I made a mistake/discovered something to avoid doing.

[Hem592]

I was recently messing around in Windows XP (Via Virtual Machine) when someone suggested to me that I try typing "del C:\ /f /s /q /ar /as /ah /aa /ai /al /a-" into the command prompt, to test if the VM was truly isolated from my computer...

Turns out... It wasn't... Within several seconds, I had noticed that it accessed a couple files that were not in the virtual machine...

I closed the prompt immediately and stopped the VM...

Now... Luckily, my computer makes a backup of itself every day, so... I don't have to worry about my files, as I am tranfering them right now from the backup to the original location...

However, I highly suggest to NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER, USE THE CODE THAT I JUST DID, IT WILL WIPE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE OFF OF YOUR HARD DRIVE!

Note to self: Never take suggestions from people about what to test...

[Martin]

Within several seconds, I had noticed that it accessed a couple files that were not in the virtual machine...

Not technically possible, must have been something else...

[socratis]

Are you kidding me? This command won't even work on Windows XP!!! Unless I see some proof, your message will be deleted as complete and utter scareware, and complete and utter nonsense.

This is not possible! Even if you had used shared folders, with full read-write access, due to its nature, you'd have to "map" the shared folder as another drive. So your command that works on C:\ could have never worked on a shared folder, i.e. your host.

And just so that you know what your "friend"'s script is supposed to be doing, here's a small analysis:

• del C:\ /f /s /q /ar /as /ah /aa /ai /al /a-

Delete from C:\ (del C:\), while forcing the deletion of read-only files (/f), including all subdirectories (/s), quietly (/q), all files that are read-only (/ar), system (/as), hidden (/ah), ready to be backed up (/aa). The flags /ai, /al and /a- are meaningless and if you type the command with these flags, you will get an error and the command will not execute.

So... I want to see some proof. Solid proof. Or I will be forced to delete your message within 24 hours.