Klarinet Archive - Posting 000548.txt from 2002/12

From: "Patricia A. Smith" <patricia@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] OT: SPAM and virus problems; was, How it happens
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 21:53:53 -0500

Rhea Jacobs wrote:

This thread should probably not continue for too
> long; still, I'm curious to hear about other spam killers -- their
> effectiveness, selectiveness, intrusiveness, etc.

Well, not to stray too far afield, but to be brutally honest - the two
best medicines, IMO, are prevention. After 3 - count'em, 1-2-3-
reformats of my hard drive, I gave up using Outlook Express AND Internet
Explorer. Bingo! I've only found one virus on my machine since my last
reformat WAAAAAAAY back in March, and the FREE antivirus program,
e-scorcher "scorched" it easily.

I also utilize Zone Alarm, which tends to block most of the spy ware and
pop-ups before I ever get them, since most of that crap has to have IE
in some form to run at all. And I use web-based e-mail for anything on
the web I have to register for - if I'm curious, I utilize the setting
in Netscape e-mail that says view source - I can see the text of the
mail without opening it, thus keeping from downloading a virus.

I love Netscape 7.0 - it works for me. As do Zone Alarm free version,
escorcher (also free) and Ad-Aware (*free version).

HTH

Patricia Smith

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