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By now, unless you've been in a tent on the tundra you've heard all about the newest and most effective worm auto viruses.
"I LOVE YOU" "FWD:JOKE" "VIRUS ALERT" "Arab Airlines..." "Mother's Day Order Confirmation" & "Susitikim shi vakara..." are all variants of, VBS/LoveLetter VBScript worm. That replicate themselves and spread thru email.
These worms use the Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail applications and address books to spread. They are all overwriting VBS viruses, and spread themselves using mIRC (chat) clients as well.
You aren't safe if you don't use Outlook or Outlook Express either. If you use another email client like Netscape Navigator or Aol, et al. you will be infected if you download and open the attached file.
Of course, the best protection is to keep your anti-virus software up-to-date and keep an eye and ear out for new viruses. Symantec, Sophos, PC-Cillin - House Call online, McAfee all offer free updates and demos and are inexpensive. CIAC, CERT, and F-Secure are great sites for information regarding viruses; brand new and old.
But here's some simple things to do to help prevent this type of virus from getting on to your system:
1.) Don't open or download anything from people you don't know or aren't expecting something from.
2.) In some versions of Outlook and Outlook Express:
Click Tools, then Options.
In the pop-up box select the 'read' tab and be sure that "automatically download message when viewing in the preview pane" is unchecked
3.) In View then layout
Be sure that "show preview pane" is unchecked.
4.) Turn off your Windows Scripting Host. In Windows 98:
Go to your Start Menu and choose Settings, then Control Panel.
Double-click on the Windows Components control panel,
and then choose the Accessories option.
Uncheck the box for Windows Scripting Host, which should be the last one on the list.
Click Here to find out how to uninstall 'Windows Scripting Host'
That's all there is to it!
To Stop a virus from spreading so quickly automatically
Outlook:
Click Tools > Options, select the Mail Delivery tab and clear the Send messages immediately when connected check box.
Outlook Express
Click Tools > Options, select the Send tab and clear the Send messages immediately check box.
Change your security zones
Now for more secure email, make these two changes:
1.Change the Security Zones to Restricted sites zone:
In Outlook, select Tools > Options and select the Security tab. On that tab there is a dropdown menu in the center panel labeled Zone:. In this dropdown menu, select Restricted Sites.
In Outlook Express, you also go to the Tools | Options, select the Security tab, and check the radio button for Restricted sites zone.

2.Adjust the Restricted sites setting to disable Active Scripting:
With Outlook, you can access the detailed security settings by clicking the button marked Zone Settings on Outlook's menu under Tools > Options, Security tab.
Or with either program, you can open the Internet Properties from Start > Settings > Control Panel > Internet Options. Select the Security tab, select the Restricted sites icon and click on the Custom Level button. Scroll down to the fourth item from the end which is under the heading Scripting. There you'll find Active scripting. Microsoft's reckless default is Enable. Change that to Disable.
To see if you've been infected by the I LOVE YOU click start then find in the name field type:
MSKernel32.vbs or LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs
Make sure you are searching on your C drive and include subdirectories is checked. These files are place in your windows directories. If you have these files contact your Virus software website or your computer repair company. Do not reboot your computer.
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