[BC] Easy way to spot suspicious files

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In light of this recent AIM/AOL virus alert, here is a very simple thing you 
can do with all versions of Windows since 95, which will make it blatantly 
obvious when an infected file arrives, trying to trick you into thinking it's 
a 
harmless JPG, GIF, or MP3, etc...

There is a setting in Windows Explorer that you can change, which will make 
these kinds of spoofs INSTANTLY recognizable! Windows has a ***STOOOOOPID*** 
default setting that hides the filename's extension if Windows recognizes it. 

This is how these creeps get away with this kind of spoof: they name a file 
"SPOOF.GIF.EXE" and because Windows "recognizes" the "EXE" extension, it 
"hides" it, so what you now see is "SPOOF.GIF" and so you say, "Oh! It's only 
a 
picture!" Click... WHAM!

Here's what to do to change this:

In Windows Explorer, click TOOLS, then "Folder Options". In that window, 
select the VIEW tab. Just below the little folder icon, "Hidden files and 
folders" 
**UNCHECK** the box that says "Hide extensions for known file types". That 
will disable this STOOOOPID feature, and spoofed filenames like the above 
will 
now be very obvious by their "EXE" extension! (Note that "SCR", "SCP", and 
"COM" are also used as executable virus extensions.)

Willie...