jon_37920
07-08-2004, 05:14 AM
Here's a friendly suggestion for all of you MS Windows users .
I get quite a lot of virus-infected e-mails. The most common viruses today replicate by - completely invisibly to you - e-mailing itself to e-mail addresses it finds in your computer address books or through web sites you visit, or by connecting to other computers to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows (and believe me, there are quite a few).
If your computer is infected, and the virus is left to replicate for too long, then that may or may not be a valid reason for your Internet service provider to temporarily suspend your account or even boot you off the network.
Fortunately, there are on-line virus scanners. They're by no means a substitute for a full antivirus solution but are a lot better than nothing at all. Here's one from TrendMicro. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp (Loading the site and the antivirus checker takes a while on a slow connection). Instructions for use are on the site. The scan will likely only take a few minutes.
As no antivirus program is perfect, a scan might be beneficial even if you've already installed an antivirus program. For instance, my experiences say that Norton Antivirus seems especially unreliable and doesn't always detect infected files.
I get quite a lot of virus-infected e-mails. The most common viruses today replicate by - completely invisibly to you - e-mailing itself to e-mail addresses it finds in your computer address books or through web sites you visit, or by connecting to other computers to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows (and believe me, there are quite a few).
If your computer is infected, and the virus is left to replicate for too long, then that may or may not be a valid reason for your Internet service provider to temporarily suspend your account or even boot you off the network.
Fortunately, there are on-line virus scanners. They're by no means a substitute for a full antivirus solution but are a lot better than nothing at all. Here's one from TrendMicro. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp (Loading the site and the antivirus checker takes a while on a slow connection). Instructions for use are on the site. The scan will likely only take a few minutes.
As no antivirus program is perfect, a scan might be beneficial even if you've already installed an antivirus program. For instance, my experiences say that Norton Antivirus seems especially unreliable and doesn't always detect infected files.