On Wed, 3 Apr 1996, Ian Clowes wrote: > As the topic is quite serious I thought it worth repeating post > April 1st. It was not intended as a spoof, although I can't > vouch for the sesitivity to modem speed! Ian isn't the only person to point out that my response was misplaced, and of course they're right. I hereby apologise, however I should comment further. Computer viruses, trojans, ansi bombs and worms are all serious threats about which we must be aware. We should _always_ check for and guard against them -- we shouldn't need to be warned about them. Much as we should check for EFB, AFB, varroa and the like. I have over the years found several computer viruses, however I have caught every one before it did damage to my data (so far -- touch wood). I have also been accused of 'having a virus', because *I* found it (hence my sympathy with Nick Wallingford and NZ re Kashmir). In most cases, the accusers were the people who had passed it to me! The increasing tendency of applications, particularly for MS Windows, to self-install and self-run is a development that worries me a great deal, because we are deprived of the opportunity to virus check _before_ we run the program. After may be too late. I work regularly with various computers in various environments so I am indeed cautious. I also know that there is no possibility that a virus can do things that are sometimes claimed; Which is why I strongly suspect that this warning was a spoof, passed on in good faith as a perhaps wise precaution. A virus (etc.) cannot damage your modem, processor, RAM or almost any other part of the hardware. A virus (etc.) cannot* damage your disc drive, but it *can* damage the data in holds. (* Erm, well, there's a suggestion that trying to format some older PC EIDE drives may make them unreadable). It's unlikely, but possible, that a virus (etc.) *could* damage your screen on a PC if it sets the scan rate wildly wrong. I hope that explains why I felt I could laugh. Unfortunately, I was laughing rather than thinking. Regards, -- Gordon Scott [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] (work) The Basingstoke Beekeeper (newsletter) [log in to unmask] <A HREF="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/apis">Embryo Home Page</A> Beekeeper; Kendo 3rd Dan; Sometime sailor. Hampshire, England.