Larry writes:

<<I am receiving  e-mails with subject:
            message3.txt  or message2.txt
they are coming with different numbers:  2- 3- 5 - 12
etc..all are from family and friends.....

I can not open those e-mails !>>

You haven't given us too much to go on.  Bill, as usual, has covered the
most likely causes.

Have you checked with friends to see if these messages have actually been
sent (ie are they expected)?
It's possible that these are spurious malware-generated emails.

What sort of content would you expect the messages to have?

How secure are your and your friends computers (especially those using OE)?

Has anyone recently mailed you an email with a list of "forward" addresses
showing your friends email addresses? This is how viruses, malware, etc
spread.  As Bill points out, it only takes one computer to be infected and
all the address book details can be harvested.  Thus you could be receiving
these possibly spurious emails from all computers on your list of contacts.

Have you checked all your OE settings?

Are you receiving any other emails, either from these people or any other
source, that you CAN read?

Check to see if those subject headings are actually being used by the senders.

My guess is that they aren't genuine emails, but are spuriously-generated
from some piece of malware or virus.  Whether it's on your computer, or
someone else's, is anybody's guess.

Don Penlington






 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html