"Yolanda Martin" wrote in message news:Gmphg.6142$rS6.5265@fed1read11...
| Several times my cox security virus software has given me an alert saying
| that it detected a virus in temp internet files (while I was looking at my
| mail). I deleted my temp files and the problem disappeared and a scan
| showed no virus in my computer.. I only open mail that I know reasonable
| certain is safe from know senders. I was wondering if in OE the preview of
| a mail is actually allowing a virus all it needs to do damage to my
| computer? Yolanda
|


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"If you receive a virus in an e-mail attachment, the virus cannot do anything at all until you actually open the attachment. At that time Outlook Express extracts the attachment from the message and saves it to the Temporary Internet Files folder on your hard disk and attempts to open the file. And it is precisely at that moment that a background system scan will detect the virus, provided it is able to do so, and stop the virus from executing. The system scan will usually delete the infected file from the Temporary Internet Files folder, or else move it to quarantine."
Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...orruption.mspx