Has a "virus alert" ever prevented you from getting a virus?

Remember to check for new downloads with my virus defender program - Vet - watch for any emails with the type of headings mentioned.

Vet always seems to yell about 'em first anyway, though.

I don't pay much attention to them since there's nothing I can think of to do to prevent them without spending a small fortune.

I pay attention to the ones coming from the IT department at work. That usually means someone within got bagged and their computer knows my addy.

One outbreak I recieved a suspicious e-mail... didn't open it. Within a minute I got the woraning, within five minutes I had a hundred...

But bogus virus warnings are another type of virus... not malign, but still, forwarded to averyone on your addy list, it clogs up the bandwidth.

I have two e-mails w/ attachments in my in-box that I haven't opened. I'm almost certain that they are clean and as intended, but I'm not reading/opening them untill I've talked to the sender.

SealPoet's rule of thumb for attatched files. If the file you are attaching isn't already expected, send a separate e-mail with no attachment first to let 'em know what's coming.

One time that I can think of -- I got an "I love you" virus from someone I knew, who would conceivably say that. But knew about the virus, deleted it.

Meanwhile, another staff member got it from the guy she had just broken up with, and opened it even though she knew better...

On the other hand, a friend was rather peeved at me that I hadn't show up for the party she invited me to. I swore up and down that I hadn't gotten anything, then remembered I'd gotten a "you're invited!" email with a large attachment right when I was getting warnings about the "My party" virus. So deleted that without opening. Oops.

No. However, I have learned my lesson. We have both McAfee and Norton virus scans. Since I've downloaded those anti-virus programs onto our computer, no more virus's. McAfee continues to provide updates on a regular basis. c.i.

BTW, I still backup my important files. c.i.

Has a "virus alert"...
I keep my Norton up-to-date, and although I have received virus alerts from time to time, it always turns out that my automatic live update has covered it. However, twice I've received virus alerts from friends; once I was covered, and once it was the teddybear virus. It took me a lot of time and trouble to correct the error into which I fell trying to delete this non-existent problem.

I know my friend meant well, and was taken in by some other friend, but frankly it was nearly as bad as the real thing in terms of nuisance value.

I only pay attention to the alerts that Norton puts on my screen. I've got the automaticl ive-updated turned on, but also go get updates in between(manually). 2 times in the past 6 months I got a notice of breech and got it stopped it before I got infected.

I have the automatic updates on Norton. If I get an alert from someone, I check it out first. I think that Norton does the automatic updates only on a certain day. Because of that I will do a manual update if the alert is genuine!

Has a "virus alert"...
I agree with you, Phoenix. I don't know what system Norton uses for scheduling their automatic updates, but I like to do a manual update once or twice a week just on general principles.

What I can't understand is the attitude of the many people who don't bother with virus protection at all . What *can* they be thinking?

OK This was what I was looking for:


Link to Norton Anti-Virus



In other words, there may be a new, but not too serious new virus that they found on Thursday. You would not get the live update until the following Wednesday.

Craven- I never did answer your question. At one time I was getting the Klez virus practically on a daily basis, sometimes two. Then it would stop for a few weeks, and then start up again. I figured that I got a few dozen of them on total. Norton caught all of them!

Still didn't answer my question Phoenix. :-)

Did you ever get one of those "virus alerts" from a well meaning friend that was responsible for preventing you from getting a virus.

Craven- I have a friend who not only sends me jokes, she sends me hoaxes and virus alerts, some reliable, some not. She's a great gal, but nothing that she sent me ever was of any real help.

Even when it was a true virus alert, I always knew about what she was sending me before she sent it! I seem to remember my brother once sending me an alert, which I already had!