Re: comp.sys.apple2 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) part 2/3

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article lesherjt@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Tilghman Lesher) writes...
>
>1)  Blackout.  Turned the screen colors to Black, black, black.  Turned
>sound to zero, boot disk to ROMdisk (I think!).  Installed in block
>zero of boot disk.  System 6 made it impossible for it to install itself.

    Actually the "Blackout" virus installs itself in the battery backed
RAM used for the clock/Control-Panel settings. In otherwords, switching
the main power off will not rid you of it, making it seem like your IIgs
has experienced a hardware failure. I caught it once or twice, a certain
demo released in 1992 seemed to have a copy of the virus on it. The virus
is harmless, but certainly a major annoyance.

    To purge it, start-up your IIgs while hold down the option key. 
Then press "2" (60 Hertz) which will clear all settings in battery
backed RAM (including the virus). Unfortunately this will also reset 
all the Control Panel settings back to their defaults, though you've
little choice. You'll have to do this blindly of course, since the
display will be black.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca