Q: I have just
installed Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP. Now attachments that I send from
Outlook Express are not viewable to the recipients. All they see is a small
placeholder box containing a red X where the attached file should be. How can I
fix this?
A: This is an
anomaly that appears to be specific to SP2. A thorough search through
Microsoft's web site (including the Knowledge Base and TechNet) does not yield
a solution. Other symptoms of this issue include the inability to manually
detach the attachment (there is no paper clip icon to click on). When sending
the message back to yourself, the attachments are not viewable, even though you
can receive and view attachments from other senders. The saved copy of the
message will look perfectly fine in your Sent Items folder. In essence, the
attachments in all outbound messages get stripped during the mail sending
process on your computer.
The solutions for this problem were actually derived from a call
to Microsoft Support. Try each step in order, then test, and move to the next
step if necessary. First open Outlook Express, then on the menu click
Tools/Options/Security tab. The two checkboxes pertaining to opening
attachments and external HTML content should be unchecked. Although it appears
that these options pertain to inbound messages only, Microsoft did confirm that
they may affect outgoing messages also. Try resetting the registry by checking
both of these options, click Apply, then uncheck them and click Apply again.
Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
This second step involves directly editing the registry. Create
a registry backup first by using Windows System Restore. Then open the Registry
editor (Start/Run/regedit) and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{24729579-249B-45C1-B5BC-DC5E9390C523}
Note that the long key following \Identities will be different
for your computer. Highlight this item, then back it up (e.g. to your Desktop)
from the menu with File/Export and giving it a file name. Next navigate within
this key to: \Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Mail. Select the Mail
subkey from with the left pane, right-click it, then invoke New/DWORD Value.
Name the DWORD Value: Send Pictures With Document. Note the capitalization and
that there is a space between each word (do not include the period at the end).
In the right pane, right-click this new value and select Modify. Change the
hexadecimal Value Data item to 1, then click OK. Exit the Registry Editor, open
Outlook Express, and test send a message with an attachment.
As a last resort, follow the instructions in Microsoft Knowledge
Base article 314422. This article details deleting and recreating a new
identity in Outlook Express, as the existing one may have become corrupted. Be
sure back up any messages you wish to save beforehand (File/Export/Messages).
Then repeat step two above if necessary.
Other references:
Uninstall and reinstall
Outlook Express. Use the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs
applet. Start the Add/Remove Windows Components wizard, uncheck the Outlook
Express option (uninstall), then continue by clicking Next buttons until the
wizard finishes. To reinstall Outlook Express, simply repeat the above process
and add the checkmark back. This procedure will not affect any messages you
have previously received.
Recreate your User
Profile. In Windows 98 and Me, simply log off and log back into Windows
using a different user name. For Windows XP and 2000, follow the steps in
Microsoft Knowledge Base article 811151. Note that this procedure may completely
restrict access to messages previously received and the address book associated
with the former user profile, so take care to back up these items first.
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Tech Notes:
• WebRoot software, makers of the
award-winning Spy Sweeper program, offers a free online scanning tool
(www.webroot.com). Although the tool does not remove any items it flags as
harmful, it is useful in uncovering intractable malware that free spyware
removal programs may miss or are otherwise ineffective against. If you decide
to purchase Spy Sweeper, a one-year subscription for installation and updates
will cost you $29.95.
• Do you want to try the new, and arguably
more secure, open source, Mozilla-based, Firefox web browser and Thunderbird email client without
actually having to install them on your hard drive? The following links will
allow you to copy portable versions that you can save to a USB flash drive and
take anywhere with you. For even better performance, you can install them to a separate folder in a "stand-alone" state
directly on your hard drive and avoid messy registry modifications and default browser setting conflicts.
The programs are free to download and use.
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable/