# Did I just download a virus or some other nastiness??

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 11, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643 "2003-07-11T04:04:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643/1 "2003-07-11T04:04:08Z")

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Went to my Yahoo email inbox. Saw an email from “carneyl” with the subject = “[none]”.

I was expecting an email from a friend of a friend who I did not know so I thought maybe this was it. But the instant I clicked it open I noticed it was like 160K big.

“Uh-oh” I thought.

It took something like 5 to 10 solid seconds to open – longer than usual for what turned out to be an utterly blank (textless, imageless, linkless and attachmentless) message. I sent it to the trash and deleted it.

But what gives? What the hell was it? Could I have downloaded some virus or other crap just by opening the email (remember, there was no attachment)?

Thanks all in advance.

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**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643/2 "2003-07-11T05:00:15Z")

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Hie thee to the following link, me lad:

[Free Online Virus Scan](http://housecall.trendmicro.com/)

Then download and run [Adaware](http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) and [Spybot](http://security.kolla.de/).

All free and should find what nasty stuff, if any, was downloaded.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643/3 "2003-07-11T07:01:17Z")

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In addition to Ad-Aware and Spybot to remove spyware, I would add a third tool that prevents spyware from installing in the first place: [SpywareBlaster](http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html)

> [@](#):
>
> By setting a “kill bit” for spyware ActiveX controls, SpywareBlaster can prevent the installation of any spyware ActiveX controls from a webpage. It does this while not interfering with “friendly” ActiveX controls - so your browser can work correctly and you can have peace of mind!
> 
> You won’t get any more annoying “Yes/No” boxes popped up, asking you to install a spyware ActiveX control (which can increasingly be found in pop-up ads!). In fact, Internet Explorer will never even download or run the spyware ActiveX control!
> 
> In addition, SpywareBlaster can prevent many of these spyware ActiveX controls from running, even if they are already installed on your system.\*
> 
> The newest SpywareBlaster version can even block spyware/tracking cookies!  
> And SpywareBlaster does not need to be running in the background to provide this protection!

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**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-download-a-virus-or-some-other-nastiness/187643/4 "2003-07-11T20:37:17Z")

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Sounds like it for sure. Try the online scan, but your best bet is to purchase Norton antivirus or something similar and let it run all the time to actively scan files that you execute.