Outlook Express Security

[Tomas]

I frequently receive the message from Outlook Express "
OE has removed an attachment that was unsafe".
I know for as fact that some of these attachments WERE
safe! Why does OE remove them and how can I change this?

Thank you for your help!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Taurarian]

Tomas, hopes this answers your question.

Outlook Express uses the Internet Explorer unsafe file list and the Confirm
open after download setting in Folder Options to determine if a file is
safe. Any e-mail attachment with a file type that is reported as "unsafe" is
not downloaded, and access to the attachment is removed.

However there are times, you may want to view an attachment that Outlook
Express has deemed as unsafe. In these cases, follow these instructions to
allow Outlook Express to show the attachment.

Start Outlook Express.
.. On the Tools menu, click Options.
.. Click the Security tab, click to clear the Do not allow attachments to be
saved or opened that could potentially be a virus check box under Virus
Protection, and then click OK.

To better protect yourself from viruses, its a good idea to leave this
option checked unless you definitely want to open the attachment.

Another way to help protect yourself from email viruses infecting your
computer if you use Outlook Express is to disable the Preview Pane. There
are certain viruses that will infect a computer even if you just preview the
message. To disable the preview pane:

Start Outlook Express
.. Click on View, Layout
.. Uncheck the Show Preview Pane, and then click OK.

A suggestion by Bob Gibson - A quick way to toggle your Preview Pane on and
off is by right clicking a blank area on your Toolbar and select Customize.
You will find the Preview in the left pane and just click Add.
This will put a Preview button on the Toolbar. So when downloading email,
turn the preview off and when you have deleted any unwanted email, you may
turn the preview back on.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Outlook Express' default security settings are simply trying to
protect you. OE has no way of telling whether an attachment actually
contains a virus or not, so it temporarily blocks any of those file
types that could potentially contain a virus. In Outlook Express,
Tools > Options > Security, uncheck the "Do not allow attachments to
be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus" option, assuming
you trust the source, of course. The wiser course of action, however,
would be to modify your list of unsafe files, as outlined in the KB
articles below:

Cannot Open E-Mail Attachments in OE After You Install SP1
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q329570

Information About the Unsafe File List in Internet Explorer 6
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;291369

OLEXP Using Virus Protection Features in Outlook Express 6
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;291387


Bruce Chambers

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