How to Activate Earthlink Mail Virus Blocker

A virus is a program that can copy itself any number of times and infect a computer without permission from the user. A virus may delete files on a computer, format a drive or cause other computer problems. Viruses embedded in email cause billions of dollars in damages every year as these viruses email themselves from one person to another. Earthlink created a state-of-the-art virus blocker to protect its customers. You have to activate the Earthlink mail virus blocker to keep your messages clean all of the time. In emergency situations, Earthlink may activate the mail virus blocker for all users.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Go to the Earthlink mail website (see Resources below).

2. Log into your Earthlink mail account by providing your email address and corresponding password in the appropriate boxes.

3. Look for the "Email Maintenance" link on the first page of the email website, and click the link.

4. Access your profile for your Earthlink account by clicking the appropriate button.

5. Look for the link to take you to the "Virus Blocker" options for your account, and click it.

6. Choose the options you want for your virus protection (highest level possible is recommended), and turn on the protection. Click the button to save the changes to your account.

7. Sign out of your account when you finish all maintenance for the account.

Tips & Warnings

• Download and install the TotalAccess program from Earthlink to protect your computer from viruses, spam, pop-up ads and spyware. TotalAccess is free to all Earthlink account holders.
• The Earthlink mail virus blocker only checks incoming mail for viruses. Occasionally check your list of "Sent" messages to make sure emails are not being sent from your computer without your knowledge. Run a full-system anti-virus scan if you see messages being emailed from your computer that you didn't send.
• Earthlink will notify you if a known virus sent from your Earthlink email address is intercepted by another Earthlink account. Run a full-system virus scan if Earthlink emails you regarding a virus.
• Never open an attachment in a document when you aren't expecting to receive the attachment. Oftentimes, viruses are spread in emails from people you know so you will open the message.
• Even though you activate the Earthlink mail virus blocker, you still need to use an anti-virus program on your computer. The Earthlink mail virus blocker doesn't scan your entire computer for viruses.

Resources

• Official Earthlink website for web mail