To avoid spreading computer viruses, create a contact in your email address book with the name !0000 (or similar) with no email address in the details. This contact will then show up as your first contact in your book. If a virus attempts to do a "send all" on your contact list, your PC will put up an error message saying that "The Message could not be sent. One or more recipients do not have an e-mail address. Please check your Address Book and make sure all the recipients have a valid e-mail address." You click on OK and the offending (virus) message would not have been sent to anyone. Of course no changes have been made to your original contacts list. The offending (virus) message may then be automatically stored in your "Drafts" or "Outbox" folder. Go in there and delete the offending message. Problem is solved and virus is not spread.
I wasn't going to cover this widely-circulated "tip" because it's so easy to check for yourself: Just try it: Add the fake name, but enter no corresponding email address. Many email clients will allow you to do this, and indeed will complain when you--- or a virus or worm--- try to send email to that bogus name.
The other reason I avoided presenting this tip is because it only works if your online defenses have already failed: Yes, it may help prevent a virus from spreading from your machine, but by the time this trick works, your PC is already infected. It's far, far better to prevent such infections in the first place. Then, not only will your system not infect others, but *you* won't be infected either.
So add a fake "!0000" (or "AAAAAA" or whatever) name to your address book if you wish, but please realize that this does absolutely nothing to prevent you from being infected in the first place, and so is of limited utility, at best.
I wasn't going to cover this widely-circulated "tip" because it's so easy to check for yourself: Just try it: Add the fake name, but enter no corresponding email address. Many email clients will allow you to do this, and indeed will complain when you--- or a virus or worm--- try to send email to that bogus name.
The other reason I avoided presenting this tip is because it only works if your online defenses have already failed: Yes, it may help prevent a virus from spreading from your machine, but by the time this trick works, your PC is already infected. It's far, far better to prevent such infections in the first place. Then, not only will your system not infect others, but *you* won't be infected either.
So add a fake "!0000" (or "AAAAAA" or whatever) name to your address book if you wish, but please realize that this does absolutely nothing to prevent you from being infected in the first place, and so is of limited utility, at best.
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