In the process of looking for answers to my corrupted zip file headers, I came acreoss this information. Was not aware of these happenings, and am now able to understand the process. Did have to download the p2pConverter seven times, before one would correctly upload without the zip file stating “corrupted header”.
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Home User Enterprise User home / support / FAQ’s / “header corrupt” messages /
Why am I suddenly getting “header corrupt” messages when I run self-extractors?
Frequently, the problem with corrupted self-extractors (and corrupted .zip
files, as well) is that an error has been introduced into the file during
download (e.g., by phone line noise). Normally, downloading the file again
resolves the problem. If, however, repeated attempts to download the file do not
result in a good copy, your computer may be infected by a virus.
In mid-1998, a new virus named CIH was released (it first showed up in Taiwan in
June, 1998). Other names for this virus include “W95.CIH”, “Chernobyl”, and
“Spacefiller”. This virus has been reported in a large number of executable
files, including self-extracting Zip files created using WinZip Self-Extractor.
This is not a problem in the WinZip or WinZip Self-Extractor applications
distributed by WinZip Computing. Rather, the problem is that the self-extractor
you’re trying to run may have been infected with this virus. All executable
files are susceptible to virus infection, and since self-extractors are
executable files, they are susceptible to virus infection, as well.
An executable file can become infected with a virus such as CIH in at least
three ways:
Your computer is itself actively infected, and when you copied the executable
to your computer (e.g., via download or from a floppy disk), or otherwise
processed it, the executable became infected with the virus.
The person who created the executable (i.e., the self-extractor) did so on a
computer where the virus was active, so that the original copy of the
self-extractor was infected.
The executable passed through an infected computer on its journey from the
original source computer to your computer.
The symptoms of virus infection can vary. Sometimes, there is no visible symptom
at all until the virus destroys enough data on your computer that the computer
no longer functions properly. With self-extractors created using WinZip
Self-Extractor, the “corrupt header” message occurs in many cases when these
self-extractors are run on computers infected with CIH. (This may serve as a
kind of “early warning” that your computer is infected. You should not, however,
assume that the absence of such a message means that your computer is clean.)
If you suspect your computer is infected with the CIH virus (or with any other
virus), we recommend that you run a reliable virus scanner with the latest virus
updates. It is also a good precaution to virus scan all executable files,
including self-extracting Zip files, you receive from any source that you do not
trust absolutely.
As far as we know, the current versions of Norton AntiVirus, AVP, and the
registered version (but not the evaluation version) of F-Secure (formerly
F-PROT) currently can recognize the CIH virus.
