e-mail problem

I use Outlook Express for my mail program. I've received an e-mail with an attachment and when I click on it to open the e-mail, not the attachment, it says -

"This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor." -

When I click on the close button Outlook Express closes and the next time I open it the message comes up in red -

"Warning: The last time you ran Outlook Express it did not shut down correctly. In case this was due to a problem with the last message you were viewing, the message is not being shown." -

My question is, how do I delete this particular e-mail? I haven't opened the attachment as I haven't even been able to get into the message let alone the attachment. I don't know the sender and didn't intend to open the attachment anyway.
Hope someone out there can help.
Thanks.

Lynne Hale

 

Can you right- click the message and select delete ? Do other messages work correctly ?? ...Rhett PS it's a good Idea to delete all mail from people you do not know, and to always delete attachments unless you absolutley trust the sender, if you mustopen them, be sure your Virus scanner is up to date and set to scan mail, another nasty virus is making the rounds ! Even People you trust can send you a virus unbeknowing to themselfs Please ignore this message if you allready knew this, just trying to help !

 

Dear rhettman5,
Thanks for your response to my problem. I am aware of the dangers of opening unknown e-mails and usually don't open them. With this particular problem one, I intended to delete it but I couldn't right click on it to do this and then the message came up about the illegal operation. Yes I can open all other messages correctly - no probs with them.

I do have an up to date Virus scanner but I will check that it is set to scan mail, thanks for the suggestion.
I've set up a fake e-mail address in my address book to stop viruses in their tracks from sending themselves on to my friends. The e-mail address is worm and the name is !000 which goes at the top of the address book and when the virus finds it it can't go any further as it is a bogus address.

I have the feeling this is not a virus but some sort of fault in the system.

Thanks again rhettman5 for your rapid response!!

Lynne Hale

 

No problem Lynne, I am sure someone here will be able to assist you ! In the meantime, take a look at this : http://antivirus.about.com/library/weekly/aa082801b.htm

Your 0000 fix may not be as good as advertized...Rhett

 

Thanks again Rhett,

So much for the e-mail fixit thingy. For a minute there I thought I was safe!!!!!! Bugger. Thanks for enlightening me. Anyway I guess I'll leave it there in the vain hope that it does some good even if it's only psychological!

Thanks again,
Lynne

 

It cant hurt to leave it there and may actually do something. If, like you said, to only make you feel better. By keeping the view pane closed until you are sure of the content and scanning attachments you shouldnt have much to worry about.

On the other email, it is possible, that if it is something like pictures that someone sent to you, OE may still be in the process of downloading it when you attempt to view it. This will cause the actions you are describing. If you are really interested in it, give it awhile and see if it errors out on its own. If it does, then contact whoever sent it and see if they can change the format and resend it.