Thanks for that, Bruce. I already have Malwarebytes installed, plus
AVG Free, and have also blocked images from appearing, so I guess I am
pretty-much covered. Still, if I do not recognise the sender of an
email, I always `save to desktop` and scan with AVG, just in case, and
all emails with attachments get scanned, regardless of who they`re
from (I didn`t install AVG`s automatic Email Scanner - too
disruptive). But, then, I don`t get a lot of emails, so it`s not a
big chore. Incidentally, do you know if can .pdf files be infected?

Thanks again
Kate

"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
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