Home > Spam/virus-infected
email PART 1: Why the malicious
email message couldn't possibly have come from me It's a forgery;
a fake. And if most people
had been paying attention for the last few years instead
of thinking of the Internet as their personal, mindless little playland, then they'd know and understand how and why that sort of thing happens. And not a single one
of them -- not one -- is actually from me. Not
one, single one.
To the last of them,
they're all faked, forged, virus-infected or spyware-infected email messages and/or spams sent-out by self-replicating
virus programs that are hidden deep in the bowels of "robot" computers owned by unsuspecting people --
usually nice people, just like you -- who
won't bother to use and keep up-to-date any anti-virus and/or anti-spyware software... and maybe a firewall, too! Everyone should be
using, and keeping up-to-date, and a good anti-virus and anti-spyware program. Everyone! No one is immune from
the ravages of viruses and spyware; and email is the most common way that viruses are spread; and both email, as
well as certain kinds of web sites, and ad-supported, "freeware" software programs, are the most common
methods by which spyware is spread. Both are harmful; and both need to be kept in check by good anti-virus and
anti-spyware software, and guarded against by good firewall software, on everyone's desktop and laptop computers! Some of the best anti-virus
and anti-spyware software, and firewalls, don't even cost anything (at least not for
home users). They're FREE!
That's right... FREE... at least for home users. (Commercial users, companies,
offices, etc., must purchase the fee-based versions of these utilities.) So there's just no excuse for any Internet user not having, using, and keeping up-to-date a
good anti-virus and anti-spyware utility... and a decent firewall. The below is not a
list of options from which you should choose one, but not another. Rather, I'm prescribing that you download and
install, then keep up-to-date and regularly use, all of the following free software
utilities... all of them! They each do something
different and necessary. You need all six products. Fortunately, they're all free.
NOTE: You may notice on the Grisoft
free software web page
to which you are linked, above, that Grisoft is now offering a free anti-spyware product, too. That wasn't true
when this web page was first produced; but I'm certainly glad to see it. Unfortunately, at this writing, I have
only downloaded a copy of ewido, but have not yet tested and
evaluated it. However, since Grisoft's AVG is a good product, so, too, is ewido likely to be. Therefore, you
can probabaly use it instead of either of the below-mentioned "Spybot Search & Destroy," and/or "Lavasoft Ad-Aware" anti-spyware software products.
You would, however, no matter what, still need to download, install and use all of the other software mentioned on this
page.
WARNING: You may be solicited by, or
be tempted by the advertising of, other vendors who will offer free anti-virus software, anti-spyware software,
firewall software, or free online scans of your computer for viruses, spyware, trojans, worms and other exploits.
Do not be sucked-in by such offers. Many of those products/offerings are nothing more than spyware or ad-ware themselves,
in disguise! That said, there are
other good anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall products out there that are free, and that are not just malicious
spyware in disguise. The reason I warned, above, that most of the others can't be trusted is because darned few
of them can; and also because I didn't want to go to the trouble of listing the other trustable ones here. However,
what I am willing to do is refer you
to this web site where you can read all about the various other free (and
trustable) anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall utilities out there... some of which you may, after reading about
them, decide you'd rather use instead of the ones that I've recommended here. Just remember that all anti-spyware,
anti-virus, and firewall software is not equal. As with all things in life, some products are better than others.
The ones I've recommended here are, in my personal and professional opinion, the best of the bunch. They may or
may not be as fancy, or have as many features as some of the others, but they all do the essential and basic thing
for which they were created better than most... and that is, after all, the whole point, right? 1. Always keep your copy of Microsoft
Windows up-to-date. Windows comes, from the factory, rife with all manner of bugs and problems. The truth is, if
you hired a programmer to write some software for you, and if what he delivered were as full of bugs and problems
as the first version of virtually anything that Microsoft sells, you'd
fire him in a heartbeat... and maybe shoot him, too, on his way out the
door! Microsoft is constantly patching bugs, security holes and other problems in Windows; and it makes those patches
and updates available to its users for free. But none of that does any good if said users will not actually download
and install said patches/updates. So, there. I've now
given you the best advice I have to offer on this subject. If you were a commercial or large corporate client of
mine, then my advice would be a little different, of course. But for home users on their personal computers, the information and advice you've now gotten from
this web page is about as good as any floating around out there.
