Last week's issue of the Infopackets Gazette was about the importance of using msconfig. The article also reviewed some third-party msconfig replacements for Windows 2000 users.

I received a lot of feedback regarding the issue since the last newsletter was mailed. If you were unclear about how msconfig works, be sure to check out the revisions made to the article online. I have provided a few extra steps and a screen capture for clarity.

One more note: I received email with regards to msconfig and the Klez Virus. Denise R. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

In reference to the recent newsletter, Renee N. stated she had the K-L-E-Z virus in her registry but it wasn't on her computer. I am thinking that perhaps she has Norton on her system and thinks that a registry entry doesn't matter if Norton says the virus isn't there.

Not true, actually. There are at least two variants of the virus that are known to disable Norton's functions, prevent updates, and can and will hide itself from Norton. I'd hate for it to become a situation for some measure of complacency, as Norton is very fallible, as most techs have found out.

Virus not detected means exactly that. Not detected doesn't mean the virus is not present on the system -- only that the program has not detected its presence.

I'm hoping Renee N. will try another AV tool to insure the registry entry is benign. From everything I work with every day, that entry in the registry is as much of a red flag for re-infection as the primary file Wink*.exe in the startup group. "