Parity_Boot.B infects the boot records of diskettes and the Master Boot Records of hard disks. As a typical boot sector virus, Parity_Boot.B can infect hard disks only during a diskette boot. The virus reserves one kilobyte of conventional memory for itself and infects all non-write- protected diskettes used in an infected computer.
Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it will either move the file to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or remove it.
A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:
Check for the latest database updates
First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.
Submit a sample
After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.
Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.
Exclude a file from further scanning
If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.
Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.
Parity_Boot.B uses stealth techniques, so the changes the virus has made cannot be detected while it is active in memory. Parity_Boot.B activates at random times and prints the message "PARITY CHECK" on the screen. After this, the virus crashes the computer, simulating a genuine error situation due to faulty memory circuits.
Incidents involving the Parity_Boot.B virus have lately popped up in several parts of the world. The virus seems to be especially common in Germany, probably because the virus infected a cover-disk distributed by one of the biggest German computer magazines in late 1994.