If you believe you've been spammed by this web site (or by me); or if you think you have received a virus-infected
or spyware-infected email message from it (or me), think
again.
You didn't get it from here... or from me. Believe it.
And if you'll just trouble yourself to read the following article, you'll not only understand why I couldn't possibly
have spammed you or sent you a virus- or spyware-infected email; but you will also learn how you can become part
of the solution to the larger problem that made you think I had sent you a malicious
email message in the first place.
Sadly, most people won't take the time to read the following article; and they'll just keep assuming that I'm spamming
them or sending them virus- and/or spyware-infected emails. There's not much I can do, I guess, about people who
insist on being stupid.
PART
2: How
you got the malicious email message in the first place, and why it seems like it came from me
PART
3: Free
software that will both protect your computer, and will make sure it won't be part of the problem in the future
PART
4: Two
last pieces of indispensable wisdom and advice that you should take very seriously
PART
1: Why the malicious email message
couldn't possibly have come from me
I'm one
of the Internet's earliest and most intolerant anti-spam activists. Don't believe it? Click here and notice what kind of web
site it is; then scroll down to the very bottom of that page and notice who's donating its domain name registration
services.
I don't send spam. Period. Never have. Never will. Believe it.
None of my web hosting or domain name services clients are allowed to send spam either. Ever. Not even once. I
have a zero-tolerance, "one-time-and-you're-out" policy about it. I'd terminate the web hosting and/or
domain name services of my own mother, in a heartbeat, if I discovered she was sending-out spam.
As for virus-infected emails... I don't do those, either. And, unlike most knuckleheads out there on the Internet,
I actually know how to ensure that it never happens (i.e., to ensure that my computer is never infected by viruses
or spyware which I could then pass along to you via email or some other means). After thirty years in the computer
business, that's the least of the things I should know.
"But," you say, "I have a virus-infected spam email message right here in my inbox... and your email address is in its 'From:'
field. So, then... precisely how do you explain that, smart guy... eh?"
Very simple:
It's not actually from me.
Really.
But, alas, most don't.
So, fine, then; I'll explain it...
JUMP
BACK TO THE TOP
PART
2: How you got the malicious email
message in the first place, and why it
seems like it came from me
I've been
on the Internet for many years, starting almost as far back as when it was the old "ARPANet," before
there was even such a thing as the "worldwide web;" and I've been on
the worldwide web since its very beginning in 1994. Consequently, my email address has been out there seemingly
forever. It's on web sites (both with and without my permission), in forum/bulletin board postings, in Usenet newsgroup
postings, and who knows where else. And it's been harvested from such places by every kind of spammer and malicious
hacker/cracker and virus-sender who ever lived. Everyone's got it; and literally thousands have abused it in one
way or another... including forging it into the "From:" field of their outgoing spam and virus-infected
emails.
I've also built and/or maintained some very high-profile web sites over the years; and in so doing, I've communicated,
via email, with literally thousands of people for one reason or another. Hence, my email address is in emails in
both the "Inbox" and "Sent Items" folders, as well as the address books, of more people than
I can count.
Why does that matter, you ask? Again, if
you'd been paying attention the past few years you'd know
that one of the most common virus spreading methodologies is for the malicious spyware or virus sender to send
unsuspecting recipients virus- or spyware-infected emails which appear to be from someone they know; and which invite said recipients
to view a photo, or open a game file, etc. When the unsuspecting and overly-trusting recipient does so, his or her computer becomes
infected with whatever virus payload said email was carrying.
Let's say this happens to Sally. The virus plants itself into the unsuspecting recipient Sally's hard drive without
Sally's knowledge. Then it just sits there, waiting for the next time Sally logs-in to the Internet; and when next
she does, then the virus, sensing a live Internet connection, comes alive. In the background, without Sally's knowledge,
the virus interrogates Sally's email inbox folder, and/or her "Sent Items" folder, and/or her address
book, and it randomly selects an email address therefrom. It then plops said email address into the "From:"
field of a virus-infected message that the virus is preparing to send out from Sally's machine, without Sally's
knowledge.
