Binary attachments are BASE64 encoded so that they can be transmitted across
the Internet. Once you download a message its on your computer as a single
file that has the text components and the encoded attachments. To save the
file, you first need to decode it, and the antivirus software works only on
decoded attachments. So to do what you want, the av software would first
have to take the attachment, decode it from BASE64, and then scan it and
then determine what to do with it. The same thing occurs if you try just to
open the attachment -- the av software detects that in memory and blocks the
opening of it, if its determined to be a virus (or whatever "bad").
However, the attachment still needs to be decoded first. So the best thing
to do is to just save the questionable attachment (which will decode it) and
then right click on it to scan it, which many av programs allow currently.
steve
"Leslie Crystal" <asphaltally@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:F2DB55E8-6753-4385-BB86-1668A12C2EA0@microsoft.com...
> One thing I'd sure like to see is the ability to right click an attachment
> and virus scan it right from the e-mail it came in rather than having to
> save it to your hard drive first.
>