TMGraphics, I believe that a true "virus" replicates on it's own, and attempts to infect others. Usually, a virus can only propagate if it is somewhat subtle in it's infection. Otherwise, they would be stopped more quickly. As for being able to run completely on their own, there is a bit of fuzziness here. Code Red was able to infect remote machines because of a bug in Microsofts Web Server. The job of a web server is to run other programs (generally not ones that come from outside the computer) so it technically was run willingly by the server software. As for internet browsing, if a script can perform system calls and can be run from a browser, you better believe that it could be running without your being aware. Also, active-X controls are a useful feature of Internet Explorer, but they can also do bad stuff, if they are designed to do so. You can configure IE to allow Active-X controls to install without asking (I think earlier versions defaulted to that state, until all these worms began showing up). If anyone uses IE, and is unsure of their configuration, I highly recommend pcpitstop.com (I have no affiliation with them). They can run tests on your machine and suggest ways to improve things. One of the tests is the security of IE and various email programs. eric