The virus then randomly selects yet another email address from Sally's
inbox folder, and/or her "Sent Items" folder, and/or her address book, and it then plops said address
into the "To:" field of that email that it's preparing.
Having filled-in the "From:" and the "To:" fields of its virus-infecvted message with email
addresses that it found on the unsuspecting Sally's computer, it then fires-off said virus-infected email message,
in the background, without Sally having any idea that it happened. The virus does this over and over again, every
few seconds, in the background, without Sally's knowledge, for as long as she's connected to the Internet; and
again the next time she connects, day after day, week after week, month after month.
Since it's likely that most of the email addresses in Sally's inbox, or "Sent Items" folder, or address
book are people that Sally knows; and since it's likely that many of them know each other, when the unsuspecting
recipient of the aforementioned virus-infected email from Sally's machine receives it, it often appears to be from
someone that he or she knows. For purposes of our little example, here, let's say it's Billy, Sally's boyfriend.
Since Billy know's most of Sally's friends; and since it's pretty much only Sally's friends whose email addresses
are in Sally's inbox, "Sent Items" folder, or address book, when Billy receives the aforementioned virus-infected
email send without Sally's knowledge from Sally's computer, he thinks it's from one of Sally's friends. Consequently,
Billy's unafraid to just go ahead and click on the photo or game file that's attached to the virus-infected email
message, and which said message invites him or her to click on...
...and, when Billy does, voila!, yet another computer becomes infected with
the self-replicating virus.
At that point, the virus would be on both Sally's machine, and Billy's machine... in both cases, without their
knowledge. And, in both cases, the virus then continues its dirty duty, only now it's doing it from two machines (Sally's and Billy's)... every few seconds, from
both of them; hundreds per hour; thousands per day... infecting, exponentially, the machines of everyone Sally
knows, and everyone Billy knows, and everyone that they know... and so on, and so on,
and so on, ad infinitum.
As earlier mentioned, my email address is in emails in the inbox folders, and in the "Sent Items" folders,
and in the address books of quite literally millions of people. Millions. If any of those millions of
computers happens to be infected with a self-replicating virus such as I've described here (and most of them are),
then my email address ends-up in the "From:" field (and, frankly, the "To:" field, also) of
literally thousands, or maybe even hundreds of thousands, of virus-infected
and/or spyware-infected emails, or spams (or both), every single day... day, after day, after day, after day, after
day, after day... forever.
That's right, all these careless, thoughtless, owners of virus- and spyware-infected computer would need to do
to stop all this from happening is use, and keep up-to-date, a decent anti-spyware or anti-virus programs, and
maybe a firewall, too. That's it. That's all they'd have to do.
But these knuckleheads -- and they are knucklehads if they're not
using good anti-virus/anti-spyware/firewall programs -- will just not take the problem seriously...
...and so, just look at the havoc they wreak on
the rest of us!
It was probably a virus-infected or spyware-infected email, or spam, that you received from just such a knucklehead's
computer that brought you here, today; and caused you to be reading these words, right now.
Kinda' makes you just wanna' just slap 'em, doesn't it?
And a FIREWALL software product is also a good idea... even for dialup users.
And, get this:
Of course, your having good anti-virus, anti-spyware
and firewall software on your machine still won't keep you
from receiving spam and/or virus/spyware-infected email from the machines of others out there in the universe.
However, it will at least ensure that no such malicious messages are sent from your computer. You may not be able to control the entire world, but you can (and should)
at least control your little corner of it.
JUMP
BACK TO THE TOP
PART
3: Free software that will both protect
your computer, and will make sure it won't
be part of the problem in the future
First let
me say this about "free" software: Usually it's not as good as the stuff that actually costs money. No
surprise there. Most makers of free versions of their products are just trying to get you hooked on their way of
doing things so you'll upgrade to their fee-based versions.
