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Solutions
By JOHN TORRO Q. When I turn on my system (Windows 98), the following message is on my desktop: "The C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Start-up\Kak.hta file is not a Windows help file or the file is corrupted." How can I remove this from my screen?
A. You have the KAK virus. It's spread through a security hole in Outlook Express. You can become infected just by viewing an e-mail that has it. This means you should always have the "Show Preview Pane Header" option in Outlook Express turned off (from the menu bar, go to View, Layout). You need to do several things. At www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/wscript.kakworm. * * * Q. I got a message saying ActiveX control might be unsafe. It showed a lock and key and then asked me to choose Yes or No. What is this? A. Most Web pages are built using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). Your browser interprets this language and displays the pages you see. If the Web page author needs to go beyond the capabilities of HTML, one option is to prepackage his code and embed it into the Web page as an ActiveX control. Since ActiveX controls can have far more capabilities than HTML, including access to your PC in ways that could be harmful, the browser is warning you that an ActiveX control is about to be activated. You must specifically tell the browser whether you want this to occur, or alter the settings within your browser (Internet Explorer) in the Tools, Internet Options, Advanced tab section to allow this to happen automatically (not recommended). Many software authors will digitally sign their controls and, in doing so, your browser will then inform you that this control has been verified as coming from the actual author/company that is listed as part of the message. What this verification means is that the author/software company applied for and received a unique digital signature from an independent company (such as VeriSign) whose business is to verify that the software provider really is who they say they are. The digital signing still doesn't guarantee that the control is harmless, but does provides a measure of assurance that it is legitimate software from a legitimate author/company. In your case, that ActiveX control is not digitally signed, and you have no guarantee of what it is and who it was authored by. Chances are it's okay. However, I rarely allow unsigned controls to be downloaded and activated on my system unless I have a real good feeling about the site I'm dealing with and what the control is supposed to do. * * * Q. Whenever I am viewing e-mail (Outlook Express and Internet Explorer 6), I click on a link to take me to a new site. Instead of a new window opening, a window that I am already using gets changed. I would prefer that a new window opens. How do I change this? A. I feel your pain. I too lived with this annoyance until I finally decided to look for the answer. Here it is: From the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools, Internet Options, then the Advanced tab. Scroll down under the Browsing section and uncheck the "Reuse Windows for Launching Shortcuts." This is set as on by default. In my opinion, it should have been the other way around.
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