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Virus Alerts for the Common Man Stop Script Viruses Forever... • Windows Settings • Disable Windows Scripting Host. |
Greetings all,
Here are the instructions for all Windows versions
that support the Windows Scripting Host.
In WinME, Win2K WinNT, and WinXP, do the following:
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If you want to retain the ability to run the scripts when necessary, but avoid
running them automatically, a good strategy is to change the default action for
scripts so that they open in Notepad when you double-click them, rather than
executing as scripts. Follow these step-by-step instructions:
1. In My Computer or in any Windows Explorer window, click on the "View" menu
and click "Options", then switch to the "File Types" tab.
2. Select the entry for "VBScript Script File", which uses the extension "VBS",
and then click "Edit" ("Advanced" in Windows 2000).
3. On the "Edit File Type" dialog box, under "Actions", select "Edit", and then
click "Set Default". Make sure the boxes for "Confirm
Open After Download" and "Always Show Extension" are checked.
(These offer additional protection. For example, the VBS/LoveLetter
virus masqueraded as a text file on systems where extensions were
not displayed by using the file name LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs.
This fix will allow you to always see the complete filename so that
you'll know if a picture is really a picture of a text file is
really a a text file.)
4. Click OK to return to the "File Types" tab.
5. Repeat Steps 2-5 for these other scripting file types if you find them in the Registered file types list:
JScript Script File (extension JS)
JScript Encoded Script File (JSE)
VBScript Encoded Script File (VBE)
Windows Script File (WSF)
6. Click OK to save your changes.
After you change the file type associations, double-clicking one of these files or opening it from inside an Outlook message will display the file in Notepad. When you need to run one of these scripts, you can right-click it and choose Open from the popup menu.
(You can do something similar with Word and Excel files -- change the file association for the Open command to the Office viewers available on Microsoft's web site.)
In Windows 98...
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You can disable Windows Scripting Host ("WSH") by removing the component through
Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Look under the "Windows Setup" tab, click on
"Accessories", click on the "Details" button, then scroll down the list and
un-check the "Windows Scripting Host". Next, click on "Apply", then click
on "OK". Done... you are now protected from VBscript-type email viruses
even if you do not run antivirus software.
Alternative method for Windows 98 and Windows ME
----------------------------------------------------
This is not the best way to disable WSH, but it gets the job done.
1. Click Start, point to Find, and click Files or Folders.
2. Make sure that Look in is point to either drive C or All Drives if you have more than one.
3. In the Named box, type wscript.exe and then click Find Now.
4. Right-click the resultant file, and then do one of the following:
If you are sure that you will not need this, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm.
If you want to keep a copy of this file so that you can easily reinstall it later:
simply rename the file to wscript.saveexe
2. Close the Find Files window.
5. (Optional). Because you have deleted or renamed the Wscript.exe file, if you ever do
try to run a .vbs file, you will see a Program Not Found message. This is,
of course, expected, and you can just click Cancel. If you want to prevent
this, however, you will have to remove the file association, as follows:
a. Start Windows Explorer.
b. Click View, and click Options or Folder Options.
c. Click the File Types tab.
d. In the Registered file types list box, scroll down to select VBScript Script File.
e. Click Remove, and then click Yes to confirm.
f. Click OK, and then close all dialog boxes.
6. (Important). Now repeat the entire process for the cscript.exe file this time
Windows 95
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WSH is installed if you install Internet Explorer 5, or if you download WSH from Microsoft.
To prevent scripts with a .VBS extension from being run:
1. OPen Windows Explorer
2. Click the 'View' menu and select 'Options...'.
3. Click on 'File Types' tab
4. Look for 'VBScript Script File' in the list of file types
(if you can't find it, your machine is safe and you don't need to do anything else).
5. Click on the 'Remove' button.
6. If you see a dialog asking you to confirm removal, click 'Yes'.
7. Repeat Step 4-6 for these other scripting file types if you find them in the Registered file types list:
JScript Script File (extension JS)
JScript Encoded Script File (JSE)
VBScript Encoded Script File (VBE)
Windows Script File (WSF)
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