Notabilia

Computers

Hints, Tips And Tricks

Stop Email Viruses

There has been a lot of material discussing viruses proliferating across the Internet. A great many of these viruses are transmitted through email attachments. There is only one sure way to stop your computer from getting infected with a virus: Don't open potentially harmful attachments.

It's really that simple. If you don't open the attachment, it can't infect your system-but how can you tell the infected ones from non-infected ones? All you have to do is look at the attachment's filename before opening it. All files have some name to start with, followed by a dot and then the three letter extension. The three letter extension is what gives you the warning you need. It is the three letter file extension that illustrates what type of file format that file is.

All .jpg and .gif files are images. Images rarely contain viruses. An .exe file on the other hand is a program. If you receive an email with an .exe attachment, you can almost be sure that it is a virus. The same applies to extensions like .vbs, .bat, .pif, and .com. Most viruses use your address book to distribute themselves so you are much more likely to get a virus from someone you know than from someone you don't. Good sound advice is to not open email attachments with file extensions that are suspect. Below is a list of potential threats, if the files arrive through your email.

Treat everything else with caution and you will be well protected.

10-02-2003