Cannot open attachment!!!

[John Boj]

Windows Mail has turned into junk. I cannot open attachments reliably with
Windows Mail.

I can open an attaachment then go back 2 minutes later and I get "command
failed to execute".

I do not want to use Windows Live . Any suggestions for a cure or
recomendation for a different email application.
John B

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

If you have recently installed IE8, that may well be the cause.
Uninstall IE8: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957700/

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Windows Mail has turned into junk. I cannot open attachments reliably
with Windows Mail.

I can open an attaachment then go back 2 minutes later and I get
"command failed to execute".

Welcome to the Club!!

You are not alone.
Uninstalling IE8 will cure the problem.

There are other means too.
Therefore: Does the problem appear only with DOCs or with other file
types too?
As to my experience JPGs are the crucial part.

I do not want to use Windows Live . Any suggestions for a cure or
recomendation for a different email application.

I do not want use WLMail too. I do not like it at all.
The remedy is to uninstall IE8.
Maybe MS might release a patch once they got to know about the problem.

Rainald

 

[Ra3ca]

I'm having a problem opening attachments that are power point; I have power
point reader and I guess I don't know how to set it up to read from e-mail
attachments; any suggestions?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Try this fix:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articl...ectly-from-Windows-Mail-in-Windows-Vista.html

 

[John Boj]

Thanks Gary UNINSTALLING IE8 seems to have cured the problems. So much for
upgrades "if it is not broken don't fix it"
John B

 

[BobG]

This recent problem with attachments has been annoying me for days. I've
been getting around it by saving the attachment and then opening it. But
this is such a neat, simple solution! Next time I'll be looking at recent
updates with a suspicious eye. Thanks, Gary.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Thanks for that confirmation.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

You're very welcome. Thanks for reporting back.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Thanks for the feedback, Mike!

What you report as a solution *may* help. But not for granted and not in
every case.

One of the reasons for the problem indeed is the Shortcut in the Start
Menu.
The default entry in the "Properties"-dialog's field
"Run in:"*) causes that the system tries to place the temporary files
needed for opening an attachment on a directory where the cannot be
written.

If one changes the destination to a directory where writing is allowed -
f.e. %UserProfile% - the problem may be cured and the shortcut can be
used.

But unfortunately this is not the only cause of the problem and it may
re-occur.

Rainald
*) My translation, my Win speaks German
P.S. Could you kindly let us know the URL for the mentioned discussion
in "silverfox" (whatever that might be)

 

[Jim Miller]

Check the other thread on same subject.

Here it is again.
Close all apps
Open Internet Explorer
Click Tools and Internet Options
Click on Advanced Tab
Click on Restore Advanced Settings
Click Apply and then OK.
Open Windows Mail and try to open picture attachments and Power Points.

Good Luck

Jim Miller

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Sorry Gary, IMO you are wrong in so far.

The path specified in the standard shortcut in the Start Menu as to my
experience is the *MAIN* reason of the "attachments won't open" problem.
Other reasons (problems with the TIF) may be valid in addition to that.
Pls see my reply to Mike.

If you like I can further explain my findings.

Rainald

 

[Rainald Taesler]

So, there are two main reasons for inability to open attachments:
a) incorrect path specified in the standard mail shortcut
b) TIF issues.

I was a bit too string when I said "the" main reason.
I should have said "one of the" main reasons.

It isn't clear to me which one (or both) are caused by the IE8
install.

It's not clear to me either.
The standard path in the shortcut does not do any harm without IE8.

But pitting the path to "UserProfile" did help in my wife's machine.
And my recommendation to try that (in addition to killing the
"Content.IE5" directories) did help in the case of the first user who
had reported the problem in the German Vista NG.
Having only deleted the said directory he got the problem back 2 days
later. After having changed the path the problem did not appear again.

I normally don't use the Mail shortcut that is visible when clicking
Start, but when I tried it just now, it did not impair my ability to open
attachments.

You do not have the problem at all. So I assume there's no effect on
your side.

I think it would be instructive to share what you've found.

That's what I have in mind. But I'm not yet through with my
experiments. And there were some wrong assumptions initially :-( :-(

I posted a short summary in the thread "Windows Mail attachments won't
open after installing IE8" (Message-ID:
<[email protected]>)

Thanks for your continuous efforts

Rainald

 

[Smiley]

Restoring the advanced settings in IE8 fixed this problem for me.

I'll remember this for the next time this issue rears it head.

