14th December 2001
For as much heat as we give Microsoft for developing their own brand of services for the world, they can be helpful at times. Scenario: you've just received a small executable file from a friend. He says his "e-card" is perfectly safe, but you want to double check for good measure. What happens if you don't have an anti-virus program installed and running? What if you're not on your home machine? Simply forward the attachment to your Hotmail account. If you don't have one, get one (or share one with someone else). Why? Because it will automatically scan your incoming messages for known viruses! There's no need to install any extra software or services on your computer or account; this is done automatically through Hotmail. It should be safe(r) to login to your account and save the attachment from there. In fact, all attachments sent from your Hotmail account will be scanned for known viruses, as well. They're using McAfee VirusScan, but that shouldn't matter too much to you if you're in a pinch and need a quick solution. Again, any other scan would probably require the installation of software.