My mail account has a virus, how do I get rid of it?

Leo:
I use MSN Hotmail for my main email account (the one I used in this comment)I have found that over the past several months the Hot Mail system has become very slow and non responsive. I have complained to them and they have denied any problem but the system miraculously speeds up for a short time after each complaint, only to slow down again a few days later. I have recently downloaded Internet Explorer 9 Beta and I now find that the editing function in Hot Mail is messed up. Back spacing to correct a typo when composing an email causes the display to become unreadable until the correction is completed. Microsoft needs to get their act together fast, Yahoo, Google and AOl are all doing a much better job on handling web based email. thnaks for listening and for all the great advice.

Ed Lieber

What do you expect? A Beta is a Beta. It is not meant for anything but test purposes. You should not even run it on your main computer unless it is in a VM. No problems you have can be blamed on Microsot. Did you read the EULA and release notes?
There are many warnings to that effect.
Read all Eula's and notes, ALWAYS on all software.
That goes for you people that download some file and end up with a bunch of crappy BHO's and high-jacked home pages, etc. YOU allowed these things to happen by not paying attention.

Great response. I would like to add that the user should run a full virus scan of their computer using more then one security client to ensure that their own computer has not become a bot or is hacked. While the e-mail account may be the only account hacked your computer may also be infected and that is how they got your password in the first place.

As well as running a full virus check and also ensuring the firewall is working, I suggest that a security check such as "ShieldsUP!" should be included.

Additionally, I run the ancient CHKLINKS daily whilst having breakfast. Although less necessary on later, faster computers, it can be helpful in ensuring that Broken Links are not accumulating.

Reboot your ADSL/Broadband Router occasionally, say once a month.

Take a good look at old emails accumulating in your account or on your PC. Get rid of the majority.

Always run down and switch off "gracefully" - be patient and keep your fingers away from the On/Off Switch.

In other words, there are several "housekeeping" tasks that the individual PC User can and should carry out, to keep the PC running smoothly and quickly.

The individual PC User now has to undertake many of the "housekeeping" tasks that were carried out by the Computing Department, back in the good old days of main frames etc.

Alex Dow

I would like to add a WARNING on here to this. 4 of us in the household use hotmail, or windows live. My mom gets an email that says windows live is having problems with spammers and fake accounts, and wants her to fill in her name, username, password and reply back via email. It ALMOST looks legit, until you hit reply. Suddenly it is redirected to a {removed by moderator}@hotmail.com. There is no way to report this to msn, hotmail, or windows live, so all I can do is spread the word-WATCH OUT. The other 3 of us did not get this same email-so we knew it was a hoax right away

Darrel Riffle
The giveaway should have been "password". What on earth does anyone but you need your password for? THINK! What do you need your password for? To log into your account. If you want any one else to log into your account, give 'em your password. Otherwise, never, never never give out your password.

I'm an administrator on several web site forums and I've always found it ironic that computer users don't do any homework until after the fact (problem). Typical problem: "My computer has been clicking for about 2 months and now it won't boot"
Proactive trumps reactive every time. At least, do a little research! You would have found out that Hotmail is the most hacked e-mail service (and for that fact makes a great disposable e-mail address).
Change your profile info every month or two with Hotmail and Yahoo mail. G-mail, not so often. Maybe every 3-4 months.

I was filling out for something on the computer and when I started to put my email address a completly different email came up for some one I didn't know. What does this mean and what should I do?

@Dorleen
Most browsers have an autocomplete feature that "guesses" what you want by giving a dropdown list of all of the email addresses you've previously typed in an email field that begin with those letters you've typed. If there is only one option on that list it may insert it directly in that field. In that case just keep typing and the options will disappear. This not only works for email addresses but many other fields, such as name, address etc.

Read the comments concerning mail account having a virus and I realize that email accounts do not get a virus but a computer does. My problem is a little different, no one has hacked into my email and sent things to my addresses. What has happened is that in my "Inbox" mail, sent mail, stored messages and some subfolders, all messages have been duplicated at least 2 times. Some messages have replicated 3 times. I have Windows XP on this computer, I don't know what to do. I have deleted 200 emails from a total of 500 only weeks later to find they are back and replicated yet again to total 500 (just an example #). If anyone can help, I would appreciate it.... :)