However, most makers of free anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software understand that viruses, worms, trojans,
spyware and other such maliciousness hurts us all; and makes the Internet a more dangerous and unwelcoming place.
So many of them see it as a public service to produce a free version that at least does (and does well) the very
minimum things that a product of its type should do. Therefore, while certain well-known, fee-based products (like
Norton or McAfee anti-virus products, for example,
just to name two) are inherently better in an overall sense; and while business and commercial clients are usually
forced to use only the fee-based products,
home users may avail themselves of some excellent free products for their personal use... products that get the
job done smartly; and which need make no apologies to anyone for their relative overall quality.
Yes, of course, if you can afford it and if you can keep-up with the annual virus definition file update subscriptions,
then most definitely get Norton
AntiVirus
as your anti-virus utility. None of the other Norton products are worth a
damn, mind you... so avoid them like the plague. But Norton's anti-virus product, in various head-to-head tests
every year, finds more of the really obscure exploits -- including ones that aren't even in its virus definition
file yet; and, therefore, which it can only identify as a potential virus because it's suspicious in some way -- than any of
its well-known competitors. Believe me when I tell you that I hate loving Norton AntiVirus, but it's best-of-breed... like it
or not.
However, if you'd like a free anti-virus product that does an excellent job on home computers, then do not be afraid
download, install, and then trust the anti-virus product that I recommend, below... as well as all of the other five anti-spyware and firewall
products that I recommend here, too.
And if the trial version of McAfee's anti-virus product came with your computer (as so often is the case with store-bought,
name-brand consumer systems), de-install it and use, instead, the free anti-virus product that I recommend, below.
In fact, speaking of de-installing: Before downloading and installing any of my recommendations, below, be sure
to first find and then completely de-install any anti-virus, anti-spyware, or firewall software programs which
may happen to already be on your system. No computer should have more than one anti-virus scanner/destroyer, or
more than one anti-spyware innoculator, or more than one anti-spyware scanner/destroyer, or more than one... er...
well... you get the point. Always just have one of each kind of software utility on your
machine. My six reccomendations, below, each do something different and will not conflict with one another. They
may, however, conflict with other products of their respective types which you may happen to already have on your
system. So please first find all such products on your computer, and de-install them before doing anything I recommend,
below.
And if you have firewall or anti-virus or anti-spyware products from Microsoft, which came with Windows, either
de-activate or de-install them. Believe it or not, none of the Microsoft anti-virus, or anti-spyware, or firewall
products are as good as even the free ones that I'm recommending,
below.
Finally, remember this:
Grisoft's AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
This will be your anti-virus software. It requires registration and acquisition of a serial number, but doing so
is free. Download and install AVG; then immediately update it (i.e., use it to download the latest virus definition
files and program updates from the Grisoft web site); then use it to manually scan your entire hard drive to clean-up
viruses, trojans, worms, etc. that might already be there. Then let AVG sit in your computer's system tray (the
area in the lower-right-hand corner of your Windows desktop) and monitor all incoming emails, web sites, etc.,
for viruses, trojans, worms and other malicious stuff. Get into the habit of updating the AVG anti-virus software
(i.e., using AVG to download both program updates, as well as updated virus definition files) at least twice a
month... weekly if you can remember to do it. In addition to AVG sitting in your system tray and monitoring daily
activity, remember to also run a manual virus check against your entire hard drive at least monthly (which, since
it takes a while, you should maybe let happen at night, while you're sleeping).
Spybot Search & Destroy Spyware Scanner/Destroyer
This will be your spyware scanning and destroying software. While Spybot not the most user-friendly utility, it's
by far the most powerful and most respected. (The
most user-friendly, but less powerful, anti-spyware is Lavasoft's
Ad-Aware Personal Edition.
