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Welcome PC Lovers !!
There's been a lot of discussion about the "viruses that have been coming out of the proverbial "woodwork" lately, and there is need for caution concerning some of them. Everyone has probably heard of "Melissa" by now, and that is a bad one, but there is also one called, "Stone Temple Monkey" that isn't too nice either. Also there is a nuisance virus called " Happy 99" that isn't too bad, but it is devious, because it attaches itself to your e-mail, and hits your friends too.
Doug has recommended the new Norton 5.0 antivirus(it comes with free online upgrades!)and even has a special deal available to save members money on it, so, if you don't have any antivirus program in your computer, you may want to look into it. Hackers are getting slicker and slicker, and any virus, however "benign" it mat be, is still not good for your PC or you!
Any old dog can learn a new trick, if he's paying attention. Did you know that your PC "warms up" itself, even if it's off? I always shut off my surge protector. when I leave my PC desk, and then turn it on when I re-start. It seems that this can cause your PC some stress, if you don't let it "warm up" before you actually start it. If you cut the power to the PC between uses, as I do, turn on the power a few minutes before you actually turn it on !!
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Our last meeting
There were a few "new faces" and some very welcome "regular members" at the meeting this month, and there was a lot of topics covered. We did a little work on how to make your PC really your own "personal computer" by changing the look and way it is set up, had a lively discussion on the viruses that are out right now, and then got into some internet-related issues, and visited a few interesting websites. As is his custom, Doug, started the meeting by fielding questions, and used that as a basis for the 1st hour's discussion, so that the members could help guide the direction according to their need for information and aid. The idea of a "suggestion box" was brought up, and it was decided that it might be a good way for members to drop off suggestions without anyone knowing who they were. I had no idea we had so many "shy violets"!!
There will only be a couple more meetings before we take a "break" for summer,
so the next two meetings may be your only chances to get the benefit of the groups collective input and experience, until this fall! The group can only be as strong as it's members make it, so try to make a meeting, and let them members in on your ideas and discoveries
The next meeting will include a workshop on DVDs and making CDs, along with our usual question and answer session.
The next meeting will be at 6PM on Wed the 5th of May, at ABP Computer Services
Try to attend, and bring along an interested friend. The more members we have, the stronger the Group will be!!!
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What's new !
I was hoping to have a direct link to a site that would "clean" the virus "Happy 99" from your computers (if you got it), but so far the only one I found is a manually done clean, not an automatic one. I sent the site to Doug, so he'll have it to use if you need help with it.
I must explain why this newsletter is so late in being published to our website. I had a little trouble with my mail, and lost my entire address book! As far as I can tell, it wasn't a "virus" related problem, but rather a technical error made by my son in an attempt to set up his own mail account. I had to re-load my entire address book manually, and I luckily found a file in my windows sub-directory that had all the information saved in it! I was a bit worried, but I remembered the old adage, "You have to me smarter than the machine!" So I just asked it to tell me where it had my file, and it told me!
Doug mentioned at the meeting that
www.nickelodeon.com
is a good site to get a list of safety rules from for "surfing the internet". I know it's a "kid's site", but when it comes right down to it, we're all basically, kids when it comes to the big world that the Internet opens up to us now. Take a look, and you just might learn something new there!
The Editor
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