# AHHHH! I just recieved the Amish Virus. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656 "2001-03-12T15:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/1 "2001-03-12T15:43:55Z")
Beware, there is a new computer virus going around called the Amish Virus. In my mail box this morning there was a message: “You have just received the Amish virus. Because we do not have any computers or programming experience, this virus works on the honor system. Please delete all the files from your hard drive and manually forward this virus to every one on your mailing list. Thank you for your co-operation.” What am I going to do? So far I’ve been able to avoid the other viruses going around but this time it looks like I’m done for. Does anybody know how to cure this thing quickly before it ruins everything I’ve worked on? Please help. ---
**Author:** ![Mnementh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mnementh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnementh)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/2 "2001-03-12T15:50:27Z")
You’re toast, man. But dont worry about me, i’ve got the Amish antivirus. It’s a little block of wood that sits on my computer and allows me to simply turn off all electricity to my house rather than delete everything. hey, wait a minute… ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/3 "2001-03-12T15:50:40Z")
Your only recourse is to follow the instructions exactly. Start deleting now! ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/4 "2001-03-12T17:26:58Z")
I may have just found the group responsible for this electronic abomination. [http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/internetamishsociety](http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/internetamishsociety) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/5 "2001-03-12T18:10:01Z")
Or these guys, [http://www.electricamish.com](http://www.electricamish.com) ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/6 "2001-03-12T18:58:43Z")
Your best defense is to zip all your files. Since the Amish are not familiar with zippers, they will be unable to unzip them and all your data should be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhh-i-just-recieved-the-amish-virus/57656/7 "2001-03-13T14:45:41Z")
Here’s something along the same lines: [http://www.harrisonline.com/heard/virusalert.html](http://www.harrisonline.com/heard/virusalert.html)