itself undetected on a typical floppy disk, is exposed because of the unique high-density format used for Windows 95 distribution diskettes.

How can a customer prevent this:

There are several viruses that can cause this problem. The best way to eliminate the problem for good is to run an anti-virus program and scan the computer for viruses before upgrading. This is recommended on the disk labels. Because viruses can be difficult to get rid of completely, you should reboot your computer and check for viruses a second time after you believe the virus has been removed. All Windows 95 disks should be write-protected when possible. Disk 2 can be write-protected when your information has already been recorded from a previous Windows 95 Setup. A floppy disk is write-protected when the tab on the top of floppy disk is flipped up so that you can see through the hole.

What a customer should do if this happens:

Once the virus has infected disk 2, the disk cannot be used. Please call (800) 360-7561 or Microsoft Product Support Services for updated disks.