Re: OE Stops Functioning Properly

Avast protects you just as well as McAfee. Attachments are the #1 place that you can get a virus from, but PDF files are not culprits on their own. If you keep your AV up to date, and Avast does it automatically, you should be fine. That said, even an attachment from a friend could contain a virus if they received it and then forwarded it.

I don't want to scare you, just lay out the facts. I used AVG for a long time and switched to Avast when I felt AVG was lagging in updates. I have never got a virus of any type, and I have never had e-mail scanning enabled.

Turning off e-mail scanning is safe. See:

Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx#EOAAC

And this is from Symantec, but applies to all anti-virus programs.

From:
http://snipurl.com/bmf6

Is my computer still protected against viruses if I disable Email Scanning?

Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against viruses that are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect scans incoming files as they are saved to your hard drive, including email and email attachments. Email Scanning is just another layer on top of this. To make sure that Auto-Protect is providing the maximum protection, keep Auto-Protect enabled and run LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have the most recent virus definitions.

P.S. Note my sig. I haven't had flames knocking on my door, but I have had smoke and ash from the Harris fire since it started. (And I have COPD).
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"charmaen" <charmaen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:C045714D-10F3-49DA-A869-AEF17B7B4D94@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I followed your advice, got rid of McAfee and downloaded Avast. Everything
has been running ok so far. Thanks for your help. (I would have replied
sooner but was distracted with the fires here in San Diego.)

One last question, is anything protecting my email now? I heard something
about a problem with .pdf files as attachments causing problems.


"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

You need to replace it with another AV program, and not Norton.

I would suggest either Avast, (freeware), or NOD32, (not free).

In the case of Avast, choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.

Avast:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

NOD32:
http://www.eset.com/
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"charmaen" <charmaen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C6726677-4C79-4543-89A3-FC577D2D6D21@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> If I uninstall McAfee, will my computer be protected?
>
>
> "Ron Sommer" wrote:
>
>> McAfee is not the same program that it was years ago.
>>
>> Drag an email message or save out of OE. It will be saved as an eml
>> file.
>> -- >> Ronald Sommer
>>
>> "charmaen" <charmaen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:84909A32-3F92-487D-9BFB-916E84171977@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > I have been running McAfee for years with no problems. Why now?
>> > What are EML files?
>> >
>> >
>> > "Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Email scanning should be turned off in any anti-virus. Also >> >> exclude
>> >> EML
>> >> files from the scan. It provides no
>> >> protection not provided by the regular resident protection.
>> >> Besides that, McAfee and Norton are not compatible with Windows >> >> Mail
>> >> and
>> >> Outlook Express and should be uninstalled.
>> >
>>



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OE Stops Functioning Properly
    ... got rid of McAfee and downloaded Avast. ... Protection, ... McAfee and Norton are not compatible with Windows Mail ... Outlook Express and should be uninstalled. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Which is best
    ... so far AVG 8 and AVAST is that they are poorly written. ... AVAST is also poorly behaved. ... I don't know if there are other free virus protection ...
    (alt.comp.anti-virus)
  • Re: question re: free a/v software
    ... Avast will protect with the default settings. ... protection provided you keep it updated and you practice Safe-Hex. ... Disable the e-mail scanning function during installation (Custom ... (Choose Custom Installation and under Resident ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Why pay money for "something" you can get for free?
    ... We gave up on McAfee when their virus "protection" software got infected ... Norton on all the machines. ... Lloyd, to tell the truth, I believe McAfee and Norton are very ...
    (rec.pyrotechnics)
  • Re: Virus check of incoming e-mail
    ... That is only partially true. ... It is only true for attachments and not for email exploits ... scanning the file in the inbox the email was caught by McAfee and flagged as ... |> | It provides no added protection. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
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