International Business Machines Corp. said yesterday that several thousand of its Aptiva personal computers may have a virus that can shut down the PC.

Aptivas that may be affected include models 240, 301, 520 and 580, built between March 5 and 17. The virus is spread when some files are transferred from one PC to another. The bug may shut down the machine if the PC's calendar reads April 26 of any year.

Pub Date: 4/07/99