A very easy fix - Cheers

 

[Huib]

Hi,
I have the same problem with all extension files.
I executed the advanced restore in IE8 but with no success

Any advices?
regards
Huib

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Until such time as Microsoft releases a fix, all you can do is use one of
these three workarounds.

1) Uninstall IE8, which reverts you back to IE7.
2) Save attachments first, then open them outside of Windows Mail.
3) Upgrade to Windows Live Mail.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Until such time as Microsoft releases a fix, all you can do is use
one of these three workarounds.

1) Uninstall IE8, which reverts you back to IE7.
2) Save attachments first, then open them outside of Windows Mail.
3) Upgrade to Windows Live Mail.

Resetting the advance settings didn't work for me, but if I open the
mail from IE8 [the little envelope icon] next to home icon on the IE
toolbar, then all attachments open properly. Pain in the neck since
you have to open IE first before openning the mail, but at least it
works. maybe removing the toolbar icon would solve the problem.

Thanks for reporting.
The same has been reported in the German Vista NGs.

It has the same effect as changing the path of "Run in:" in the
LNK/shortcut used for launching WinMail.
It does NOT really cure the problem.
Most file types can be opened this way (Office docs, PDFs) but others
still crash, especially JPG and TXT attachments.
Just a workaround for some (many) file types.
I prefer the solution to change the path because it has to be done only
once and then WinMail can be opened the normal way.

Unfortunately not yet really light at the end of the tunnel :-( :-(

Rainald

 

[gelat]

frank -www.prime-inspect.comwrote:

"Gary VanderMolen" wrote:

Resetting the advance settings didn't work for me, but if I open the
mail from IE8 [the little envelope icon] next to home icon on the IE
toolbar, then all attachments open properly. Pain in the neck since
you have to open IE first before openning the mail, but at least it
works. maybe removing the toolbar icon would solve the problem.

Thanks for reporting.
The same has been reported in the German Vista NGs.

It has the same effect as changing the path of "Run in:" in the
LNK/shortcut used for launching WinMail.
It does NOT really cure the problem.
Most file types can be opened this way (Office docs, PDFs) but others
still crash, especially JPG and TXT attachments.
Just a workaround for some (many) file types.
I prefer the solution to change the path because it has to be done only
once and then WinMail can be opened the normal way.

Unfortunately not yet really light at the end of the tunnel :-( :-(

Rainald

make a shortcut directly to c:\program files\windows mail\winmail.exe
on your desktop, startment, or quick launch, and it works

 

[Rainald Taesler]

"Gary VanderMolen" wrote:

Until such time as Microsoft releases a fix, all you can do is use
one of these three workarounds.

1) Uninstall IE8, which reverts you back to IE7.
2) Save attachments first, then open them outside of Windows Mail.
3) Upgrade to Windows Live Mail.

Resetting the advance settings didn't work for me, but if I open the
mail from IE8 [the little envelope icon] next to home icon on the IE
toolbar, then all attachments open properly. Pain in the neck since
you have to open IE first before opening the mail, but at least it
works. maybe removing the toolbar icon would solve the problem.

Thanks for reporting.
The same has been reported in the German Vista NGs.

It has the same effect as changing the path of "Run in:" in the
LNK/shortcut used for launching WinMail.
It does NOT really cure the problem.
Most file types can be opened this way (Office docs, PDFs) but others
still crash, especially JPG and TXT attachments.
Just a workaround for some (many) file types.
I prefer the solution to change the path because it has to be done
only once and then WinMail can be opened the normal way.

Unfortunately not yet really light at the end of the tunnel :-( :-(

make a shortcut directly to c:\program files\windows mail\winmail.exe
on your desktop, startment, or quick launch, and it works.

Making up a new shortcut - as you suggest - gas the same effect as
changing the destination path in the field "Start in:" in the existing
shortcuts (which is my standard workaround, often posted by Gary and
me).
This will fix the problem for most file types but not for JPG and TXT
attachments.

Apart: When creating a new shortcut one has to check the content of the
field "Start in:" of the new shortcut. If it points to the programs
directory (c:\program files\winmail) this has to be changed to
%UserProfile% or %Temp%.

Rainald

 

[Gator Girl]

I agree with John Boj, Windows Mail has turned into junk. I never had
trouble before and now I cannot open attachments, not reliably or unreliably.
I can't open them period. I have tried all the suggestions and nothing
works. Why make a change that people can't use. It is obvious that there
are more than just a few of us who are having trouble. Why hasn't this been
corrected? What is going on? Microsoft needs to correct this as they are
the ones who created it.