Does this look a virus in my Mac?

you have heard of 'never open an email' or respond and all the warnings about phishing emails and such.

This member has the best help on the state of malware.

Thomas A Reed

I will tell you your Mac will not run well with that original 1GB RAM though.

How To Install and Remove Memory Mac Pro

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4433

What often happens is that someone with whom you or your daughter has corresponded has their Address Book compromised, and a spambot starts sending emails on your behalf. If wacky emails had come through your mail client, there would be copies in the "Sent" folder.

The important email is not the reply from cox, but the email originally sent to you.

worked fine and 1GB RAM in the same breath... your system is starving and unable to perform as it should. I know, I have one, and I know how OS X will starve apps or will use RAM effectively.

Safari alone can eat up 1GB RAM.

The stuff I linked to will make a differnce and it is 1/20th what it cost in 2007 - the preferred configuration quad channel symmetrical memory, 4 DIMMs, a pair on each Riser, and not two OEM 512MB you have had now for ages.

If either of you correspond with Windows users and there system or they opened an email all kinds of things go on, like harvesting email addresses from Contacts. Bad enough Fb and others also want to know and harvest your contacts. Or using the same email or passwords for multiple accounts.

I don't use iClould, there is a forum and support page, and there have been issues with it.

No, you don't have a virus. And the word can be stict or loosely as to what "virus" means or not, but Thomas is one of the #1 on the subject. Web based java and other things being more of an issue today.

I know how to tune my Mac the same way I tuned sportscar 50 yrs ago. Your mac is not running up to snuff as it is capable and intended. Throw in a pair, put in an SSD, probably the original graphic card too before it fails and do a clean install (unless you just did one).

And you don't need and DW does not address anything happening on your system. A new drive might. And clone your system as needed with CCC and swap which drive you use to boot from will.

I just do not see how lack of RAM is shooting me all these bogus emails.

It isn't. Hatter was making a side comment that you needed more RAM than the 1GB you have now for smooth operation. I agree.

It has nothing to do with these emails, which may well have nothing to do with YOUR computer.

2GB and app "A" uses a small part of memory, upgrade to 4GB and it can breath better and use more RAM than it did before (same OS). And yes every new OS, every new app like Safari 6 vs 3 or 4, uses more or is designed to and runs better.

The minimum for SL I thought even was 2GB with 4GB recommended (the number of "my computer is slower now" thread on SL and even Leo and then Lion) are rather legendary. A new OS will always make better use of and run better with more RAM.

I like to call the default 1 or even 2GB as starvation and anemic.

And it could indirectly as your system has had to pageout blocks or memory to disk and then read back into RAM affecting proper functioning in ALL apps (and the OS needs 250MB probably to function and manage everyone, if not more).

no relation between bogus and bogged down system

you may want a new system - I would wait until more is known of fate of Mac Pro line etc - but yours woujld FEEL like and run like - no not like - better then it ever did - with RAM, SSD, and graphic card (and some backup drives and new data drives) and get another year or two out of this one, and run Lion (better support going forward).

The only reason for 10.6.8 is to run older software and avoid having to buy new versions that no longer rely on Rosetta.

All you can tell for sure is that someone has your email Address.

The likelihood that YOUR Mac is infected is quite small.

It is far more likley that someone else's computer, to whom you wrote ONCE has your email in their Address Book, their Addresss book was "Stolen" and now yet another computer is spewing out emails [supposedly] sent by you. To be YOUR email, it would have to have YOUR IP Address as the original Sender.