Full Version: Entourage Mystery E-mail Addresses
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1]
18 Dec 2005
To: ALL
My wife recently upgraded her Mac to OSX Tiger. The e-mail program, which is part of Microsoft Office, is called Entourage.
Friday, she received an email from "Choose This" with an address of "<Accepted Everywhere at kecki.info>"
She immediately deleted the email, without opening it.
Now, for whatever reason (virus?) when she tries to access email addresses from Entourage, by typing a character, say the letter "A," almost none of the familiar addresses show up, but many which aren't supposed to be there appear. She's never heard of these people or unfamiliar address names. Many of them are emails she's received and deleted.
She wants to delete the "unintended" addresses from her address book, but when typing their names into the search window, there's absolutely no hint of them being there at all.
One thing in common is, the errant addresses have the "<>" symbols bracketing the names.
What the hey?!!
EDITED: 18 Dec 2005 by DGL
From: Mick [#2]
18 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1] 18 Dec 2005
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#3]
18 Dec 2005
To: Mick [#2] 18 Dec 2005
Mick,
There's a first time for everything and if the problems my wife is having are virus-related, it will be the first in nearly 20 years of using Macs.
EDITED: 18 Dec 2005 by DGL
From: UncleSteve [#4]
18 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#3] 18 Dec 2005
From: Brett (BHALLE) [#5]
18 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1] 18 Dec 2005
Microsoft apps can still be attacked on a Mac ... the most common Mac Viri are Microsoft Office related. I would encourage you to purchase Symantec's Antivirus software if she continues to use Entourage...the problem you are experiencing is probably a Visual Basic related virus which Symantec should be able to detect and eradicate.
Just out of curiosity, is there some reason she isn't using the built-in email application that comes with Tiger (Mail)? It has some very nice junk mail filtering which is much better than Entourage and it is immune to the Microsoft class of attacks. In addition, it uses the system-wide address book facility which integrates with all the other Tiger applications.
--Brett
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#6]
18 Dec 2005
To: Brett (BHALLE) [#5] 18 Dec 2005
Thanks for the information and the suggestions.
My wife recently began working with a company who recruits participants for focus groups. It's a job she can do part time, from home, while allowing her to pursue her love of photography.
Because the company sends various templates for Excel spreadsheets, getting Microsoft Office was one of the requirements.
This sounds strange to me, but according to my wife, there was no built-in email program with Tiger.
EDITED: 18 Dec 2005 by DGL
From: Brett (BHALLE) [#7]
18 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#6] 18 Dec 2005
If she is going to be using and exchanging MS Office related files, investing in Symantec Antivirus would be extremely wise. These things tend to get infected easily ... particularly if they are exchanged with others (PC or Mac).
As far as mail is concerned, I assure you that Mac OS X has shipped with a mail application (Mail, located in the Applications folder) since the first day it was shipped. The version that comes with Tiger is particularly good, having a number of spam filtering capabilities along with "smart" folders which allow you to organize your mail easily.
If there is any way I can help with your Mac OS X experience, please feel free to contact me ... I was personally involved in the creation of Mac OS X and am rather intimately familiar with it's workings. PM me if you'd like my email or phone number ... I am happy to help.
--Brett
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#8]
18 Dec 2005
To: Brett (BHALLE) [#7] 19 Dec 2005
Brett,
This job requires a tremendous amount of receiving and sending files/email. Symantec will be a must.
The native Tiger email program is in the applications, but when she tries to use it, a window pops up saying she'll have to set up an account with Mac.com.
Does that make sense? I don't see why she can't use our existing ISP for email.
Thank you for your offer of help. My wife would like to talk to you.
As for myself, I need to step out of the role of interpreter and let the two of you go direct. :-)
EDITED: 18 Dec 2005 by DGL
From: Peter [#9]
19 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#8] 19 Dec 2005
Keep us informed on the outcome David, I for one have some interest as I still run a Mac in my business alongside the PC's..
I was always under the misguided impression that the Mac was an impenetrable fortress to all, but the most dedicated Mac enthusiast Virus writers.
regards
Peter
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#10]
19 Dec 2005
To: Peter [#9] Unread
I'll certainly let you know how this works out. It could be, as Brett claims, it's not necessarily the computer itself, but the Microsoft applications which are being affected.
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#11]
19 Dec 2005
To: ALL
= UPDATE =
Problem solved. My wife contacted Microsoft and thankfully, it was an easy fix.
No virus at all.
Here's the deal:
In the Entourage preferences, under "Mail & News preferences," select "compose." Under the list of preferences for "compose," at the very bottom of the window, you will see "Recent Addresses."
There is a box to check/uncheck, which is checked by default, which says, "Display a list of recently used addresses, when addressing messages."
Uncheck that box.
Under that line is a button that says, "Clear List." If you hit that button, everything on the list will go away. This means, if you want to save email contacts, they need to be added to your address book.
The "list" is much like the "History" of web browsers and can include deleted email addresses, which if the "Display a list..." box is checked, will appear as possible selections of email addresses to use, when composing an email.
EDITED: 19 Dec 2005 by DGL
From: Brett (BHALLE) [#12]
19 Dec 2005
To: ALL
David and All,
First, glad to hear the problem was found and fixed.
In regards to Mac viruses...Mac OS X, in particular, is very resistant to virus attack. Partly because the system is, by design, more secure but also because hackers don't tend to write them for the Mac (smaller target market, harder to write virus code, etc.). The one place, however, where you can be gotten fairly easily, however, is Microsoft Office applications. This is because many of the ones written for Windows still apply to the Mac version of Office (Visual Basic, Excel macros, etc.). If you exchange a lot of Office documents with others, particularly cross platform, a good virus checker (Symantec Antivirus, for example) is a must.
--Brett
EDITED: 19 Dec 2005 by BHALLE
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#13]
19 Dec 2005
To: Brett (BHALLE) [#12] 19 Dec 2005
I must say how nice it is to have an in-house Mac expert as a forum member. :-)
From: Brett (BHALLE) [#14]
19 Dec 2005
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#13] 19 Dec 2005
--Brett