Talk #370

Chang Hon's virus alert was first sent to me on Wed, 30 May 2001 20:57:55 EDT. The forwarding request was honored immediately. By Wed, 30 May 2001 21:59:48 -0400, Peter Tong has already detected the hoax and notified me. The message about the hoax was forwarded soon it was received. Since Peter's message, I have received quite a few
messages from the Lighters, including Charles Kao's file, A Chai, and other Lighters, my colleagues ( informing me of the virus) and Henry Au ( class of 1962, I believe).

Last Thursday night I found a PC in my lab that actually runs on window 98 and found the "SULFNBK.EXE" application. We decided to delete it from local disk "C". So we chose to de(lete), as in the title of this article.

We wanted to do this and observe what happens to the computer. We ran the computer for 4 days with all kinds of applications, including Microsoft office, photoshop, Eudora, Adobe reader, IE and Netscape and others that students use. We could not find anything wrong with the PC. We decided not to re-install the application "SULFNBK.EXE", since it is useless for us( thus far) and it occupies disk space. According to the website cited by James Koo and also found by Peter Tong , Sulfnbk.exe is a Microsoft Windows utility that is used to restore long file names, and like any .exe file, it can be infected by a virus that targets .exe files.

We have not done an actual computation during these four days, i.e., calculation as computers are meant to do.

This experiment suggests that it is reasonably safe not to have "SULFNBK.EXE". We will keep on using the computer without it. We shall do a Monte Carlo calculation to see what happens. Will let everyone know if we see the need to reinstall

Window 95 and 2000 do not have this application in our PCs. I personally use a Power MAC ( G3 , MAC OS 8.6, kind of obsolete, but otherwise okay), which does not run EXE files. All these are safe, nothing to de(lete).

Some simple suggestions to reduce virus fear:
1. Be careful of attachments that were sent to you. Scan with
anti-virus software before opening the document. I believe the
Lighters are familiar with the famous EXE virus " Happy New Year,EXE" sent near the end of 1999... tedious to get rid of once infected. Be beware of Microsoft office files as well, since these are commonly used applications.

2.Schedule harddisk scans often, such as one a week. This would help reduce the problem. You also need to update the anto-virus software ( readily done on-line using commonly used anti-virus programs) to make sure all recently "mutated" viruses can be detected and repaired.

3. Rumor has it that even simple text can contain virus. Well, I give up. It is like every letter you receive is potentially a letter bomb. In this case, live and let live. Have a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.

4. Get a MAC G4 (dual 500 MHz), recommended by " Fortune". You'll have so much fun watching DVD movies, listening to MP3, making movies, editing your photos, surfing the net that you'll forget about all your troubles, let alone a mere and lowly virus.

All These measures are like taking flu shots to reduce the risk. On the other hand, not all viruses would make your computer HIV positive. If it were, you know what to do, right?