Use whichever you want, of course... but I recommend Spybot
Search and Destroy;
and this paragraph assumes that that's the one you will choose.) Spybot (and Ad-Aware's Personal Edition) is a (are) different
from the AVG anti-virus software in that neither Spybot nor Ad-Aware Personal Edition will sit in your system tray
and monitor all incoming Internet traffic (emails and web site data) for spyware like AVG monitors for viruses/trojans/worms,
etc. You must run Spybot (or Ad-Aware Personal Edition, if that's what you decide to use) as a periodic manual
process. Just as I advised you to do with the AVG anti-virus utility, above, download and install Spybot (or Ad-Aware
Personal Edition, if that's your choice); then use the software to perform a manual update from the Spybot (or
Lavasoft, as appropriate, if you're using Ad-Aware) web site; then immediately run Spybot (or Ad-Aware, if that's
your choice) against your entire hard drive to find any spyware which may already exist there. Then remember to
manually load the software, update it, and run it against your entire hard drive again at least twice a month thereafter...
weekly if you can remember to do it.
Javacool Software's Spyware Blaster
Spyware Blaster is not an anti-spyware scanner/destroyer like Spybot or Ad-Aware. Rather, Spyware Blaster is more
along the lines of an "innoculation" program; and what it "innoculates" against is spyware
that attacks or enters your system via your web browser. It will "innoculate" your copy of either Internet
Explorer, or Mozilla/Firefox (but, sadly, not Netscape Navigator) against spyware tracking cookies, malicious Active-X
controls or Macromedia Flash components, hijacks, dialers, and all kinds of other irritating and potentially harmful
exploits. It doesn't sit in the system tray and monitor anything. Rather, it loads and then goes into the Windows
registry and installs blocks into all the areas of the Windows registry into which known exploits tend to install
and register themselves. In other words, based on a list of all known exploits, Spyware Blaster pre-emptively "innoculates"
the Windows registry so that when any of said exploits tries to install themselves therein, they are thwarted and
made impotent before they can even get a foothold. Like AVG or Spybot (or Ad-Aware, if that's your choice), Spyware
Blaster needs to be updated at least monthly; however, right after you update, all you do is tell it to go protect
your system from whatever exploits it learned about via said update; and then, once it has done that, you simply
close the program. It doesn't run in the background or anything like that. You just load it a couple times a month,
update it from the Javacool web site, tell it to protect your system against whatever new exploits it learned about
from the update, then close it. That's all.
Javacool Software's Spyware Guard
Spyware Guard is neither a spyware scanner/destroyer (like Spybot or Ad-Aware), nor is it an "innoculator"
(like Spyware Blaster). Spyware Guard sits in your system tray and watches for malicious attempts by malicious
web sites to take over or "hijack" your web browser... particularly to do things like reset your browser's
default home page, among other things. It also monitors for certain types of spyware, but not in the same way as
Spybot or Ad-Aware would if they were capable of sitting in the system tray and monitoring in real time (like AVG
does, for example). What Spyware Guard protects against is more limited and specific; and is mostly just browser hijackings. But
it does so better than any other product of its kind! Simply download and install Spyware Guard, then load it and
configure it to sit in your system tray and do its thing; then immediately update it from the Javacool web site.
From that point forward it will just sit there, quietly, like a sentry at the gate, right alongside the AVG sentry,
in your system tray, protecting you from harm. Remember to update Spyware Guard at least monthly, just like Spyware
Blaster and the other utilities.
The "Hijack This" Utility
Download and install this utility, but don't actually use it until and unless you really know what you're doing.
I know that sounds like funny advice, but "Hijack This" isn't for the novice or the faint of heart. Improper
use can cripple your system and make Windows either unstable, or cause it to refuse to load/start-up altogether.
The reason you should have "Hijack This" on your system is for moments when you're on the phone with
someone who really is expert (like me, for example,
just to name one person), and said expert needs to know certain things about your system which you could then read
to him or her over the phone from the screen of your copy of "Hijack This" (which, again, you would only
load and use with his or her help and/or under his/her direction). To learn a little about "HiJack This",
and then to download it and install it, point your web browser at this
web site,
then scroll-down to the "Official downloads" part of the page. Again, though, be careful: Install it,
but then do not actually load and use "Hijack This" until
and/or unless you really know what you're doing.
