Vista - Is the mail really "open" when I look in preview window?

I'm new to Vista and Windows Mail. When I read a note in the "preview" pane
- is it really "open"? I've been told that it doesn't really open unless you
respond to it - so you can just read and not worry about any virus or spam
getting in. Any truth to this? If it really works this way it's a great
feature.

Several years ago, while still using Windows 98, I read an article that indicated just the opposite. If the virus is present in the preview pane, your computer may become infected. The article suggested that you change the preview pane, so that the email cannot be previewed.

Reading a message in the preview pane is no different than reading it in
its own window. However, most viruses are carried in attachments which
are not automatically opened. Also, your antivirus will scan an email before
it is displayed. (Don't confuse this real-time scanning of opened files with
the optional email scanning. The latter should not be enabled.)
I have never yet caught anything in the 14 years I've used preview, so
I wouldn't get paranoid about it.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)


"Pfricksmom" <Pfricksmom@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:18F00D09-D390-4A11-9A9F-EC4B642D3E3D@xxxxxx