Word Attachments won't open in Vista Mail

[Guest]

I am using MS Word 2003 on a Vista os. When I receive an attachment created
using MS Word 2003, I can not open it from the email. I get a message that I
need to set the file association. If I save the document, it will then open
in MS Word 2003 when I double click it.

I have checked the file association through the control panel and it shows
the extension .doc being associated with MS Office Word.

Is there any other place I should be checking?

 

[Opinicus]

I am using MS Word 2003 on a Vista os. When I receive an attachment
created
using MS Word 2003, I can not open it from the email. I get a message
that I
need to set the file association. If I save the document, it will then
open
in MS Word 2003 when I double click it.

And the second way is the right way to do it. Opening an attachment directly
from the mail program is a good way to lose it. (I don't know if Vista Mail
is protecting users against this sort of loss but if it is, "Good Boy!")

 

[Steve Cochran]

Do you have antivirus software set to scan email? If so turn that off and
see if that fixes it. See www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

steve

 

[Guest]

Hello,

I was just wondering if you solved this problem as I am experiencing the
same issue and don't know how to fix it.

 

[Opinicus]

I was just wondering if you solved this problem as I am experiencing the
same issue and don't know how to fix it.

Regardless of what the problem is, it's probably not a good idea to "fix" it
in any case. If you're in the habit of opening attachments from within a
mail program you can inadvertently become infected with a virus. It only
takes a moment of carelessness. Another risk is that of losing your file. If
you open a Word document by clicking on the attachment, the copy of the
document is put in the Internet cache. If you close the document without
saving it to another folder, it will be erased when the cache is flushed.
(Someone moans about this in the Office newsgroups at least once a month.)

The safest thing to do is right click on the attachment and choose "Save
all" (not "Save as") and put the attachment in a place where you'll be able
to find it.

 

[Guest]

I am wondering if this has been resolved as well. I have what I believe is
the same or a similar problem. New computer (Dell) with Vista pre-installed.
I installed Office 2003 (the new computer came with Microsoft Works). In
the admisistrator's account, everything works as it should...opening a .doc
attachment from Windows Mail correctly opens Word 2003. In my wife's
(general user) account, attempting to open a .doc attachment brings up the
same error message that has been reported here, even though Word 2003 is set
as the program to open said attachments. If the default program is instead
changed to the Works Word Processor, the .doc attachment will open in Works
Word Processor. Changing the default program back to Word 2003 results in
the same error message. However, opening a word document from any other
place, e.g. one stored in the Documents folder, is no problem...Word 2003
opens as it should.

I had found the same solution myself that was mentioned by Opinicus, however
I don't believe this is an acceptable solution. Doucment attachments are
routinely opened from within e-mail programs, and saying we shouldn't do this
is not a solution. Most of us are well aware of our computer security, and
know what we are doing. I disagree that it is not safe to open an attachment
if all proper security measures are in place. Likewise "turning off" e-mail
scanning by our antivirus program, as suggested by Steve, is also an
unacceptable solution. What is that going to do? Blaming antivirus programs
for Windows Mail / Vista problems isn't an answer either.

We have problems we are trying to resolve. Microsoft needs to address these
issues. And by "these" issues", I include the problem with at times being
unable to delete messages in Windows Mail folders, which is long-standing and
apparently unreolved as well (the only advice so far being to ignore them!)

Does anybody know if any0one at Microsoft is doing anyhting about Windows
Mail?

Sorry for the rant.

JJR

 

[Steve Cochran]

Norton and McAfee have both been reported to cause problems with WinMail.
If you persist in having them on your system, then no suggestion is going to
help.

www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3 Both of those programs as well as other AV
software have been clearly implicated in ruining the functionality of OE and
WM. If you wish to blame MS for that, then go ahead. You could have things
working if you got rid of it. There are antivirus programs out there that
don't make the cure worse than the infection. But neither Norton nor McAfee
fit into that category.

steve

 

[Ron Sommer]

Opening a Word attachment just to read the document is ok.
If you plan on editing the document, you should save to the hard drive and
then open it.
When you open the document without saving, the document is placed in the
temporary Internet cache.
--
Ronald Sommer

