I'm very sorry and embarrassed to have to say that my computer has
been carrying a virus and a worm for some time now (because I hadn't
updated my anti-virus program in ages).
The only obvious damage to my computer seems to have been some
deleted emails. So I have probably not received all emails sent to me.
The good news is that both the worm and the virus are quite old, so
if your virus protection is anywhere near up-to-date, you didn't catch
either. If so, you can safely stop reading here, though you may want to
know that I have now installed Norton anti-virus 2002, which checks all
OUTGOING email for contaminations.
The bad news is that if you don't have virus protection, my computer
may have infected yours. (For whatever it is worth, almost all my infected
files were in unopened e-mail attachments and caches.)
If you don't have virus protection, but wish to find out if your
computer has caught these or any other viruses or worms, go to the Semantec
web site for a free test (no downloads required). Here is the URL
<http://security2.norton.com/us/home.asp?j=1&langid=us&venid=sym&plfid=20&pkj=QJWZBXUQIZQVMUYTACD>
for the test. If that doesn't work for you, try going through the Semantec
home page.
The virus my computer had was LOVELETTER. It is easily treated with
Norton (or, I believe, any other anti-virus program).
The worm creates a file called CSir32. You can check to see if your
computer has it through "FIND/files and folders" (on your Start
menu). Norton took care of the worm easily. On my PC, however, it did not
remove a command, created by the worm, to open CSir32 whenever Windows was
opened--which means Windows, "believing" it needed this file to function,
would not start until I went into SafeMode (by holding down the Control key
while booting the computer). From SafeMode, I removed the command
manually. Not being sufficiently expert myself, I needed an expert on
the telephone to guide me through the process.
I hope this message is irrelevant to you. If not, my deepest apology.
Rick
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