This one is stumping me. I have outlook express I keep hearing it is so bad to preview emails. Why exactly? I have been for over a year and nothing bad has happened. If you click on the email won't the same thing happen if you preview? Can some one help me understand this. Thanks a bunch. N ****************************************************** 06-19-02, 12:10 AM Dwight You can avoid contracting the virus through your preview window by disabling the Preview Pane function, but the worm will still infect your PC if you open the message.
To delete a message suspected of being virally contaminated, select the Message Header and hold the Shift Key down while pressing the Delete Key.
Who should read this bulletin: Customers using Microsoft® Internet Explorer.
Recommendation: Customers using IE should install this patch (linked above) immediately.
Affected Software:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
I recommend Norton Anti-Virus version 2002 and it is very important to update it frequently (this is true of all anti-virus software). I update mine on a daily basis.
I hope this is of some help!
Dwight ****************************************************** 06-23-02, 11:18 PM Tree It is possible to get a virus attachment that goes to work immediately. When you try to delete it, it will go into an installing/downloading mode, etc. When you click the X to exit, it will exit you right out of the email program!!! When you remove the ability to view the pane, you remove the problem, because you can then simply delete it and delete from the deleted folder. I'd actually leave the view pane option ON.. unless you have the problem ... then turn it off until the problem is resolved! ****************************************************** 06-24-02, 05:38 AM TomGL2 Tree, I think the problem has not been made clear. It is the enabling of the preview pane which causes the problem. Leaving it enabled leaves you open to this kind of attack -- diabling it after the attack does no good at all, and reenabling after the attack leaves you open again.
The problem is that simply viewing the infected email launches the virus. With the preview pane enabled, the virus can launch immediately after the email is downloaded, or when you click the header to select the email (because it is displayed when clicked once). Turning off the preview pane avoids both possibilities. ****************************************************** 06-24-02, 11:27 AM babthrower I have now disabled preview after 4 virus attacks and one very bad scare. If I don't know the sender, I delete right away unless the topic is something I can relate to, some familiar thing that tells me the sender is genuine. I know Klez can infect me by sending from email ADDRESSES STORED IN an infected computer, so I might get a virus from an innocent but infected person, but I just have to take that chance. I used to never open attachments from unknown senders, but still got infected from viruses that downloaded anyway. So now, I don't use Outlook Express anymore, I understand Hotmail and Yahoo pre-check for viruses. I use McAfee and update once a week. I just hope viruses don't make the internet unusable. ****************************************************** 06-25-02, 12:16 AM Tree I know what you're saying... I work at a golf club. Today, (at work) I got an email from "Pro shop" "re: schedule" sounds innocent enough.... but I got a warning from Norton - about a couple of emails. I called the pro shop and asked them -WHY would they be sending me something about a schedule... and they said they didn't! Amazing how they can send viruses that are disguised as your actual business. MAKES ME MAD! ****************************************************** 06-25-02, 01:35 AM babthrower That's scary, tree. ****************************************************** 06-25-02, 04:48 PM koicarp You can read about mailwasher here. You can preview emails and delete off your server before they hit your system.
smile smile smile ****************************************************** 06-25-02, 07:29 PM gizmogram I've had mailwasher for awhile and really like it.
The only thing to be very careful of: Don't open only your email program (like if you're composing email & then going on-line to send it.) If your email program is open & mailwasher isn't active, you will receive incoming emails.
06-25-02, 11:33 PM Tree OK - I have to say that I'm a bit confused! Only cuz I'm an IDIOT!! But aside from that....
I have Norton running, so that when I open Outlook Express - and when I'm loading mail and even before I SEE an infected email - Norton waves a flag and tells me that there's a virus happening (not on my home computer, but mostly at my work one!) If Norton is unable to repair it, it quarantines it.....
So, my question is - when I THEN view that email (without opening the attachment!) How does it open the virus when it's not there anymore!!?? (as in - it has been quarantined by Norton)?
Is anyone smart enough to explain it to someone as stupid as ME??????
Oh my gosh! Is there a "children's section" here???? ****************************************************** 06-26-02, 02:10 AM TomGL2 If Norton can identify a virus in the email, the virus will be removed unless you decide otherwise. Sometimes the email itself is the virus (there is no attachment per se), so it will be removed.
New viruses can circulate fairly widely in the time it takes Symantec to produce a virus signature and for you to update your definitions, so there is still a possibility of infection. This is why Majistr almost got me -- I'm vigilant to the point of paranoia, thank goodness, and escaped. Caution should still be your first line of defense. ****************************************************** 06-26-02, 12:39 PM babthrower Thank you for suggesting Mailwasher. 20 bucks well spent, from the reviews. It asks me for Account - Server - username. What do I put there? Can I put several? How do I activate MW for each, if I can? ****************************************************** 06-26-02, 07:45 PM koicarp
quote:Originally posted by babthrower: Thank you for suggesting Mailwasher. 20 bucks well spent, from the reviews. It asks me for Account - Server - username. What do I put there? Can I put several? How do I activate MW for each, if I can?
REMEMBER: Keep mailwasher running all the time in your system tray while on the net
smile smile smile ****************************************************** 06-26-02, 10:55 PM Nadca2 Thank you to all who answered. I have just turned off preview. I thought it was so much easier to look at my email this way and liked the look better. But I would rather be safe than sorry. Thanks all.. ****************************************************** 06-27-02, 12:28 PM babthrower That documentation is nice and clear. ****************************************************** 06-30-02, 01:02 AM nerdqueendeluxe I generally use IE but can use Outlook. If all my email comes thru Hotmail or Yahoo do I need to think the above problems over again? I have never seen a preview window, is thas an AOL feature, maybe? My last attempt to upgrade to IE 6 was a failure but I have learned so much more thanks to Answerpool that I may try it again.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
