On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 14:39:24 +0000, Graham Watkins wrote: > Wish it were that simple. I'm not running a mail server with > windows clients. This is a dual booting stand alone machine and > I never use windows for downloading mail. (In fact I use it as > little as possible.)
I confess to some confusion about your problem. Is there some reason you are forced to execute the worm-infested e-mail while running Windows? Why not just treat it like junk mail and delete it? Isn't it junk mail? Are you receiving e-mail that you must open and deal with that also contains viruses? And, you must open it in Windows? Is that the problem? Like a Word attachment you're expecting from a colleague and it turns out to have a virus perhaps. Even then, you can safely open it in OO. OO can't execute VBS macros (the carrier of viruses in MSOffice files). If you suspect an e-mail of having a virus and you also feel compelled for some reason to open it before tossing it out, you can do so safely using a text editor. And, that's true for when Windows is running as well. I run several mailing lists and sometimes have to check mail bounced to me by the mailing list software because it trips a filter. When I still used Windows, I would download the mail in Eudora, but view it in WordStar in nondocument mode. Nothing happens when viewing a message in a text editor (notepad works just fine for this purpose, too), but you can see all kinds of stuff (like which IP address it really came from). As others have pointed out, it can only be a problem if Windows is actually running (which cannot be the case on a dual-boot system if Linux is the system running). The same procedures used to handle garbage mail are more than adequate for handling mail with viruses on a Linux system. Sign up for the security advisories if you're concerned about Linux exploits. Mandrake has a great mailing list for security advisories. There are a number of Linux sites which list advisories for all Open Source software. AV software tends not to include anything that's not actually in the wild. Security advisories come out as soon as a vulnerability is known. For a Linux system, they are much more useful and timely than AV software. Just to underscore what others have mentioned -- antivirus software (including Linux antivirus software) is looking for Windows viruses. It is really necessary only for Linux mail servers distributing mail to people who may open their mail in Windows. Linux antivirus software also tends to be more expensive than Windows AV software and a bigger headache to install, because it's not really meant for a stand alone system. Have you considered installing one of the many excellent free Windows AV products on your Windows installation, and just boot into Windows once a week to update the definitions? Try Googling for one. deedee Registered Linux User #327485 Visit "WordStar & GNU/Linux" http://www.wordstar2.com Also, see WordStar Users Group Community http://www.wordstar2.com/WordStar_Users/index.php -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10
____________________________________________________ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com ____________________________________________________
