Attachments mysteriously vanishing when I click on messages in pst

[JIMBOLUKE]

Weirdest thing I ever experienced in an Office product (I think) is that in
Outlook 2007, when I click on a message, it's attachment vanishes! The
messages are in an old .pst, and the following columns are visible (in this
order from left to right):

1. "!" (urgency?)
2. Message class
3. Attachment paper clip
4. Categories
5. From
6. To
7. Subject
8. Received
9. Size
10. Flags

It is absolutely weird. I have a theory it has something to do with the
categories field. Before 2007 (i just changed a week ago), I used the
categories field obsessively as a tag field and basically abandoned the idea
of separate folders to pigeonhole messages. Unfortunately, now 2007 uses
this feature in a way that totally destroys my productivity (but that is a
separate issue). Anyway, it'd be really nice to not lose all my attachments
from my carefully archived message stores when I click on them.

-jim

 

[Nikki Peterson]

When you say "vanishing", do you still see the paperclip icon?
When you open the message with the attachment, do you see a
message in the yello banner on top of the message that gives you
a message that states something like "The attachment is being blocked..."?
Do you run an Anti-Virus product on your email?

If you see the Yellow banner on the top of the message, have a look
at this site for information on how to open the attachment(s):
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup/getexe.asp

Nikki

Weirdest thing I ever experienced in an Office product (I think) is that in
Outlook 2007, when I click on a message, it's attachment vanishes! The
messages are in an old .pst, and the following columns are visible (in this
order from left to right):

1. "!" (urgency?)
2. Message class
3. Attachment paper clip
4. Categories
5. From
6. To
7. Subject
8. Received
9. Size
10. Flags

It is absolutely weird. I have a theory it has something to do with the
categories field. Before 2007 (i just changed a week ago), I used the
categories field obsessively as a tag field and basically abandoned the idea
of separate folders to pigeonhole messages. Unfortunately, now 2007 uses
this feature in a way that totally destroys my productivity (but that is a
separate issue). Anyway, it'd be really nice to not lose all my attachments
from my carefully archived message stores when I click on them.

-jim

 

[JIMBOLUKE]

The paperclip disappears. When I click to open the message, the attachment
is gone. There is no yellow banner (that would be a good hint wouldn't it)
just a bunch of disappearing attachments (which disappear quietly and
unceremoniously). I lost a lot, mostly because I was too stupid to stop. I
clicked probably 20-30 messages before I really caught on to what was
happening. After all, it's about the last thing you'd ever expect, that is
for Outlook 2007 to actually destroy your messages??!!! If it were in my
power, I'd revert to 2003, but I am under corporate (gov actually) rules that
force me to use 2007.

 

[Nikki Peterson]

Outlook does not "destroy" or "delete" your attachments. Outlook
will "block" attachments in security cases, however this can be
worked around.

If your attachments are being wiped out, I would look to an
Anti-Virus product working a bit on overdrive that needs to be
turned down.

If you have a government system I would contact your IT department
and have them look into this for you.

Again, Outlook does not delete your attachments, it only hides them
from you and blocks you from accessing them. This is another issue.

Nikki

The paperclip disappears. When I click to open the message, the attachment
is gone. There is no yellow banner (that would be a good hint wouldn't it)
just a bunch of disappearing attachments (which disappear quietly and
unceremoniously). I lost a lot, mostly because I was too stupid to stop. I
clicked probably 20-30 messages before I really caught on to what was
happening. After all, it's about the last thing you'd ever expect, that is
for Outlook 2007 to actually destroy your messages??!!! If it were in my
power, I'd revert to 2003, but I am under corporate (gov actually) rules
that
force me to use 2007.

 

[Trevor]

What I discovered was if I right clicked on the message and then selected
junk mail and selected the add sender to safe sender list. Exit Outlook and
when you go back in the attachment is available. There should be some way
to turn this quirk in Outlook off.

?????

 

[Nikki Peterson]

Now that the person has been added to the Safe Sender List
did you get your other attachments back?

Nikki


What I discovered was if I right clicked on the message and then selected
junk mail and selected the add sender to safe sender list. Exit Outlook and
when you go back in the attachment is available. There should be some way
to turn this quirk in Outlook off.

?????

 

[Trevor]

Now that the person has been added to the Safe Sender List
did you get your other attachments back?

Nikki


What I discovered was if I right clicked on the message and then selected
junk mail and selected the add sender to safe sender list. Exit Outlook
and
when you go back in the attachment is available. There should be some way
to turn this quirk in Outlook off.

?????

No, you have to add each and every one that you cannot see to the list, exit
Outlook and when you go back in the attachments are there. However, if you
try and open the mail the attachment disappears and adding the sender to
your safe list will not bring back the attachment.

What a pain in the ass

 

[Nikki Peterson]

Again I will point out that Outlook does NOT delete the attachments.
There is another program running on your system that is doing this.
You need to contact your System Administrator and find out if it is
an AV (Anti-Virus) program that is removing these items.

Nikki

Now that the person has been added to the Safe Sender List
did you get your other attachments back?

Nikki


What I discovered was if I right clicked on the message and then selected
junk mail and selected the add sender to safe sender list. Exit Outlook
and
when you go back in the attachment is available. There should be some way
to turn this quirk in Outlook off.

?????

No, you have to add each and every one that you cannot see to the list, exit
Outlook and when you go back in the attachments are there. However, if you
try and open the mail the attachment disappears and adding the sender to
your safe list will not bring back the attachment.

What a pain in the ass

 

[Trevor]

Again I will point out that Outlook does NOT delete the attachments.
There is another program running on your system that is doing this.
You need to contact your System Administrator and find out if it is
an AV (Anti-Virus) program that is removing these items.

Nikki


No, you have to add each and every one that you cannot see to the list,
exit
Outlook and when you go back in the attachments are there. However, if
you
try and open the mail the attachment disappears and adding the sender to
your safe list will not bring back the attachment.

What a pain in the ass

Nikki I have discovered that the problem seems to lie with the junk mail
filter on Outlook. When you tag a sender as a safe sender Outlook does not
keep this and you have to do it every time you get a message from that
sender. I have ticked the box for names in my contacts as being safe
senders buy that does not help.

Is there some way that one can stop his amnesia which Outlook is
experiencing? I am running Vista Ultimate and Office professional 2007. Is
the problem not perhaps with some security update which my PC has installed
automatically?

Removing the AV does not resolve the issue.

Thanks

Trevor

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Nikki I have discovered that the problem seems to lie with the junk mail

filter on Outlook. When you tag a sender as a safe sender Outlook does
not keep this and you have to do it every time you get a message from that
sender. I have ticked the box for names in my contacts as being safe
senders buy that does not help.

Is there some way that one can stop his amnesia which Outlook is
experiencing? I am running Vista Ultimate and Office professional 2007.
Is the problem not perhaps with some security update which my PC has
installed automatically?

The settings are persistent - something is wrong with your system.

when you close outlook verify its not left running in task manager, process
tab. It may take up to 2 min for outlook.exe to disappear. If it stays
longer, something is keeping it open. This is one cause of settings that
don't stick.

A corrupt profile is another. Make a new profile in control panel, mail. Do
not copy the existing profile - make a new one and let it make a new pst.
See if it works better.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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