Update your anti-virus software: New e-mail worm on the loose

'Bagle' e-mail worm spreading fast

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new Internet virus was spreading fast throughout Asia, Australia and Europe but computer security experts were divided on the seriousness of the threat from the "Bagle" worm.

The "Bagle" or "Beagle" worm arrives in an e-mail with the subject "hi" and the word "test" in the message body. If the accompanying attachment is executed, the worm is unleashed and tries to send itself to all e-mails listed in the user's address book.

Sometimes the attachment is designed to look like a Microsoft calculator, said David Perry, spokesman for antivirus software firm Trend Micro Inc.

The virus only affects machines running Microsoft Windows operating systems.

"It's clumsy," Perry said from Lake Forest, California, adding that most people knew better than to click on an attached calculator: "I don't get e-mails with calculators in it, do you?"

"We could see this fizzle out in several days," Nachenberg said. "Or we could also see a lot of people infected" if they don't update their antivirus software.

Smile. It isn't all doom and gloom.

An e-mail with forged credentials that make it look like it came from    windowsupdate@microsoft.com
is circulating around the Internet posing as a critical update to the Windows XP operating system. Instead of carrying a legitimate update, the e-mail contains the dangerous Xombe Trojan horse. The subject line of the e-mail reads
    "Windows XP Service Pack 1 (Express)- Critical Update"
and directs users to execute the attachment, called winxp_sp1.exe, in order to fix some vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Outlook and Outlook Express.
It's a dangerous hoax. Don't open it, don't execute the instructions, and don't forward it to anyone.
Read all about it.

Reader's Question: "my son wants a 'better video card'. What do I get?"

As Commodore Vanderbilt once said, if you have to ask......

It's a good news/bad news thing. This could be a $25 / 10 minute task, or it could be more.

First the good news:

You can get a video card at any store that sells computer parts, or pricegrabber.com

As far as I'm concerned, a $20 video card is great. Serious artists/engineers, etc., and serious gamers spend hundreds of $$ on serious video cards. As Dave Barry would say, I'm not making this up.

Selecting a card: there are six basic types of video cards: On-board, PC Card, PCMCIA, ISA, PCI, AGP.
Do NOT shop for On-board, PC Card, PCMCIA, ISA
- On-board, which is not really a video card; it's video circuitry built-in to the computer
- PC Card or PCMCIA; they are two names for the same thing: external "cards" for notebook computers
- ISA - computers built in the past 5 years rarely accept ISA cards; ISA is slow and obsolete
DO shop for PCI, AGP
- If your computer accepts AGP, then buy AGP because it performs much better.
- If your computer accepts only PCI, then get PCI (duh!). All computers built since 1995 or so accept PCI cards.

How to tell? On the motherboard there are several "slots" into which "cards" can be installed. The business end of the card then protrudes through the backplane of the computer and has some kind of connector to which you plug a cable.
- most computers have several white PCI slots
- some computers also have one (usually brown) AGP slot
The AGP slot is shorter and is located farther from the backplane.
AGP cards and slots are rated by speed: 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, etc. The higher number means more speed. It's best to match the card's and the slot's ratings. If they don't match, the system performs at the lower of the speed ratings.

Installation is a simple plug-in
1. Turn off power completely (unplug it to be safe)
2. Open computer case
3. Locate & remove existing video card (if there is one)
4. Plug in new card. If there is no existing video card, you have to remove the slot-blocker (an L-shaped metal plate).

Windows will probably recognize the card immediately. If not, follow the instructions that come with the CD or floppy that comes with the card. Sometimes those are written in English.

Now the bad news: You may need to tweak the computer's BIOS settings and/or disable existing video tuning software. These procedures are not for the inexperienced or for the faint of heart. Without having your computer here in the shop, I can't tell in advance.

As always, if you need help, drop me a note.