PressEnter Newsletter Archives   
> March, 2005

Hello PressEnter Subscribers!

Spring arrives this month! With it comes spring break for the kids in
school, March Madness for college basketball fans, and wearing lots
of green for the Irish and the Irish at heart. This month's newsletter
will help you to enjoy your last weeks of hibernation with interesting
websites, a "Mydoom" e-mail worm warning, and a tutorial on backing up
your e-mail messages.

We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to
be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however,
you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, please
Reply to this message and put "REMOVE" in the subject line. Please e-mail
any questions or comments to newsletter@pressenter.com. If you have any
technical questions, please e-mail helpdesk@pressenter.com.

Here's what's inside our March 2005 Newsletter:

A. E-Mail Virus - Mydoom E-mail Worm Returns
B. PressEnter News - Springtime and Your Connection
C. Ask The Help Desk - What Does "OS" Mean?
D. Great Sites To Check Out In March
E. Short Tutorial - Creating A Backup Of Your Outlook Express E-mail

The PressEnter Newsletter Team

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A. E-Mail Virus - Mydoom E-mail Worm Returns

The "Mydoom" e-mail worm has returned. First discovered in January
2004, Mydoom became one of the top ten most prolific virus/worms of
last year. Now anti-virus companies have reported a new variant of this
mass-mailing worm. The variant is called "W32.Mydoom.AX@mm" and its
discovery is one more example of why we encourage all our Internet users
to install virus-scanning software on their computers and to frequently
update their security software. (Note: Mydoom infects only Windows-based
operating systems -- not Macintosh, Linux, or UNIX systems.)

The W32.Mydoom.AX@mm e-mail worm (also known as W32/Mydoom.bb@MM) is a
mass-mailing worm that sends itself as an e-mail attachment to e-mail
addresses found within an infected computer. Although the sender's
address, the subject line, and the text within the message of the
e-mail can vary greatly (making detection more difficult), the "from"
address is usually spoofed to show coming from places like "Postmaster,"
"Mail Administrator," "The Post Office," "Mail Delivery Subsystem,"
"MAILER-DAEMON," or "Bounced mail." The subject line will commonly say
something like "Returned mail: see transcript for details," "Returned
mail: Data format error delivered," "Message could not be delivered,"
or "Mail System Error - Returned Mail." The message body text varies
but may say something like this:

"Dear user of (your ISP domain here),

We have received reports that your e-mail account has been used to send a
large amount of unsolicited e-mail messages during this week. We suspect
that your computer was compromised and now runs a hidden proxy server.

We recommend you to follow our instruction in the attached file in order
to keep your computer safe.

Virtually yours,
(your ISP domain here) support team."

The message leads users to believe they have received a bounced back
e-mail message notification from their Internet service provider. When
opening the accompanying attachment, however, the recipient's machine
becomes infected with the Mydoom worm. This results in replicated e-mails
being automatically mass-mailed to the e-mail addresses found on the
recipient's computer.

The W32.Mydoom.AX@mm worm also includes a "backdoor" feature that opens
TCP port 1034 on the infected machine. This allows hackers to potentially
have remote access and control of the infected computer.

Remember, receiving an e-mail attachment from a trusted friend or a
reliable source may not necessarily mean they were the actual senders of
the message and attachment. We encourage each of our users to install and
utilize virus-scanning software, to update this software on a regular
basis, and to scan all incoming attachments before opening them, even
if the attachment shows coming from a trusted source. The ultimate
responsibility of protecting your computer against worms and viruses
lies with you. In addition, many viruses and worms spread not only via
e-mail, but also through the sharing of files when using floppy disks,
zip disks, and networks, as well as when downloading software. Be sure
to scan these files for infections as well.

B. PressEnter News - Springtime and Your Connection

Springtime is on its way, and the changing weather may affect the speed
of your Internet connection. We want to make sure all our members can
connect at the fastest speed possible, so here's a few tips that may
help if you've noticed declining connection speeds.

