Easy Detection of the Sony DRM Rootkit

You may suspect that you have loaded the Sony Rootkit from a CD. It is possible to have done this and not realize that your system is at risk.
As a matter of fact, the person who discovered this rootkit problem had done exactly that.
Here is a simple test that you can perform to test your computer for the rootkit.
Open a text editor (notepad or wordpad) and set some text. Save the file you have made as $sys$canary.txt to the desktop. If you can see the new file on the desktop after saving, Sony has not done their work. If you cannot see the file on the desktop .... you have been rooted by Sony.
If you insist on continuing to use Sony products, leave this file on your desktop. If the file disappears at some future time ... you are no-longer safe. (hence the name canary as in canary in the mineshaft.