Thanks, Bill. I didn't have time to get all the info for the CIH virus. I am backing up my data every so often and with having about 77% of the 555 pages of the 1860 census proofreading done, I am keeping those backed up with ever so many pages coming in. If I lost that, they would surely put me in the looney bin. Hard drive can go, data better not. Also need to check diskettes that we have data backed up on. Anyway I will do that, too. Thanks, again. Gloria - ---------------------------- From: "Bill House" <wghouse@cts.com> To: <glofra@townsqr.com> Subject: Fw: [WVHAMPSH-L] CIH VIRUS Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 01:05:06 -0700 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2014.211 Hi Gloria, Re your post on the CIH Virus, am forwarding the following msg from Patti McDonald of the WVHAMPSH-L. You will note she posted the address of www.symantec.com which one can click on, in order to download the file and info, so one can protect their computer from that virus. (I think Symantec bought out Norton). Anyway, I clicked on the site, and downloaded everything in less than 1 minute. Take care! Bill House in San Diego, CA <wghouse@cts.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: Patti McDonald <mcd@access.mountain.net> To: <WVHAMPSH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 23, 1999 7:14 PM Subject: [WVHAMPSH-L] CIH VIRUS > FYI, > I copied this from tonight's (4-23) CNN Website: http://www.cnn.com > regarding the CIH virus. > > > CIH virus may hit on Monday April 23, 1999 Web posted at: 2:43 p.m. EDT > (1843 GMT) by Emily Fitzloff > From... > > > > (IDG) -- A fiercely destructive virus that may already be sitting dormant in > the memory of computer users' systems is expected to become active Monday, > April 26. > The virus, which is called CIH 1.2 and infects Windows 95 and 98 .EXE > files, is not nearly as prevalent or easy to spread as the recent Melissa > virus, but is significantly more destructive to the computers it does infect > because it goes directly to the hardware. > According to Steve Trilling, director of research at the Symantec > Anti-Virus Research Center, the payload of CIH 1.2 "will not only delete > programs from your hard drive, but it can over-write flash BIOS and totally > destroy the motherboard." > Although CIH 1.2 is much more slow moving than the more common macro > viruses, its threat is higher because it typically goes undetected, > according to Sal Viveros, group marketing manager for Network Associates' > Total Virus Defense product line. > CIH was first discovered in summer 1998 in the Far East, according to > Symantec's Trilling, who explained that viruses tend to be most threatening > within the first six months of release. "Because CIH is now in its eighth > month, the threat has been significantly reduced," Trilling said. > CIH, however, does have the strength to destroy the hard drives of infected > computers when they are booted up on April 26. Some observers have > speculated that the payload release date is designed to coincide with the > 13th anniversary of the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl. > According to Viveros of Network Associates, March's relatively benign > Melissa may have been a blessing in disguise for U.S. computer users. > "Most U.S. users updated their anti-virus solutions because of Melissa, so > they are safe," Viveros said. > All of the leading anti-virus products have been aware of CIH 1.2 since > last summer, so people who have updated their systems since then will have > the current fix for CIH 1.2 and should be safe, according to Viveros, who > also remarked that the virus has been extremely prevalent in Asia. > Computer users who are unsure whether their systems may be carrying the CIH > 1.2 virus, especially those who have not been updating their anti-virus > systems regularly, should contact their anti-virus solution provider. > Symantec is offering a fix called Kill CIH that can be downloaded from > www.symantec.com (link below). Fixes are also available from Sophos, Network > Associates, and others. > One Microsoft representative said the software company's products had no > particular vulnerabilities to the CIH virus, and updated versions o > Windows-based anti-virus software should keep Windows clean of it. > "It can run Windows 95 and Windows 98," the representative said. "The virus > payload cannot run on NT systems. It could infect, but not run on, NT." > To Windows users, Microsoft recommended standard virus protection measures > -- using up-to-date scanning software, employing code-signing safeguards, > and not accepting floppy disks or executables from unknown sources. > Patti McDonald > mcd@access.mountain.net > http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvminera/mineral.htm > Co-Coordinator Mineral County USGenWeb Project > Mail to: WVMINERA-L-request@rootsweb.com: Subscribe to Mineral County > Mailing List