:I am wondering if this has been resolved as well. I have what I believe is
: the same or a similar problem. New computer (Dell) with Vista
pre-installed.
: I installed Office 2003 (the new computer came with Microsoft Works). In
: the admisistrator's account, everything works as it should...opening a
..doc
: attachment from Windows Mail correctly opens Word 2003. In my wife's
: (general user) account, attempting to open a .doc attachment brings up the
: same error message that has been reported here, even though Word 2003 is
set
: as the program to open said attachments. If the default program is
instead
: changed to the Works Word Processor, the .doc attachment will open in
Works
: Word Processor. Changing the default program back to Word 2003 results in
: the same error message. However, opening a word document from any other
: place, e.g. one stored in the Documents folder, is no problem...Word 2003
: opens as it should.
:
: I had found the same solution myself that was mentioned by Opinicus,
however
: I don't believe this is an acceptable solution. Doucment attachments are
: routinely opened from within e-mail programs, and saying we shouldn't do
this
: is not a solution. Most of us are well aware of our computer security,
and
: know what we are doing. I disagree that it is not safe to open an
attachment
: if all proper security measures are in place. Likewise "turning off"
e-mail
: scanning by our antivirus program, as suggested by Steve, is also an
: unacceptable solution. What is that going to do? Blaming antivirus
programs
: for Windows Mail / Vista problems isn't an answer either.
:
: We have problems we are trying to resolve. Microsoft needs to address
these
: issues. And by "these" issues", I include the problem with at times being
: unable to delete messages in Windows Mail folders, which is long-standing
and
: apparently unreolved as well (the only advice so far being to ignore
them!)
:
: Does anybody know if any0one at Microsoft is doing anyhting about Windows
: Mail?
:
: Sorry for the rant.
:
: JJR
:
: "Proicere" wrote:
:
: > I am using MS Word 2003 on a Vista os. When I receive an attachment
created
: > using MS Word 2003, I can not open it from the email. I get a message
that I
: > need to set the file association. If I save the document, it will then
open
: > in MS Word 2003 when I double click it.
: >
: > I have checked the file association through the control panel and it
shows
: > the extension .doc being associated with MS Office Word.
: >
: > Is there any other place I should be checking?
: >
: > --
: > Thanks in advance for your time.
: >
: > Pamela

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

I am wondering if this has been resolved as well. I have what I believe is
the same or a similar problem. New computer (Dell) with Vista
pre-installed.
I installed Office 2003 (the new computer came with Microsoft Works). In
the admisistrator's account, everything works as it should...opening a
.doc
attachment from Windows Mail correctly opens Word 2003. In my wife's
(general user) account, attempting to open a .doc attachment brings up the
same error message that has been reported here, even though Word 2003 is
set
as the program to open said attachments. If the default program is
instead
changed to the Works Word Processor, the .doc attachment will open in
Works
Word Processor. Changing the default program back to Word 2003 results in
the same error message. However, opening a word document from any other
place, e.g. one stored in the Documents folder, is no problem...Word 2003
opens as it should.

I had found the same solution myself that was mentioned by Opinicus,
however
I don't believe this is an acceptable solution. Doucment attachments are
routinely opened from within e-mail programs, and saying we shouldn't do
this
is not a solution. Most of us are well aware of our computer security,
and
know what we are doing. I disagree that it is not safe to open an
attachment
if all proper security measures are in place. Likewise "turning off"
e-mail
scanning by our antivirus program, as suggested by Steve, is also an
unacceptable solution. What is that going to do? Blaming antivirus
programs
for Windows Mail / Vista problems isn't an answer either.

We have problems we are trying to resolve. Microsoft needs to address
these
issues. And by "these" issues", I include the problem with at times being
unable to delete messages in Windows Mail folders, which is long-standing
and
apparently unreolved as well (the only advice so far being to ignore
them!)

Does anybody know if any0one at Microsoft is doing anyhting about Windows
Mail?

Sorry for the rant.

Microsoft is apparently not doing anything about Windows Mail. They're
having too much fun with Windows Live Mail Desktop. This situation will not
change until enough people complain over the telephone to Customer Service.

Anyone who insists on using McAfee or Norton should find another mail
program. Same for anyone who lets their anti-virus scan email.

 

[Guest]

Alright, I guess I'm confused. Why should I bother with an antivirus program
at all if it is not going to scan my e-mail? Over the years antivirus
programs have stopped numerous viruses, etc. from infecting my system, all of
which were arriving via e-mail. If I turn off e-mail scanning, am I not
exposing myself to these viruses, Trojan horses, etc.?

When I installed my Office 2003 suite, I elected to not install the Outlook
portion because I wanted to give Windows Mail a try. So should I just give
it up, and go ahead and install Outolok 2003? And what would be your advice
regarding e-mail scanning with Outlook 2003 installed? Am I going to have
the same problems with it? Is this a Vista glitch, or a strictly a Windows
Mail conflict with antivirus programs?

I agree that many of the problems we see are related to the bloated monsters
that McAfee and Norton have become. This particular machine came with
McAfee, so that's what is running on it. Do you have another recommendation?
It seems all antivirus programs are implicated in at least some problems.
What's a person to do? I certainly am not going to insist on running McAfee
(in my case) and e-mail scanning with Windows Mail. If that IS the problem,
and I can resolve it by switching to Outlook 2003, it's a done deal.

And I'll be happy to let Microsoft know about it.

Thanks to both you and Steve for your advice. Your names seem to be all
over these boards trying to help the rest of us figure these things out. I
truly DO appreciate your efforts. I guess my earlier rant that "blaming
antivirus programs wasn't a solution" was simply a reaction to my problems
with Windows Mail. I have run either Norton or McAfee on numerous systems
using Outlook Express, and NEVER encountered problems like what I've seen in
the short time I've been trying Windows Mail. Maybe Windows Mail just "isn't
ready for Prime Time"???

