Re: DON'T Open Happy99

["Brett W. McCoy" <bmccoy@lan2wan.com>]

Poster: "Brett W. McCoy" <bmccoy@lan2wan.com>

On Wed, 10 Feb 1999, Joyce A. Baldwin wrote:

> I did get the email message you're all talking about but all I saw when I
> read it was a bunch of (to me) gobbldygook, headed by the words "begin 644
> happy99.exe."  I sometimes get files like this.  I usually assume that
> means a .exe file was converted to a text file because my machine can't run
> it, so it just reads it.  Is this the way it works?

Yes, it is an older email program that doesn't recognize MIME types the
way newer packages do, and makes it a 'uuencoded' file (it came that way
to my system, which is running Linux and also well-protected against such
things).  Windows 3.1 definitely won't recognize a Window 95 program.

A word of warning to everyone, though: don't run executable files attached
to emails unless you specifically know what it is and who it came from. If
you do get a program attached to an email, virus check it first before
running it.  If you still aren't sure, delete the message and the
attachment. You're system will be safe if you don't run the program.  
Despite the rampant email virus hoaxes on the internet, you still should
be careful and beware of untrusted mail attachments.

Istvan Dragosani
                                        http://www.lan2wan.com/~bmccoy/
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Hi there!  This is just a note from me, to you, to tell you, the person
reading this note, that I can't think up any more famous quotes, jokes,
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