Zone Labs's ZoneAlarm Personal FREE Firewall
A firewall stands as a sentry at the gate of your computer's connection to the Internet and stops hackers, crackers,
hijackers and others from "breaking in" to your computer and either taking it over, damaging it, or extracting
personal data from its hard drive. Big corporations spend thousands of dollars on sophisticated firewall hardware
appliances; but personal users on home systems can easily use software-based firewalls which, if they're of adequate
quality and are correctly configured, will protect any home machine as well as it needs to be protectedd. There
are free firewalls out there with more fancy features than ZoneAlarm, but in head-to-head test after head-to-head
test by the big computer magazines and TV shows, ZoneAlarm -- even the low-end free edition -- blocks more unexpected
bad stuff, and blocks it better, than nearly all competitors. The free edition of ZoneAlarm is really basic. It's
been stripped of most of the really cool features found in some other free firewalls, and nearly all
of the fee-based ones; and Zone Labs will use the fact that you have the free edition on your machine to try to
sell you one of its fee-based versions; but as a basic, no-frills firewall, ZoneAlarm free edition has no rival.
If all you want to do is post a credible sentry at the gate of your computer's connection to the Internet, then
download and install ZoneAlarm Free Edition; immediately update it; then just let it sit there in your system tray
and do its thing. Before downloading and installing ZoneAlarm Free Edition, Zone Labs recommends that you perform
a free, online
scan of your computer
on the Zone Labs web site; and then, and only then, should download and install
the free ZoneAlarm product. I don't know if I necssarily agree with that, but what the heck...
the free scan can't hurt; and Zone Labs can be trusted not to plant anything bad on your system, or extract any
personal information therefrom, during said scan. ZoneAlarm Free Edition also needs to be updated now and then,
but you can configure it to check the Zone Labs web site and notify you whenever one is available.
And that's pretty much it. The above-listed, described and linked-to products will, if you'll just use them, adequately
protect your computer from the kind of harm that spyware, viruses, trojans, worms and other exploits -- as well
as hackers, crackers and others malicious -- might cause.
The products I have recommended, above, are all safe, reliable, and reputable. In most cases, they are best-in-class
of the free products that are out there. You may trust them; and you should trust few others.
Regardless which product you choose, however, please at least make sure that you become educated about spyware,
viruses, trojans, worms, hacking, cracking and other exploits; then learn about the products that will protect
you from them; then, most importantly, make sure you do whatever you have to do in order to both protect your computer,
and to make sure it's not part of the problem in the future.
JUMP
BACK TO THE TOP
PART
4: Two last pieces of indispensable
wisdom and advice you should take seriously
Once you're
done getting all the viruses, worms, trojans, spyware and other nefarious crap off your computer, you should know,
and appropriately act upon, the following:
You must pay attention to the update status of your copy of Microsoft Windows. If you have Windows's "auto
update" feature turned on, then, depending on how it's configured, Windows will either tell you about an update
and ask you if you want to download and install it, or it will just do it all automatically. If Windows ever asks
you if you want to download and install an update from the Microsoft web site (and first make sure that it's really
Windows that's asking, and not some exploit just pretending to be Windows), always do it.
If you have the "auto update" feature turned off, then at least remember to stop by the Microsoft
Windows update web site
at least four times a year and get your copy of Windows all caught-up.
The other thing that happens when you use the Microsoft Windows
update web site
to update
your machine is that your copy of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express get appropriate and needed security patches
so that known exploits cannot easily penetrate them. Please see item 2, below, for more on this.
The Microsoft Windows update web site will first assess your computer
and figure out what it needs, then it will recommend updates. To be safe, just always download and install whatever
it tells you you need. That's right: Put a checkmark next to every damned thing, and let 'er rip! Oh, sure, you
may not actually ever need the left-handed, scientific
notion version of the Outer West Mobovian italicized font set with extra fractions... but what the heck would it
hurt to have it on your machine, anyway. I mean... with hard drives as ridiculously huge as they are today, it's
not like you don't have the disk space. Just always download and install whatever the Microsoft
Windows update web site
tells you you need... even if you don't actually "need" it. Just do it. Trust me.