Thanks again for your help!!!

JJR

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response, Steve. I responded to Frank before noticing the
link in your post to your OEHelp page. Some of my questions to him were
answered there. What is your feeling on the compatibility of Outlook 2003
and McAfee (or Norton)? Is it safe to have e-mail scanning turned on when
running Outlook 2003? And one thing I didn't quite understand from your
OEHelp page....I read that the best way to open an attachment is to save it
to your hard drive first. OK, so that is the best way. However, if one does
happen to open an attachment (say, out of habit) and had e-mail scanning
turned off (as suggested) when the message came in, but did have auto-protect
and auto-updates and whatever...in other words all other security measures
in place, is one protected? Do McAfee and Norton scan an attachment when it
is opened, no matter whether it is opened from within an e-mail program as an
attachment, or from the saved file on the hard drive?

Thanks again for your help.

JJR

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Thanks for your response, Steve. I responded to Frank before noticing the
link in your post to your OEHelp page. Some of my questions to him were
answered there. What is your feeling on the compatibility of Outlook 2003
and McAfee (or Norton)? Is it safe to have e-mail scanning turned on when
running Outlook 2003? And one thing I didn't quite understand from your
OEHelp page....I read that the best way to open an attachment is to save
it
to your hard drive first. OK, so that is the best way. However, if one
does
happen to open an attachment (say, out of habit) and had e-mail scanning
turned off (as suggested) when the message came in, but did have
auto-protect
and auto-updates and whatever...in other words all other security
measures
in place, is one protected? Do McAfee and Norton scan an attachment when
it
is opened, no matter whether it is opened from within an e-mail program as
an
attachment, or from the saved file on the hard drive?

E-mail scanning is not a good idea no matter what your anti-virus and mail
programs are. It provides no protection at all that is not already provided
by the resident scanner. It slows down the email sending and receiving and
can cause timeout errors.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Alright, I guess I'm confused. Why should I bother with an antivirus
program
at all if it is not going to scan my e-mail? Over the years antivirus
programs have stopped numerous viruses, etc. from infecting my system, all
of
which were arriving via e-mail. If I turn off e-mail scanning, am I not
exposing myself to these viruses, Trojan horses, etc.?

When I installed my Office 2003 suite, I elected to not install the
Outlook
portion because I wanted to give Windows Mail a try. So should I just
give
it up, and go ahead and install Outolok 2003? And what would be your
advice
regarding e-mail scanning with Outlook 2003 installed? Am I going to have
the same problems with it? Is this a Vista glitch, or a strictly a
Windows
Mail conflict with antivirus programs?

I agree that many of the problems we see are related to the bloated
monsters
that McAfee and Norton have become. This particular machine came with
McAfee, so that's what is running on it. Do you have another
recommendation?
It seems all antivirus programs are implicated in at least some problems.
What's a person to do? I certainly am not going to insist on running
McAfee
(in my case) and e-mail scanning with Windows Mail. If that IS the
problem,
and I can resolve it by switching to Outlook 2003, it's a done deal.

And I'll be happy to let Microsoft know about it.

Thanks to both you and Steve for your advice. Your names seem to be all
over these boards trying to help the rest of us figure these things out.
I
truly DO appreciate your efforts. I guess my earlier rant that "blaming
antivirus programs wasn't a solution" was simply a reaction to my problems
with Windows Mail. I have run either Norton or McAfee on numerous systems
using Outlook Express, and NEVER encountered problems like what I've seen
in
the short time I've been trying Windows Mail. Maybe Windows Mail just
"isn't
ready for Prime Time"???

Email scanning provides absolutely no protection not already provided by the
resident scanner. No matter what anti-virus and email programs you have
email scanning slows the process down and is apt to cause timeouts.

 

[Steve Cochran]

If you open an attachment with email scanning off, the attachment will be
blocked by the memory resident antivirus software. There is no advantage to
email scanning.

I have no idea about Outlook 2003 nor with Norton or McAfee as I use none of
those products.

steve

Thanks for your response, Steve. I responded to Frank before noticing the
link in your post to your OEHelp page. Some of my questions to him were
answered there. What is your feeling on the compatibility of Outlook 2003
and McAfee (or Norton)? Is it safe to have e-mail scanning turned on when
running Outlook 2003? And one thing I didn't quite understand from your
OEHelp page....I read that the best way to open an attachment is to save
it
to your hard drive first. OK, so that is the best way. However, if one
does
happen to open an attachment (say, out of habit) and had e-mail scanning
turned off (as suggested) when the message came in, but did have
auto-protect
and auto-updates and whatever...in other words all other security
measures
in place, is one protected? Do McAfee and Norton scan an attachment when
it
is opened, no matter whether it is opened from within an e-mail program as
an
attachment, or from the saved file on the hard drive?

Thanks again for your help.

JJR