Hello, Hadley Researchers, The Hadley list is remarkable in its character: it's a great group of genealogists -- and probably most of you don't need to see the following. But just in case there're "newbies" on the list, and to keep this the remarkable, mature, and easy-to-manage list that it is, voila!! here's a reminder about virus warnings sent out on the list: Recently, some members were contacted privately, by another list member, about a possible virus. It turned out to be a hoax, as 99.9% of them are, and the sender has acknowledged his error. His private mailing did not violate list guidelines. There were responses sent, though, possibly as a result, to the list. Mailing list guidelines request not to send virus warnings to the list for good reasons. 1) They almost always generate a lot of response ("I got that one, too!" or "Here's how to get it off your hard drive." etc.) These are well intentioned, as is the warning. 2) All this mail is stored at Rootsweb on their servers. Multiply this mailing list by the thousands Rootsweb holds, and you can see why they recommend listowners not to allow such postings and to keep things on topic: the resultant emails take up lots of space. No one culls Mailing List archives for irrelevant mail. It ALL goes into the archives. 3) Most virus warnings are fake. Before sending one along, good advice is to first check out the warning. Here's McAfee's page on the SULFNBK hoax (with instructions on replacing the file in case you deleted it): http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=99084& For future information, here's their page listing all known viruses up to now: http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp? Other websites maintain similar lists. Try a search on google or other search engine. 4) Because of Number 3, above, needless warnings can send internet users into "virus warning fatigue," leading them to ignore a REAL virus warning because they've seen so many hoaxes and are tired of them. A real virus is a serious problem, as our friend and original "warn-er" found out last year. It's a sort of "cry wolf" issue. I hope the above is useful to you. As we move into the summer, what is normally high level genealogy time, I wish you the best in your research. Regards, Becky Teague Listowner Hadley-L _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com