can I delete a mbox file?

hi, have you found the answer... i've also just found a virus in an mbox file using ClamXav... but not sure what to do

The bagle.bu is a Windows worm that affects these platforms: Win 95,Win 98,Win ME,Win NT,Win 2K,Win XP.

Not OS X.

If you have an email attachment that is infected with this Windows bagle/bu worm or an attachment with any Windows virus/worm, they have no effect on OS X even if the attachment is opended.

How are you connected to the internet? Are you connected thru a router that is shared with a PC?

I'm not sure how your IP has been compromised but it is not due to an email attachment received that is infected with a Windows virus/worm which can have no effect on OS X.

My question is what happens if I delete a "mbox file"
in one of my mbox folders?

Since you provided no computer or OS detail, are you running Tiger? The Tiger mbox format is different from previous Mail.app versions. The mbox package content file for an xxxxxxx.mbox contains all messages and message attachments for a mailbox in Jaguar/Panther Mail.

Each message contained in a Tiger mailbox is stored as a separate file in .emix format located within the Messages folder which is within the xxxxxx.mbox folder.

If you delete the mbox content package file for a Jaguar or Panther mailbox, you are deleting all messages and message attachments contained in the mailbox.

thanks for the reply Allan...
i don't have any problems with my IP address, unlike Davidaz, i understand that these viruses etc don't affect the OS, but i'd still like to get rid of it!!

i'm running the latest Tiger OS, noticed that the messages are all stored in a separate folder, and assumed that if i deleted the mbox and relaunced Mail, it would automatically create a new mbox file... but i wanted to check that this is the case... is it safe for me to delete this file?

cheers

You're welcome.

When deleting an xxxxxx.mbox folder, it will delete all messages contained in the mailbox. If you can determine which message contains an attached file infected with this Windows worm, you can delete the message from the mailbox.

If not, I prefer deleting a mailbox using the Finder and when doing so, quit Mail first and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail.

If the received message is in the Inbox mailbox for a POP type account, delete the INBOX.mbox folder from within this account named folder - named by the user name and incoming mail server for the account and all account named folders are at the first level within the Mail folder.

After deleting the INBOX.mbox folder and emptying the Trash, a new (and empty) INBOX.mbox folder will be created automatically by Mail within the account named folder when re-launching Mail.

i suppose i'm not really asking the right question... what if i was to delete just the mbox file, not the entire mailbox folder? ...not sure if this is what you've suggested?

(it is just this file that ClamXav says contains the worm... i could try deleting messages, but there's quite a few in there and i've no idea which contains the worm);

but what is the mbox file? why is ClamXav saying the worm is here, and not in the message folder?

If you have an mbox file within any Tiger Mail xxxxxx.mbox folder, this indicates you upgraded to Tiger from Jaguar or Panther and the mbox file contains all messages and message attachments from the previous Mail.app version which is no longer required by Tiger Mail. The conversion process to Tiger Mail transfers all messages from the mbox file to/within the Messages folder (and each message is stored as a separate file within the Messages folder with Tiger Mail) but the mbox package file is not deleted after the conversion process is completed.

The only items required for a Tiger mailbox is the Info.plist file and the Messages folder. All other files/folders can be deleted but quit the Mail.app first before doing so.

The problem is, if the message than contains an attachment infected with this Windows worm was received before upgrading to Tiger (which it was if located within the mbox package file), the message and attachment was converted to an individual file in .emix format and is also located within the mailbox's Messages folder and will remain after deleting the mbox package file which is left over from a previous Mail.app version.

aah-haa! now it makes sense!!

i'll move the messages a bunch at a time to a new temp mailbox to figure out which one has the worm, and then delete the mbox file too;

thanks for your help Allan!

You're most welcome!