Dual Boot setup

Question:

What is the need for having a dual OS in a PC? For instance, if I have installed both Win XP and Win 98, and I browse in Win 98, are there chances of a virus attack?

With regard to my system, of late I have been facing this problem: after I surf for some time, the name of a virus is displayed.

I have tried to heal it with AVG antivirus and the PC starts rebooting automatically. Before shutting down, it also displays the system restore screen.

I also have not been able to access the task manager. My PC time also keeps getting changed to some random time, but the date is correct. Please suggest a solution.

Answer:

If more than one person is using a particular computer,and each one has a different preference of OS, then more than one OS is installed. Thus each one's preference is met.

Dual OS installation happens mostly with regard to home PCs. The other scenario is if you want to evaluate a new OS version you can install the new one along with the existing one. Once you get familiar with the new OS and are satisfied with the features, you can migrate entirely to the new OS.

If it does not suit your requirements, the new version of OS can be uninstalled.

The recommended practice when installing dual OS is to install the second OS in a different partition or in a second hard disk if available.

This will protect your existing working OS. If at any point of time one OS crashes or suffers a virus attack it is possible to boot from the other OS and do the recovery of the infected OS or retrieve important data from it.

If Windows XP and Windows 98 are installed in a single computer it is advisable to browse the Internet from XP. Windows XP has more features compared to Win 98 for Internet browsing. Windows XP has a firewall installed, which will protect the computer from unauthorised network access.

As for the second part of your query, it looks like your computer has been infected by viruses such as Sasser or Blaster. These are viruses that get the PC rebooting automatically.

To remove them, you need to first install the latest service packs and the Windows updates.

Without the service packs or Windows updates, the antivirus programs (removal tools) will not be successful. Separate virus removal tools are available for Sasser worm and Blaster worms.

For Sasser worm, you can download the tool (FxSasser.exe) from this URL: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2004-050114-1706-99.

For more information about the Blaster worm removal tool, please look up this URL: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2003-081119-5051-99