I received a call today regarding this question. Now, there was a time when most people knew that the only way to get a virus was to open an attachment. Those days are long gone. Now all one has to do is surf the web and a pop-up might just contain spyware or a trojan horse.

But the question remains, can you really get a virus just by looking at your email? The answer is yes…well, maybe. With email clients such as Outlook Express, one can view an email without even opening it. The only problem is that while your email client opens the email to view it, it allows any potential viruses to execute, therefore infecting your computer with the nasty bugs.

So, what can you do? Well, the best thing to do is to make sure that you always update your email clients and have any new patches that are available for download. Also, and this obviously goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, if you don’t know who it is, and it looks suspicious, it probably is and you should delete it without opening it. If you happen to open an infected email, delete it (make sure you delete it from the delete folder as well), and then immediately run a virus scan. Finally, make sure that your virus protection is up-to-date. If you are worried about the cost, just think about the cost it would take to fix a computer that has been infected. Besides, most virus protection, such as Norton Anti-Virus or MacAfee Anti-Virus, is available for a minimal fee.

As long as you are careful and run your anti-virus software often (at the very least once a week), there shouldn’t be any major virus issues. But don’t take my word for it. Do some research on the issue and if you find any information I missed, let me know.

- Catinreno

Delete is our friend - Basic computer help for the technologically challenged.

Computer Help