is it happening when you just open that email or when you try to access the attachment in the email? what antivirus program are you using and in which email client is it happening?

I have McAfee
It is when I click on the email to open it. This person just sent me another one (with attachment) but I sent her an email saying I wasn't opening it until I heard from Help
Thanks for inquiring. I just looked at all other emails and everything is ok there If I do anything it will be later tonight when I'm thru with going around the net

When you say "shuts down" -- suddenly the computer completely powers off or is there something else happening? Blue screen, error message, etc.?

I'd highly doubt it's a virus. Assuming this person is a friend and using an ISP not located in some third world country, the message was scanned on the way out. Then when AOL got the message it was scanned a second time before being sent to you. Finally, you scanned the message locally.

I'd be far more inclined to believe that there is something in the message (like an animation) that AOL's software can't deal with. AOL hardly has the best reputation for having quality software. I'd suggest that you use a web browser (NOT the one in AOL) and view the message online. That may give you some idea of what's in it that's causing the problem.

You might also want to get your friend on the phone and ask him to send you a simple, plain text message to see if anything turns up there. See if that generates a problem (if there is a virus, it would get attached to the message). A simple text message, would be just words. No formatting, smileys, etc.

Good luck!

Or just configure your email program to read mail in plain text only temporarily. Better yet, leave it plain text only then you don't need to worry about the kiddie scrips.

My contact did send me a plain email and also one with an attachment I was able to open both with no problem I got up courage to try and open the guilty culprit email and it shut down again. I now deleted that item and hope for the best thanks for your suggestions.

Happened again about half an hour ago.
I've asked this person to send the email to my Yahoo add then if that works I'll not use the aol with her.
I'm thinking of getting rid of MxAffee and going back to Norton any ideas?
I know AOL is deteriorating but I really like the ease of their emails and I seem to have this problem only with this person

My suggestion; dont use McAfee or Nortons. Unistall McAfee. Download, install Avast Free. It's cheaper and works better than those two you paid for.

agree 100% I had McAfee for a long time since I got it free from my ISP, I found out the hard way it was what was causing all my pc problems, once I removed it fully using the removal tool and their directions the problems disappeared. I now only use AVAST free as my AV but add layers with malwarebytes free, superantispyware free, spywareblaster free. That would be my recommendation.

I would delete the email causing the problem, and I would also move away from aol and try to get it off the pc.

Thanks I'll talk it over with my DS when he get off work. is there a link to the McAfee removal tool?
I have SuperAnti Spyware and Malweareware bytes (sp) and try to keep computer clean.
I think I had Avast and got rid of it when someone said not to have McAfee and Avast at the same time

right you can only have one antivirus program on the pc at one time, you can have multiples of the malware programs that you run the scans manually with they are not running all the time so would not conflict.

here are my instructions (I now just keep them in a document)

McAfee removal directions

these are the full directions for Mcafee removal, I used this exact procedure and it went well and have since shared it with others for their removal.
be sure you use the mcafee removal tool after you have removed it from add remove programs or much will be left behind.
First turn off Mcafee at the icon in the systray.
I had to go into msconfig and turn off all mcafee items from startup prior to trying to uninstall, just turning them off did not work it would say the program was still running. So if you run into this when going to add remove programs try doing that.
I then removed everything using add remove programs, leaving Security center till last. Then used the removal tool, after that I went to Program Files and deleted all mcafee files. Also set Windows explorer to show all hidden files and folders and deleted the mcafee folders. I found these instructions on how to do this on the mcafee forums.
1. Uninstall all mcafee programs through "Add or Remove Programs" in Windows "Control Panel".
2. Use the MCPR tool, see this article: How to remove supported mcafee consumer products using the mcafee Consumer Products removal tool (MCPR.exe). This will remove all mcafee remnants from your computer. (you must have Windows Vista, XP or 2000 SP4 to use this tool)
3. Launch Windows Explorer and delete all mcafee files in "Program Files" but especially in "C:\Document and Settings\\Application Data" and "C:\Document and Settings\All Users\Application Data". You have to set Windows Explorer to show all hidden files and folders (Tools > Folder Options > View tab). Just delete the mcafee folders even if they are empty in all the "Application Data" folders. Can be more than one!
In Vista: C:\Program Files, C:\ProgramData and C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming
Removal tool (MCPR.exe)
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe
or from here
McAfee Consumer Product Removal Tool 3.0.128.8

Thanks Ravens
I saved your instructions and printed them out.
It happened again this morning. Last night there were three unread emails from the same person, and I took the chance and they opened ok
this morning I saw three different ones and opened the earliest one sent and while I was reading it it crashed again.
Now when everything was rebooted (finally) there was the
Super Anti Spyware explorer page open and on top of that was the notice from Microsoft about a serious error and to report it A notice from McAfee saying my computer was not fully protected check here etc and a notice about not enough virtual memory. all on the screen at the same time.

not knowing wht to do I closed them all.

I still have the two unread emails which I'm afraid to open.

a time before I forward an unread email to my yahoo address and opened it there and it shutdown (I went to yahoo via explorer not aol that time)

I need to receive emails from this person otherwise I'd just tell her to forget about sending the,m.

I'm really upset about this and almost afraid to do anything
without a
1. do this
2. then do this
3. then do this type of instruction
I'm not in the position of calling in a geek. I don't want to get rid of AOL yet. Everything else seems to be normal with my internet experience Thanks

Minnie,

You've mentioned "shuts down" and "crashed" -- understanding that these words can different meanings to different people, could you please explain exactly what happens when you open these emails.

You've also said that you've successfully opened messages from this person which leads me to believe that the problem isn't a virus. If this person had some kind of infection with his/her computer, it would sending a virus with every message, not just some of them. Not to mention there are a number of anti-virus scans happening with the ISPs involved.

AOL uses IE as the basis of it's browser so it's possible that whatever the problem it is, it may lie with IE.

Do you know what is supposed to be in these emails. Are they just text or do they include attachments, fancy formatting, animations, links, what? You could also ask your friend to send you only plain text messages.

I'd suggest trying to open these messages, via a browser (perferrably not IE or at least another version of IE) on another computer. Borrow a friend's computer or try at the public library.

You've mentioned "shuts down" and "crashed" -- understanding that these words can different meanings to different people, could you please explain exactly what happens when you open these emails.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mike my screen goes black the computer shuts down and then reboots by itself

I used a direct IE connection and didn't go thru AOL on that one instance.

I'd hate to shut down a friends or DS's computer but maybe I'll try tht later.
There are never any photos or images in the emails just text and maybe a Word Doc copied and pasted; the attachment would always be a Word doc.
Thanks

Another thing, I have earthlink as one of my emails and when my sister in law had AOL, I had a ton of problems. I contacted Earthlink, and they said there is a big problem between the two companies. She finally changed and no more problems, yet another friend has AOl, without any problems. So, I don't know what the problem is except that sister in law's husband and newphew are alway putting stuff on the computer. I have trouble with Yahoo from certain relatives. Guess it is what else they have on the computer. That is why it is good to come here.