Cannot open email

[ail]

All of a sudden I cannot open email attachments from people I've received
then from years. But I can open attachments from places of business like JC
Penney, Barnes and Noble, etc. I haven't downloaded IE8 yet because after
reading some comments here, I fear it will complicate the problem. Do you
think it's some kind of Trojan? What can I do, please?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

If you are sure you don't have IE8 (it may have been pushed by a recent
Windows Update), what type of attachments open and which ones don't?
The most common attachment types are DOC, PDF, JPG, PPS, etc.
What is the exact error message when it fails?

 

[Igopogo]

If you are sure you don't have IE8 (it may have been pushed by a recent
Windows Update), what type of attachments open and which ones don't?
The most common attachment types are DOC, PDF, JPG, PPS, etc.
What is the exact error message when it fails?

 

[ail]

Thank you for responding. Upon looking further, IE8 did download through auto
updates! So I do have IE8. The error message I get is "the command failed to
execute". Sounds like a common prob. What can I try now, please?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

That error message reflects a known issue that is affecting some who
installed IE8. One workaround is to uninstall IE8, which reverts you back to IE7.
Even without uninstalling IE8 you can make it work for all but TXT and
JPG attachments by doing the following:

Right-click on the shortcut that you use to open Windows Mail.
Select Properties. In the field labeled 'Start in' change the existing
value to %UserProfile%. Click OK. Restart Windows Mail and try opening
attachments.

If you decide to uninstall IE8 instead, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957700

If you don't want to do either of the above, another option is to upgrade
your email program to Windows Live Mail: http://download.live.com/wlmail