[garbanzo]

I'm stumped. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I noticed I could no longer open
attachments in Outlook Express. I don't get any error messages; just nothing
happens when I double click on the attachments listed under the subject box.
Doesn't matter if they're PDFs or .doc or .eml or .jpg. However .jpg show up
inline in the message. Also, I can always go to file and save attachments to
my desktop where they open perfectly. I just don't understand what could
have changed. I'm a fairly expert user and have checked all my security
settings.

Any help would be appreciated.

[PA Bear]

Your current Identity may be damaged, especially if its the default Main
Identity. Try one or more of your accounts in a new Named Identity
(File>Identities>Add new identity). Assuming all is well, import messages
from the old Identity before deleting it (File>Identities>Manage
Identities).

To avoid such corruption in future:

Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm.

Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security

garbanzo wrote:
> I'm stumped. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I noticed I could no longer open
> attachments in Outlook Express. I don't get any error messages; just
> nothing happens when I double click on the attachments listed under the
> subject box. Doesn't matter if they're PDFs or .doc or .eml or .jpg.
> However .jpg show up inline in the message. Also, I can always go to
> file and save attachments to my desktop where they open perfectly. I
> just don't understand what could have changed. I'm a fairly expert user
> and have checked all my security settings.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.

[garbanzo]

Not sure how I screwed up my identity but you hit the problem on target.
Created a new one and moved the folders over. Everything is now working
perfectly. Shame there aren't more tools to move things like message rules
and message flags. But the hassle was a small price to pay.

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

"PA Bear" wrote:

> Your current Identity may be damaged, especially if its the default Main
> Identity. Try one or more of your accounts in a new Named Identity
> (File>Identities>Add new identity). Assuming all is well, import messages
> from the old Identity before deleting it (File>Identities>Manage
> Identities).
>
> To avoid such corruption in future:
>
> Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
> folders created for this purpose.
>
> Empty Deleted Items folder daily.
>
> Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
> compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
> http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm.
>
> Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
> corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security
>
> garbanzo wrote:
> > I'm stumped. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I noticed I could no longer open
> > attachments in Outlook Express. I don't get any error messages; just
> > nothing happens when I double click on the attachments listed under the
> > subject box. Doesn't matter if they're PDFs or .doc or .eml or .jpg.
> > However .jpg show up inline in the message. Also, I can always go to
> > file and save attachments to my desktop where they open perfectly. I
> > just don't understand what could have changed. I'm a fairly expert user
> > and have checked all my security settings.
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
>
>

[Kath Adams]

You can backup and restore message rules.
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/partial.htm

--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (IE/OE)

garbanzo wrote:
> Not sure how I screwed up my identity but you hit the problem on
> target. Created a new one and moved the folders over. Everything is
> now working perfectly. Shame there aren't more tools to move things
> like message rules and message flags. But the hassle was a small
> price to pay.
>
> Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.
>
> "PA Bear" wrote:
>
>> Your current Identity may be damaged, especially if its the default
>> Main Identity. Try one or more of your accounts in a new Named
>> Identity (File>Identities>Add new identity). Assuming all is well,
>> import messages from the old Identity before deleting it
>> (File>Identities>Manage Identities).
>>
>> To avoid such corruption in future:
>>
>> Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to
>> local folders created for this purpose.
>>
>> Empty Deleted Items folder daily.
>>
>> Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a
>> manual compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
>> http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm.
>>
>> Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause
>> such corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
>> --
>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>> MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security
>>
>> garbanzo wrote:
>>> I'm stumped. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I noticed I could no longer
>>> open attachments in Outlook Express. I don't get any error
>>> messages; just nothing happens when I double click on the
>>> attachments listed under the subject box. Doesn't matter if they're
>>> PDFs or .doc or .eml or .jpg. However .jpg show up inline in the
>>> message. Also, I can always go to file and save attachments to my
>>> desktop where they open perfectly. I just don't understand what
>>> could have changed. I'm a fairly expert user and have checked all
>>> my security settings.
>>>
>>> Any help would be appreciated.