An e-mail warning computers users of a virus called sulfnbk.exe to be launched today is a hoax.

The hoax appears to have hit globally harder than any similar virus with tens of thousands of people deleting the harmless Microsoft Windows utility programme from their hard disks, according to computer magazines and warnings issued yesterday around the world.

The Royal Gazette yesterday reported on the bug which was said to delete everything on the hard drive of a computer once it became active on June 1.

But yesterday it emerged that the bug was a hoax which has resulted in hundreds of users in Bermuda deleting a file from their hard drive.

The deleted file can be easily recovered by following the instructions on the sites http:/www.symantec.com or on www.act.bm.

The computer anti-virus research centre Symantec said: "Please ignore any messages regarding this hoax and do not pass on messages. Passing on messages about the hoax only serves to further propagate it."

A press release from Applied Computer Technologies in Bermuda said: "The June Bug computer virus which was reported in... The Royal Gazette is a hoax. The so called virus travels through e-mail and the subject may contain "Virus Alert" or mention Sulfnbk.exe. If you have received this or do receive it, ignore it. Do not pass it on as this is how virus hoaxes are spread."

According to Symantec, the e-mail apparently originated from Brazil and was in Portuguese, and then translated into English. It appeared first in Bermuda on Tuesday and quickly did the rounds via e-mail.

The hoax is more effective than a virus because it gets the user to send on the message to all of their contact addresses over the past months with instructions to delete the software, according to various computer magazines published yesterday.

In Bermuda warnings went out yesterday from Logic, Government and Applied Computer Technologies not to delete the file or send the e-mail on.In the US may computer magazines and companies also issued warnings.

US Computer Associates sent out a hoax alert yesterday and said: ``Hoaxes are as dangerous as true virus threats, in that they create unnecessary panic and may coerce computer users to damage their own systems,'' said Ian Hameroff, business manager at the New York computer company. "Sulfnbk.exe has already tricked users to delete perfectly clean files."

The company has put information about the virus on http://ca.com/virusinfo.

Sulfnbk.exe is a Microsoft Windows utility that is used to restore long file names if they get corrupted and deleting it could cause that feature to stop working properly. However, the other elements of the PC will continue to work properly.

However if any attachment contains a file called sulfnbk.exe, then it may be a virus originally discovered in March, and anti-virus experts warn not to open the file as it may be infected.

Symantec said to make sure that anti-virus software is running and that virus definitions have been updated since March.

Experts believe the propagation of the Sulfnbk.exe e-mail is caused mainly by confusion due to this virus circulating containing a file with the same name.

Symantec, Vmyths.com, a web site that looks at bogus virus alerts and the US internet publication. The Register said confusion may have been increased by the fact that e-mails were being sent that contained a copy of a Sulfnbk.exe file that was infected by a virus. This virus is know as the W32.Magistr.2487mm and is easily removed with any good virus software, according to Vmyths and Symantec.

The Magistr virus is a particularly nasty bug which deletes files and attempts to flash a user's BIOS chip - and is capable of sending infected copies of Sulfnbk.exe to innocent users automatically.

Vmyths at it's site said it believes that the new e-mail was started by somebody who was forwarded a message by a colleague whose computer did actually have the Magistr worm. It adds that this person is believed to have searched for the file, deleted it after discovering that the anti-virus software failed to recognise the file, and sent out a warning to other users, which has been sent around the world.

Applied Computer Technologies advises that the file the virus message refers to is found in Windows 95/98 file systems and possibly Windows ME. It is not found within Windows NT or Windows 2000 systems.

The release added: `'By following the advice of the article, there could be damage done to systems across the Island.''

Applied Computer Technologies has put instructions on how to replace the file if it is deleted on their web site www.act.bm to download.

Government's computer services department also identified the virus warning as a hoax and sent out information to all their staff.

Michael Allward, the customer care manager at Logic said that his company had received many calls about the hoax virus warning. He advised going to the www.symantec.com site for instructions to reinstall the programme.