1. Lake Country Online announces a change in our Sunday hours. We are now open to serve your technical support needs from 1:00 PM until 9:00 PM on Sundays. Our regular technical support hours are Monday through Saturday 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM and will remain the same Voice mail service is available after hours with assured call back from our staff on the following business day.

2. Spyware is becoming a nuisance for many Internet users. Lake Country Online suggests visiting http://www.kerrlake.com/newlink.htm and click on the link for "Check Your Computer For Spyware Free". You will be directed to a site where you can download Spybot, which is a spyware detection program. The download is free. After downloading and installing Spybot, be certain to click on the button to update the program. Then, run the program on your computer and it will detect any spyware that is installed on your computer. Be sure to delete any files from your computer that are detected as spyware. Spybot can also be found at the following link http://download.com/3000-2144-10122137.html?part=104443&subj=dlpage&tag=button

What is Spyware? A general term for a program that surreptitiously monitors your actions. While they are sometimes sinister, like a remote control program used by a hacker, software companies have been known to use spyware to gather data about customers. The practice is generally frowned upon.

We also strongly suggest that our customers install and run Zone Alarm on their computer. Zone Alarm is a firewall that will alert you to any attempts of intrusion to your computer. For a free download of Zone Alarm visit http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp.

Please visit our Virus and Hoax information at http://www.kerrlake.com/support/virus.htm for updated virus and hoax information. If you are looking for a reliable and easy virus protection program, we suggest PC-Cillin by Trend. You can purchase this program online by clicking on the Trend ad that is on our Virus and Hoax Information page. It is extremely important to remember that in order for a virus program to be effective it must be updated daily to protect your computer from the most recent viruses.

If pop-up ads annoy you, we recommend that you download the Google Toolbar, which will provide you with a free pop-up stopper. Visit http://toolbar.google.com/ to download the free Google Toolbar.

3. In our last system news, we informed you that we had updated our mail server to provide better e-mail filtering. We are extremely happy to announce that we have seen a drastic reduction in the spam that is reaching our customers. Before the upgrade some customers were seeing 10 to 15 spam e-mails daily. Since the upgrade, those same customers see no spam or only one or two per week. Our spam filters are updated several times daily to provide our customers the most current spam filtering there is available.

Some customers reported receiving "Security Updates" through an e-mail claiming to be sent from Microsoft. However, these e-mails were bogus and while the e-mail itself did not contain a virus, the links within the e-mail led to sites that did contain viruses. Microsoft does not send out security updates; therefore, if you do receive an e-mail from Microsoft that informs you to update your computer, DO NOT click on the links or open any attachments to those e-mails. It is best to immediately delete the e-mail from within your inbox by left clicking once on the message title and right click on "delete". The message will be removed from your inbox without your having to open it.

4. Lake Country Online is now offering an unlimited national Internet access account called Megapop. This account provides unlimited national access along with local access. With a Megapop account, you will have access to over 2700 access numbers across the United States. If you are interested in switching to our Megapop account, please give us a call and we will be happy to make the changes with you on your computer. Your e-mail address will remain the same.

5. It is also extremely important that you regularly update your windows program for critical updates. To do this, connect to the Internet, open Internet Explorer. Next, click on "Tools" at the top of the page and then select "Windows Update". Follow the onscreen instructions for scanning your computer, downloading and installing all critical updates. Or go to the following website for updates http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

6. The Clarksville voice line of 374-4308 will be disconnected within the next few months. Customers in the Clarksville and Epps Fork area can use our Boydton number (738-6921) as a local call. For customers outside of the Clarksville/Boydton local calling area, please use our toll free number of 877-945-0389. This only affects the Clarksville voice lines. The Internet dial up lines will remain the same.

Upgrade of Lake Country Online Mail Server... Lake Country Online is pleased to announce the upgrade of our mail server which enhances a powerful and useful tool for eliminating the volume of spam or junk e-mail received by our subscribers. Customers should see an immediate decrease in the number of spam or junk e-mail messages they are receiving. The mail server was upgraded on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 at approximately 2:30 PM. Within an hour after the upgrade, we found that we were stopping three times the amount of spam than prior to the upgrade. Our mail server is updated daily to include the latest spam filter sieves so that our capabilities of blocking spam are optimized.

Not only should you see a decrease in spam mail, but also the eradication of unsolicited e-mail that is of pornographic or offensive nature. If you do receive any such e-mail, please help us in blocking it at the source by forwarding the messages as an attachment to spam@kerrlake.com

In addition, as before the upgrade, our e-mail server scans incoming and outgoing mail for viruses. Virus definitions on the mail server are updated every 15 minutes, insuring protection from the latest viruses that are spread through e-mail.

Users of Webmail will notice a new interface when logging into Lake Country Online's Webmail. Users of Webmail should be certain to log into Webmail with their entire e-mail address (example: username@kerrlake.com) and password in order to be able to access and utilize your Contact List (Address Book).

Other features of Webmail such as deleting and purging messages work much in the same manner as the earlier version. The Delete/Undelete and Purge Deleted Messages buttons are now located at the bottom of the screen rather than at the top as in the previous version. To check for new messages periodically while logged into Webmail, simply click on the inbox to refresh the message view and to download any new messages from the server.

We are excited about this upgrade and feel that our customers benefit greatly from the enhanced spam filtering capabilities as well as the continued e-mail virus scanning features. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at 434-738-6921 or Toll Free at 877-945-0389. You may also reach us via e-mail at support@kerrlake.com.

• 374-9090 - connection speeds up to 56K/V.90
• 374-0474 - connection speeds up to 33.6/V.34
• 738-0096 - connection speeds up to 56K/V.90
• 738-6917 - connection speeds up to 33.6/V.34