Thanks Barbara! Great advice. To check on possible virus hoaxes, I go to Snopes. They are an online wealth of information on hoaxes. Go to: http://www.snopes2.com and be prepared for LOTS of interesting reading! Meg Gentry Bookout Barbara Eberly wrote: > As far as attachments are concerned, it is generally a good idea to avoid > them whenever possible. The university where my husband works has set their > system so that it CANNOT receive any attachments. They use Outlook and it > is a prime target for viruses. They are training faculty and students to > cut and paste and send internal messages. When that is not possible--as > with dissertation chapters, etc.--both students and faculty are required to > do a virus check on sending and receiving messages. > > If you must send an attachment, send it as an .rtf file instead of a .doc > file. This reduces the chances of a virus. > > As for knowing who you are getting files from, that isn't always safe > either. I got a severe virus a couple of years ago from a friend who was > sending me a brochure for a conference we were working on. It turned out > that he had been infected by an e-mail from the honors college at his > university. I caught it fairly quickly--but not quickly enough to save my > computer. I did save his--and they caught the honor student who created the > virus. > > If you get a virus, try to determine where it came from. Or see if you can > find who sent it on to you. Immediately notify everyone in your mailing > list--because most viruses infect others by using your address book and > sending itself to all your friends. If the virus can be traced back to the > creator, current national law now treats any computer hacker as a terrorist > and they can be prosecuted as such. (My son is in the nation's first > cybercrime technology degree program and I am learning all sorts of > interesting things.....) > > Also, periodically some sweet soul sends out message telling you to delete > some file which is supposedly a virus. This is usually a part of the > Windows System folder. The current one seems to be "jdbgmgr.exe" > ALWAYS check hoax sites before deleting anything from your system folder. > These are the files which run your computer. This one is also a hoax. If > you have deleted it, you may need to reinstall Windows. > > --Barbara Eberly > Bradley Springs Cemetery: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~beberly/bradley.htm > Risinger Page > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~beberly/risinger/rising.htm > > > > Bookout wrote: > > >>Once again, this is a reminder to not only have a virus program >>installed, but to UPDATE IT FREQUENTLY. I use Norton Anti-Virus 2002, >>which is a wonderful program-it checks not only incoming, but also my >>outgoing e-mail. It takes a couple of seconds more for sending and >>receiving, but it is worth the peace of mind. There are other good >>programs, but I have been very happy with this one! >> Yours for safe cyber-surfing- >> Meg Gentry Bookout >> >>rayjac wrote: >> >> >>>There is a Virus going around that has an attachment. >>> >>>Warning, even if you know who the person that the email is from >>>and you are not expecting --- DO NOT OPEN. >>>I have received email from persons that is on this mail list, that has >>>attachment but it was not sent by them. >>>. >>> >>>BE CAREFUL in opening any mail with attachment ---DELETE. >>> >>>Shelby County Texas Rootsweb Coordinator >>>http://www.rootsweb.com/~txshelby >>>rayjac@ktsnet.com >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> > >