The e-mail messages that you download could be potentially dangerous. Be careful about e-mail received from unknown sources, especially, if they carry attachments. Those attachments could be executable files that are infected with viruses. Also be wary about e-mail that has the appearance of a Web page [HTML form).

One precaution you can immediately take is to turn off the Reading Pane
or Message Preview dialog box. This will prevent scripts [program lines]
in HTML mail from automatically executing.

Do install an anti-virus program. A good anti-virus solution will integrate with your e-mail program [client). That means that a "Scan" option will appear in the Outlook "Tools" menu.

Here, we are using McAfee VirusScan. During the installation, it integrated with Outlook, and now the "Scan for Viruses ..... option appears in the "Tools" menu.
* Disable the Message preview window by selecting "View I Reading Pane I Off".
* Click on the message to be scanned (or press [Ctrl] + A to select all messages).

* From the "Tools" menu, select "Scan for Viruses" or the equivalent. o If needed, click on the "Start" or "Play" button to begin the scan.