"Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead!"  Hi folks,  I apologize for starting
a thread not directly related to mechanical music but it is directly
related to folks who enjoy the Internet, as Digest members do.

My computer (one of the fastest ones on the market) got infected with a
true virus during my thousands of downloads from the Internet.  It
apparently was associated with MIDI music players which I previously
downloaded, tried and then discarded (except for the viruses which
remained behind.) A "Form Virus" in the boot-up section defied almost
every attempt to eliminate it.  My computer was running at about 20% of
normal speed, with frequent freeze-ups in just about every program.
And it seems to get worse, day by day.

When I asked for help from Digest members, I was impressed with the
response.  Robbie and Jody quickly responded, along with other members
who had solved the same problem.  But the answer was nearby: my youngest
son is a college graduate Computer Science major (who flies corporate jets
for a living).  To keep the virus in the boot section from activating and
putting up protection, he used a clean copy of DOS to boot up, bypassing
the sleeping virus.  Then he installed the latest IBM virus killer that
"read the virus its rights" and then executed it.  Immediately after
rebooting my computer I was flashing through the various programs with
100% of the original speed.  It is incredible what a little old bug can
do to your computer.

I now run a virus checker on every boot up and have a shield that will
hopefully keep me straight in the future.  Thanks for all the help from
the Digest members.

(By the way, "Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead" is from the Wizard of Oz.
Remember the celebration when the house fell on the Wicked Witch from
the West?  Well, a "house" fell on my virus as well. ...)

Regards, Rick and Betty Cooley

 [ Jody comments, "The 'Form Virus' is especially obnoxious; you used
 [ exactly the right attack."  -- Robbie