Due to thawing and freezing of buried telephone lines, line noise issues
are more likely to cause connection problems this time of year. If you
hear any interference on your telephone line such as popping, clicking,
hissing, buzzing, humming or other conversations, call your phone company
ask them to correct the problem. If they're able to isolate and repair
the trouble, your internet connection speeds should improve.

Other things that can cause connection problems are viruses and spyware.
These malicious programs may be running on your computer waiting for an
internet connection ready to steal your available connectivity (also known
as bandwidth) whenever you dial in. To combat this, every computer you
connect to the internet should have a virus scanner. If yours doesn't,
consider purchasing one. For added protection, you should also consider
downloading an anti-spyware program from a trusted website such as:

http://www.lavasoft.com/.

Both spyware and virus protection are available in F-Secure Internet
Security 2005, which can be purchased through PressEnter. Call our office
or e-mail sales@pressenter.com for more information.

C. Ask The Help Desk - What Does "OS" Mean?

Question: I was reading a computer-related article the other day and
it mentioned "OS." I've heard "OS" mentioned in conversations but I've
never known what it meant. What is it?

Answer: "OS" stands for "Operating System." It's the system that makes
your computer run. There are several popular systems available on
the market. Macintosh OSX (that's "Oh Es Ten"), Windows in its various
flavors from 95, to 98, to XP, and Linux in its various forms. If you're
having trouble with your computer and you are talking to a tech support
person, he/she will usually ask you what OS you are running. Your answer
will most likely be one of the aforementioned systems.

D. Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Helpful Tax Information In March
=========================
http://irs.gov/

If you are a "do-it-yourselfer" when it comes to filing your
federal income tax return, the IRS lets taxpayers file returns
totally free this year without the prerequisite of purchasing
special software. Already over 60 million 2004 tax returns have been
"e-filed." Not only is this method fast, but also if you owe money you
can authorize electronic funds withdrawn from your checking account,
savings account, or even use a credit card. There's also a link to
"Forms and Publications" that'll allow you to print off and file
returns via snail mail.

"The Tonight Show" With Johnny Carson
==============================
http://JohnnyCarson.com

January 23, 2005 marked the passing of the greatest nighttime
TV entertainer of our generation. Born in Corning, Iowa, Johnny
Carson began his show business career as a teenage magician and
ventriloquist. After serving in the U.S. Navy during W.W.II and then
graduating from the University of Nebraska, Mr. Carson worked his way
through radio and TV broadcasting positions. He eventually took over
Jack Paar's hosting duties of "The Tonight Show" and entertained North
America each weekday evening for almost 30 years. It is estimated
that over 50 million people watched his last show in May 1992. "The
Official Tonight Show Website" provides many video clips of some of
the best moments in the show's history.

Do Some Research Before Your Next Purchase
===================================
http://ConsumerSearch.com

Are you looking to buy a new hedge trimmer this spring? How about a
stair stepper to burn off those extra pounds you put on during the
winter? Before you make a purchase, head to ConsumerSearch.com for
listings and reviews of top-rated products according to a variety
of industry experts. The site can be used as a search engine to
find product analysis on dozens of products. The data includes
in-depth evaluations plus independent rankings of the reviews by
ConsumerSearch.com staff.

Collecting PEZ Candy Dispensers
===============================
http://PEZ.com

Do you remember eating PEZ candy as a kid? Opening the lid on the
dispenser to see the candy pop out was as much fun as actually eating
the candy. First marketed as a peppermint condiment in Vienna, Austria,
over 70 years ago, the term PEZ was derived from the German word
for peppermint. Today, over three billion PEZ candies are consumed
annually in North America alone. Plus, the dispensers have become
hot collectibles for both kids and adults. To see dozens of photos of
people with their PEZ dispenser collections (some of the collections
are pretty huge) or to send a photo of you with your collection to
be posted on this website, head on over to PEZ.com.

