The Computer Guy

	IN DEPTH (see below)	MON 12/11/00
Today's Site World Museums Did you know that... ...Gerald Ford was the only man who held both the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency but who was not elected to either post. Email The Computer Guy Remember that this page will change every weekday. That means you'll see the same thing 2 or 3 times if you don't read your email for 2 or 3 days. Every email points to this page. To be removed from this daily mailing, just email me with "REMOVE" as the subject of the email. ...changing the world, one computer at a time.	Today's Pic (A Florida Chad) CLICK to enlarge	Today's Word IP ADDRESS An identifier (Internet Protocol Address) for a computer (your computer) when the computer is signed on to the Internet. All messages for you are routed to your IP address. Your IP address changes each time you sign on to the Internet (dynamic address). The format of an IP address is written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address. All of this IP stuff happens in the "background", but it's good to know what "IP ADDRESS" means.

The word virus is inherently scary. Since the Michelangelo virus was first reported in 1991, computer viruses have been a hot topic.

But don't be frightened. Here's what a virus can and can't do and how to avoid them.

A virus is a bit of computer code that is capable of replicating and spreading to new files and computers. Although many viruses can immediately begin damaging computer files, they certainly don't need to have this quality to be defined as a virus. Many typically wait until certain conditions are met. For example, the original Michelangelo virus looked for the date March 6 before it became malicious.

Most virus writers want their viruses to spread to as many computers as possible. If a virus crippled the newly infected computer immediately, it could never spread very far, and ultimately the potential for widespread damage would be very much reduced.

The best way to protect yourself from computer viruses is to update your antivirus software and avoid opening attachments. Run an antivirus program that utilizes "on-access" scanning, such as Norton AntiVirus. This type of scanning occurs constantly in the background. Every time you copy a file to the hard drive, run a program, open a document or open an email, the files are automatically checked to see if they contain a virus. You're only notified if the program finds something suspicious.

A tip to the wise: Be especially careful with programs (i.e., files that end with a ".exe" extension) that you download from the Internet or exchange with others. This is an easy way to spread viruses. Only open an attachment if you expected to receive it and need to use it.