...

 NB> Considering this is* the DOS Internet echo...     It
 NB> also helps a LOT to be running DOS, not windows...  ;)  I
 NB> take precautions, of course, but this computer isn't*
 NB> highly shielded, and still I've never been hit by viruses

  With Dos that is very unlikely. OTOH, I did get hit at work
  long ago. Dang thing infected a lot of floppies before we
  caught it. Every so often we need a floppy, and get one of the
  old ones that escaped cleaning. Win viruses may not affect dos,
  but dos viri will hit Windows.

 And the new scanners may not clean some of those old viriuses.
 Viri? I find it's easiest just to either fdisk /mbr, or use the
 XP install disk, recovery console, fixmbr.exe.

 NB> and shieldings and all may still not be enough... even in
 NB> my lowly DOS, there could still be a virus that would
 NB> attack.  And I know the same

 Yep, but a lot less likely.

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... A good catchword can obscure analysis for fifty years.
 * Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5