BEWARE OF MINIZIP WORM

                     MiniZip is a compressed variant of the original ExploreZip worm, it uses standard e-mail software such as Outlook, Outlook Express and Exchange to spread. It infects Windows 95/98/NT systems and damages the data. It searches for the files with extensions doc, xls, ppt, h, asm, c, cpp in the local hard drives and mapped drives and reduces the file size to zero byte. So it is impossible to recover the data from the infected files. It will infect other networked computers too.

                     MiniZip worm uses two techniques to spread. First one is automatic email reply to the mail senders. This makes the virus to spread rapidly. It will send an email attachment "zipped_files.exe" with the content "Hi <Name>! I received your email and I shall send you a reply ASAP. Till then, take a look at the attached zipped docs ".

                     Second method is infecting networked computers. If one system is infected, it will spread easily by dropping a file "_setup.exe". Once rebooted it will copy itself to "explore.exe". To protect networked computers, you should check all the systems at one stretch.

Cleaning Procedure:

                     This virus can be cleaned manually. To clean the virus in Windows95 and 98, Restart the machine in DOS mode. Then delete "Explore.exe" in the Windows system directory. Search for "_setup.exe" in the windows directory. If found delete it. Using the editor remove the entries "Run=C:\windows\system\explore.exe" and "Run=_setup.exe" in "win.ini" file.

                     To clean this virus in Windows NT, close all the programs using Task Manager. Then delete "Explore.exe" in the WinNT system32 directory. Search for "_setup.exe" in the WinNT directory. If found delete it. MiniZip virus will change the registry to load automatically on every boot. To remove this, open the registry using "regedit.exe" and modify the key value from "run c:\windowsNT\system32\explore.exe" to empty in the registry entry "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\Windows".

How can I protect my system?

Fire has incorporated MiniZip into its virus signature file, with the aim of helping users affected by this Worm attack to detect and eliminate it from their systems. Fire anti-virus users can update this signature file from our web site. A free utility also available to detect and clean this virus in Download Center.