I can speak only for myself when I say that the folks who create virii are to me just as dangerous as those folks halfway around the world as they terrorize humanity. While computer virii do not kill or maim individuals they do cause untold trouble, wasted time and money that could be used elsewhere. That said, the quote below is from the April 24, 2002 Rootsweb Review - No, RootsWeb.com is not sending you a virus or worm in an attachment -- no matter what these "forged" addresses with RootsWeb name in it say. Be sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date and that you use it. Never open any e-mail attachments unless you have confirmed with the sender that she or he did indeed send it to you for a reason. Do not assume that the attachment came from where it says -- these sophisticated worms are able to forge addresses and they are fooling lots of people. Some even claim to be "worm removal tools." Don't believe them. The Klez worm has been able to spread because of a security vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer (browser) and because many people do not update their browser and download these patches. Don't risk the loss of your personal and genealogical data: Update your browser now: [2-line URL]: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/q290108/default.asp/ Most antivirus vendors, such as Symantec, McAfee and Sophos, offer Klez patches. Is your computer virus free? Find out at: http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/ ---------------- Additionally the following sites offer FREE virus checkers and/or software: http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm or http://www.commandondemand.com/eval/index.cfm or http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp?language=2&Country=63 &Partner=1&Ref=EN-PR-AS-107 -------- I rarely send attachments - and do not do so without prior notes to the persons I do send attachments to. If you can pre-screen your email before downloading it, do so. Just because an email appears to be from a friend - if it shows an attachment check it out beforehand for most likely it is not from your friend but has had their address forged. The bad thing about the Klez virus is that it forges who it comes from in ALL cases so that where it actually came from is anyone's guess as the sender's email program, infected grabs an address at random from the sender's address book slaps it on the outgoing mail and sends it to whomever the sender has contact with either from their address book and/or apparently anywhere in their email. This current virus is the most devious one I've seen for lots of innocent folks are getting infected as they open mail and/or attachments they thought was from someone they know. There is even one particular sneaky mail this worm sends out that say that it is Klez removal tools, tells folks to ignore any messages that say hold on, don't run this - so that when they do ignore the safeguards in their system they too will become yet another victim of this virus. Having been zapped before by virii, and fighting it daily as part of my job, I can think of no greater common threat we face. Please be careful what you open and check your system often for virii. Tim Stowell tstowell@chattanooga.net Chattanooga, TN