Inbox

By DON McALLISTER

Welcome to InBox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.

Q. The JDBGMGR.EXE virus hoax is doing the rounds again.

A. Inbox is getting a lot of warning emails about JDBGMGR.EXE. It's a well-known hoax, but fools many unwary users. Do not delete JDBGMGR.EXE or else java components in Internet Explorer may start to play games with your internet experience. See Norton's page for more on the subject.

Q. Marg is mortified that her new CD Writer produces errors and not much else. Could CDs with the "Burn & Get Burnt" sticker be the cause?

A. No, Marg, the "Burn & Get Burnt" campaign is an honesty sticker warning. It isn't a sinister component built in to trash your writer. If you're running Windows XP, get the latest updates which fix some known bugs in the CD writing components of XP's first release. Go to Start/All Programs/Windows Update. Each critical update requires a reboot, so it may take several separate downloads and reboots until you are done.

Q. Ihug created spam! John complains that his ISP (ihug) is sending "spam" promoting new services it offers. Surely, John says, it should be aware that customers are fed up with unsolicited emails.

A. They are, John. For that reason, at the top of the email they state: "If you don't like getting these promotional emails from us then go to the 'my accounts' section on the Ihug website and after you log in choose 'list management'."

Many reputable companies use email to promote new services to customers, but they provide legit "opt out" instructions within the email. This would normally be acceptable, but for the flow from dubious sources.

Q. Olive has lost an important email and suspects it's still in the inbox folder of Outlook Express. She can't find it among the many stored emails.

A. OE has a search engine for this purpose, Olive: OE/Edit/Find/Message. Enter the information you know in the relevant column (From, To, Subject or Message) and hit Find Now. Any matching emails will list in the bottom box.



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