Dear Family and Friends - I am extremely sorry to have to tell you this, but I may have accidently infected your computer with a virus/worm which I caught unknowingly from the Legacy List (computer genealogy). Even though I am always very careful not to open any attachments, this particular worm can be caught simply by reading a message sent from the person's infected computer. Shortly after someone sent in that message to the Legacy Users Group, there were a whirl of messages saying that their anti-virus programs caught it and didn't allow it to enter their system. Well, mine didn't stop it, and in it came... No damage, thank goodness, because the Legacy Users Group alerted us so quickly and told us what to look for and what to do. I'm hoping that I can do the same for you... Now, I have not quite determined when the message came in, so I'm not sure who I may have sent it to and who I didn't, but I know that it was in the last few days - AFTER the 18th of January - so I am sending a message to everyone to whom I sent messages after that time. THIS message is NOT infected.... You can tell whether or not you caught the virus by going to your "Start" button on the bottom left of your screen, then to "Programs" and to "Startup." If you see "kak.exe" in the Startup list, you have the virus, which is a type 4 (the most destructive!) and it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you follow these instructions... 1. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER, DO NOT REBOOT IT, ETC. It is by doing this that the worm/virus activates its destructive work. If you have not turned it off since you got the virus, you'll be okay. 2. You must get rid of the virus before February 1st at 5:00 P.M.. It also activates automatically by reaching that date/time. 3. Go to the Symantec site to get information about the worm/virus and directions on how to get it out of your computer's system, and do it immediately! The specific for this worm/virus site is: http://service1.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2000020318071406 4. Email all of the people YOU have sent emails to during the last several days to let them know what to do... 5. Check often to see that you have not been reinfected by those same people! I HOPE that most of you have not been infected with this, and ask forgiveness from those who have been. Like most people, I guess, I thought I was protected if I just didn't open up any attachments I didn't recognize or which did not have some kind of message from the person on the main screen. And the other main genealogy group I belong to supposedly blocks such viruses from entering. But this new list I got on does not, and I didn't know it until it was too late. Just goes to show you how important having a good anti-virus program (which is regularly updated and which stops these things from entering) installed on your computer is in this day and age of weirdos who make and send these things. Again, I'm SO SORRY if I was the inadvertent cause of any problems you may have experienced from this. Sincerely, Kathi To unsubscribe: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