2. Every Windows computer will
eventually become "squirrely" or "glitchy" or in some other way weirdly and/or inexplicably
slow or unreliable or will start locking-up or crashing a lot, etc. It's just the nature of the beast. The reasons
why this happens are as many and varied as there are stars in the sky. Some of the time, whatever's causing Windows
to act weird is serious and can only be resolved by advanced diagnostics and then surgical editing of the registry
and re-installation of selected components... which is something that, typically, you should only allow someone
like me to do. But sometimes -- most of the time, in fact -- the resolution can be a whole lot easier... and here's
the little trick that computer professionals use to cure a squirrely computer of most of what ails it, most of
the time:
Just re-install Microsoft Internet Explorer
and
the Outlook Express email client.
Yes, you read that right; and here's why...
A few years ago Microsoft got sued by the US Justice Department for anti-trust violations because Microsoft so
deeply embedded Internet Explorer, a mere web browser, into the core of its Windows operating system that it was
difficult for browser competitors (like Netscape, or Opera, or Mozilla/Firefox, for example, just to name three)
to be installed into Windows and, thereafter, to become the sole -- or at least the default -- web browser. Microsoft
had made it so that Internet Explorer could not be removed from Windows, and one of the competitors' products installed
instead, without somehow crippling Windows... or at least seriously reducing its utility and function. In other
words, Internet Explorer, a mere web browser, contained core operating system elements without which Windows could
not be all that it could be. So Microsoft's web browser competitors got the Justice Department to sue; and Microsoft
lost that case.
So, from that day forward, Microsoft has been making it easier for competitors' products to more seamlessly integrate
into Windows. But that doesn't mean that Microsoft stopped including essential core elements and components of
Windows inside its Internet Explorer web browser; and that doesn't mean that updates and upgrades to Internet Explorer
don't fundamentally help/improve Windows itself.
Believe me when I tell you that unless Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are both present and healthy, then
Windows, itself, will not be healthy.
Your copy of Windows must have a good, complete, updated and healthy copy of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express,
even if those aren't the browser and email clients that you normally use. That's right, even if you use Opera as
your browser, and Eudora as your email client; or even if you use Netscape Navigator as your browser, and its component
Communicator as your email client; or even if you use Mozilla Firefox as your browser, and its component Thunderbird
as your email client... whichever Microsoft competitors' browser and email products you use, you must still keep
and maintain a copy of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express on your machine if you want your copy of Windows to
run smoothly and relatively error-free. You should never de-install them, or allow any other software's installation
routine to do so... like it, or not.
Windows machines become "squirrely" because core Windows components become damaged by hard drive crashes
or errors; or because said components get overwritten by lower-quality and/or less-reliable core components during
application software installations and/or updates; or because of spyware, viruses, worms, trojans, hacking, cracking
and other exploits.
Re-installing Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook Express -- even if those aren't the browser and email clients
that you actually use -- will not only overwrite Windows core components with factory-fresh ones, but if you re-install
a more recent and updated copy of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, it will effectively update/upgrade your
copy of Windows, as well... thereby improving things in unexpected ways.
After doing so, it can be amazing how quickly and suddenly a formerly "squirrely" machine will suddenly
start running smoothly, or stop locking-up, or stop doing whatever else bad that it had been doing.
Yes, trust me on this: Re-installing Internet Explorer and Outlook Express -- especially after your machine's been
ravaged by a malicious virus, trojan, worm or some other kind of exploit -- can cause a seemingly miraculous improvement.
It won't cure everything, but it can -- and usually does -- snap back into shape a Windows machine that has merely
and inexplicably become... well... "squirrely" or otherwise "weird."
And always
remember:
Your first stop after re-installing Internet Explorer and Outlook Express should be the Microsoft
Windows update web site,
so you can make sure that all the current security patches and other updates did not get damaged or overwritten
by said re-installation; and/or so you can get caught-up on such patches/updates that you may have let slip by
you even before you re-installed.
The rest is now up to you.
Be a responsible netizen.
Go do your part... and leave me alone about it...
...that is, unless you absolutely insist on contacting me.
Copyright
© 1994- by Gregg L. DesElms.
All rights reserved. Use by permission only.
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contact information, click here.
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