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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (188233)	10/2/2001 11:41:06 AM
From: DMaA	Respond to of 769670

OT - Someone ( I thought it was JLA) posted a suggestion for stopping viruses by putting a !00000 in your EMail list. Got the following from our IT department: Apparently it's a hoax. Too good to be true. Information on the "put an entry in the Outlook contacts list" trick from Woody's Office Watch: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. MORE ON THE 00000 AND !00000 ANTI-VIRUS NON-TRICK Man, I'm getting loads of mail about the "put a 00000 entry in your Contacts list" trick that I discussed two issues ago. (See "Virus Blocking 00000 Trick Doesn't Work" in woodyswatch.com .) Please, everybody - the variations you've discovered don't work, even if your best friend's car mechanic's son who's a REALLY SMART computer guy (but a little smelly) told you it would block viruses. No way. In fact, it's turned into a big hoax. Andre Dierick writes: "Could you please add in your next Windows column that the non-working tip on 0000 to prevent viruses to be spread is (in Holland) changing into a virus as well? Reason: this "tip" is been send around and creates a chain of emails, thus overfloading email servers. It's not harmfull to my PC, but uses resources, comm links etc." Please, please, please. If you get a message telling you about the wonderful 00000 anti-virus trick, send a copy of this missive to the person polluting our ether. Dear (fill in the blank) - I really appreciate your sentiment - I know your heart's in the right place - but the 00000 trick doesn't work. What you've encountered is a well-meaning bit of advice that's rapidly turning into an urban legend. If you really want to protect yourself and your friends from viruses: A. Buy, install, update, and religiously use one of the major anti-virus software products. B. Refrain from opening any file attached to any email message, until you've contacted the sender and made sure that the file you received was sent intentionally. Even if it was sent intentionally, the file should be saved to disk and specifically run through an up-to-date virus checker BEFORE it gets opened. C. Don't believe everything you hear. Make sure you get your anti-virus information from people who know what they're talking about. D. If you're tempted to pass along more advice, please check the Virus Myths page, vmyths.com , before hitting the Forward button. Thanks.