It's Time For Some March Madness!
=================================
http://ncaasports.com/

There's no better time of the year for college basketball fans than
March. There's also no better website that covers the sport than
the official site for both the men's and women's NCAA basketball
championships. The site provides links to information on Final Four
individual and team records (i.e. Bill Bradley still holds the single
game tournament record with 58 points in 1963 while Lorri Bauman from
Drake University set the record in 1982 on the women's side with 50
points), championship video archives, the brackets and locations for
each of the playoff rounds, articles highlighting recent big games,
as well as ticket price information.

E. Short Tutorial - Creating A Backup Of Your Outlook Express E-mail

Most people find that both their personal and business e-mail messages
create a kind of journal. In the same way that people keep shoeboxes of
special letters sent from friends or file cabinet drawers containing
letters and documents from business associates, many users today use
their e-mail software as an archive resource.

A hard disk failure or corrupted e-mail files caused by a computer virus
could cause the loss of a user's archived e-mail correspondence. To help
safeguard against such an occurrence, users can create a backup of their
e-mail messages. As the tutorials below detail, a user can copy all of
his/her e-mail files, save them to a secure location, and then restore
the files if needed at a later date.

To backup e-mail messages in Outlook Express 6.0 and Windows XP, follow
these steps:

1) With Outlook Express open, click your cursor arrow on the "Tools"
menu and then click "Options" from the drop-down menu.

2) In the "Options" window, click on the "Maintenance" tab.

3) In the "Maintenance" menu, click the "Store Folder" button. The
"Store Location" window will open.

4) Click and drag to highlight the path listed under "Your personal
message store is located ..." Next, press the CTRL+C keys on your keyboard
to copy the path.

5) Click "OK" to close the "Store Location" window. Click "OK" again to
close the "Options" window.

6) Click the "Start" button on the lower left corner of your screen and
click "Run" under the pop-up menu.

7) Click on the "Open" field in the "Run" window and press the CTRL+V
keys on your keyboard to paste the path to where your "Store Folder"
is located. Then click the "OK" button.

8) Click on "Edit" in the menu bar and then click "Select All" in the
drop-down menu.

9) Click on "Edit" again in the menu bar and then click "Copy" in the
drop-down menu.

10) Open the folder (or make a new folder) where you want to store your
backup e-mail files. Then click on "Edit" in the menu bar and "Paste"
from the drop-down menu. If you have a CD or DVD writer, it's also wise
to make a copy of these files on a disc.

To restore e-mail messages from a backup in Outlook Express 6.0 and
Windows XP, follow these steps:

1) With Outlook Express open, click on "File" in the menu bar and then
select "Import" and "Messages" from the drop-down menu.

2) In the "Outlook Express Import" window, highlight the program from
which your backup e-mail copies originated. For this example, let's assume
that we used Microsoft Outlook Express 6 to create the backup copy, so
we'll select "Microsoft Outlook Express 6." Then click the "Next" button.

3) The "Import From OE6" window will open. Select the button next to
"Import mail from an OE6 store directory."

4) Click the "Browse" button and locate the folder where your backup
e-mail copies are located.

5) Click on the folder that contains your backup e-mail files to highlight
it and then click the "OK" button.

6) Click the "Next" button.

7) Select either "All folders" to import all mail or select "Selected
folders" and highlight the specific mail folders you wish to import. Then
click the "Next" button.

8) You'll be presented with a message that lets you know your import is
complete. Click the "Finish" button to close the window and return to
Outlook Express.

To backup e-mail messages when using Macintosh's Entourage e-mail client:

Macintosh users can protect their e-mail messages and settings by
creating a backup of their Documents folder and saving it to a secure
location. Each of the relevant Microsoft identity files for Entourage is
contained within the Documents folder. It's a matter of simply dragging
a copy of the folder to a disc.

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We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of
keeping you posted on the happenings at our office. If, however, you'd
prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, send us an
e-mail at newsletter@pressenter.com and type "REMOVE" in the subject line.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

The PressEnter Newsletter Team
PressEnter! Internet

Web: www.pressenter.com
E-mail: <newsletter@pressenter.com>

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information
published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any
and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions,
whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident,
or other causes.)

(c)2005 Press Enter LLP
(c)2005 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

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