I don't agree with that 100% It is attachments and links that are the
culprits 99.99% of the time.

Tools | Options | Read. Check: Read messages in plain text and you won't see
any HTML.

Tools | Options | Security. "Block images........." stops SpyBots in spam
when reading in HTML. (Not a virus).

With all that said, if you have a decent up-to-date AV program, your risk is
minimal. This is a good program to keep and run once a week or so. It checks
for any Malware you may have picked up, usually from a Website.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.40
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes...-10804572.html
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA


"Kate" wrote in message
...
In the ms.public.windowsxp.help_and_support NG, a reply to a query
mentioned that just opening an HTML-formatted email that contains
malicious software can be enough to infect a computer. How can I tell
if an email is formatted in this way when it arrives in my Inbox,
please? Is it obvious?

Thanks
Kate