Windows XP Horror Edition
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This article contains spoilers! |
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Windows XP Horror Edition is a screamer application created by a user WobbyChip, and was first given to Siam Alam to showcase and popularize the virus.
Payload
Upon launch, the virus installs a false update for Windows XP, and plays the Windows XP installation music in the background. When the "update" is 66% complete, the music stops, and an error message appears on the screen, saying "Setup cannot copy the file ntdll.dll, Setup will use the file 666.sys." The music is replaced with a creepy chime soundtrack, the background turns red, and the Windows XP logo changes to an eye along with "Don't Look Behind You." When the "update" is 100% complete, the screen then shows what appears to be glitchy static, before turning black. The cursor is still visible.
The screen stays black briefly, before showing a false Windows XP startup animation all in red, and with a skull in the logo.
The red background reappears, along with an eye next to the word "welcome." Logging in to Windows XP Horror Edition greets the user with a desktop wallpaper full of skulls, a red taskbar with the Start button labeled "DEAD," and four icons labeled, "My Computer," "NOTHING," "DON'T OPEN ME.txt" and "Recycle Bin." The background changes to creepy pictures and glitchy effects at certain points. Thresh's Theme from League of Legends plays in the background.'[1]
Clicking the "DEAD" button opens the Start menu but in red and with "666" on the top bar. Clicking on the programs within the Start menu causes them to disappear. Clicking the icon on the top bar greets the user with a wooden door. After a few moments the door opens, along with a loud squeak sound. The user is jumpscared by Lisa from the Silent Hills demo, P. T (same character but not a screamer face from Micromachines.net23.net), along with the loud scream from The Maze, before then being greeted with "GO TO SLEEP" written in blood on the screen.
Opening the "DON'T OPEN ME.txt" file opens a Notepad window with, "CONGRATULATION YOU OPENED ME, DO YOU WANNA PLAY A GAME, OKEY THEN LOOK BEHIND YOU." The screen then changes to a jumpscare from the videogame Granny with a very loud screech, and then displays "Game Over." The Notepad icon then twitches and can't be opened again.
Opening "NOTHING" greets the user with a video known as The Sad Man, by the animator Jake Lava.[2]
At certain points, the background changes to a Half-Life 3 wallpaper, with a trollface version of Bill Gates head, but it is also possible to change to the "Sake of Windows XP" or other horror images. After a few error messages, the Nope.avi sound is played, before switching back to the desktop.
Opening the "My Computer" icon displays a message saying "DO YOU SERIOUSLY WANT TO TRASH YOUR COMPUTER FOREVER?" Clicking Yes will cause the My Computer icon to move to the Recycle Bin icon. The screen then turns black, before showing a Phantom BB jumpscare from FNaF 3, playing the FNaF 1 scream, then showing a false BSOD which says "The problem seems to be caused by the following file 666.sys." The messages appear line by line several times, before the computer shows a real BSOD, and then reboots.
The last payload of the malware overwrites the MBR upon the next boot, and then displays an eye, along with "I'M WATCHING YOU" on the bottom.
Stopping it through Task Manager is impossible, as the malware disables its use upon launch.
To fix the overwritten MBR, run the Windows setup loader on the installation media, access the Command Prompt through Repair Your Computer, and then type the following commands: "bootrec /fixboot, bootrec /fixmbr" The MBR can also be fixed through NeoSmart's Easy Recovery Essentials, a recovery/diagnostic tool that can be used to restore non-functioning computers.
There is also a Peaceful version of the application, with only two differences; after the Phantom BB jumpscare from FNAF 3 followed by a false BSOD that repeats the same line, the application just closes, instead of actually crashing the computer with a real BSOD, and pressing either ALT + F4 or CTRL + ALT + DEL closes the application.
References
Links
NOTE: The following applications contain multiple screamers, as well as a malicious script that may harm your computer!
- Destructive Version: archive.org/details/WinXP.Horror.DestructiveCreatedByWobbyChip_201811
- Destructive & Peaceful Versions: archive.org/details/winxp.horror.destructive
Showcases
