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This Story Will Self-Destruct in 10 Seconds
The Travel Technologist · February 15, 2002

Worried that a virus might infect your laptop computer while you're traveling? If you've read your e-mail lately, you probably are.

"There's a new virus which was found recently which will erase the whole 'C' drive," an earnest e-mail from a colleague warned me recently. "If u get a mail with the subject 'Osama Vs Bush' please delete that mail right away. Otherwise it will erase the whole C drive."

It followed another hysterical note that I'd gotten only a few days earlier. "HOPE THIS GETS TO YOU IN TIME! BIG TROUBLE !!!! DO NOT OPEN WTC Survivor'," it cautioned. Why not? Seems the attachment would zap my hard drive, too.

And here's my personal favorite:

"A deadly new computer virus that actually causes home computers to explode in a hellish blast of glass fragments and flame has injured at least 47 people since August 15, horrifying authorities who say millions of people are risking injury, blindness, or death every time they sit down to work at their PC!"

All of these, of course, are completely false. Osama Vs Bush won't erase your disk drive, nor will WTC Survivor. And there's no deadly computer virus that ignites your computer. They're all hoaxes.

Although it's been about four years since I last wrote about how computer viruses affect travelers, little has changed. Patently absurd virus warnings still make the rounds, often sent to us by well-meaning friends. But in some instances it's getting more difficult to determine a legitimate warning from one that's plain wrong.

For example: A recent story in USA Today cautioned that my operating system, Windows XP, needed a security patch. Badly. "Millions of consumers with new Microsoft Windows XP-equipped computers remain oblivious to a gaping security hole that could trigger the next wave of computer viruses," the story breathlessly warned.

I didn't take a second to think about it. This was running in the Nation's Newspaper, after all. It had to be true. My laptop was in danger!

Seems the FBI had advised XP users to disable a plug-and-play feature if they're not using it. The reason? The operating system emits a constant signal alerting other devices in a home network to the availability of universal plug-and-play. But hackers can "easily spot the signal and tap into it," the article warned. A patch from Microsoft would fix the problem, it assured.

It goes without saying that this is a scary predicament for any home or office computer user. For travelers with a portable PC, which is often their only method of effectively communicating with the outside world, a security breach could be catastrophic.

I immediately clicked on Microsoft's Web site and began downloading and installing every available security patch. Not just for XP but for Office, too. I didn't want to take any chances. Then I rebooted the PC …

I opened Outlook …

My contacts? Where are my contacts? They were gone.

If the operating system is your computer's head, then your contact file is its heart. Without these address files, I'm lost. I tried closing Outlook and re-opening it, to no avail. Thanks a lot, Microsoft.

I spent the most agonizing afternoon of my life trying to find the contacts. They were still on my laptop, but for some reason Outlook had to reload them. Once they were back in the program, I couldn't make the contact manager work with the e-mail program, necessitating yet another patch download.

Bottom line: Thanks to this virus warning, which I admit I fell for, I probably created more problems than I solved.

They say that if something ain't broke, don't fix it. While that doesn't necessarily hold true for your computer, I think it does apply to your portable. When you're on the road and you get an urgent virus warning, ignore it. I mean, you already know better than to start installing a strange ".EXE" on your system; trying to 'repair' a problem that doesn't exist could screw your system up just as badly.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. The Travel Technologist appears weekly on this site. This story was also published on SmarterLiving.com.