Outlook Express & Power Point files

[Neo Geshel]

I have a client with WinNT 5.1 (“XPâ€) SP2. When she opensa PPT file or
PPS (Power Point Slide Show) file from her hard drive, Windows is able
to find the PowerPoint viewer without any problems and pass the file on
to that program.

However, when she tries to open a PowerPoint file from as an attachment
in Outlook Express, she is unable to do so. Outlook claims that the
computer does not understand how to open that kind of a file, and that
she should go to Tools - Folder Options - File Types and create the
correct file type.

Problem is, the correct file types (mime types) already exist!!
(otherwise the computer wouldn't know how to open those files when they
are on the hard drive, which it does know how to do) This problem exists
for ONLY PowerPoint files. All other types (zip, rar, pdf, etc.) work
just fine.

Re-installing the PowerPoint viewer (a free download from M$'s web site)
does not correct the problem.

Outlook Express cannot be re-installed, because what you can download
from M$'s web site is NOT the latest version, provided you have all the
service packs, updates and patches installed.

My client is a very elderly woman, and the fewer steps needed, the
better. She has always been able to open PowerPoint attachments in
Outlook, and this is the way she wants to keep it.

How can I get Outlook Express to properly recognize the file types
already set on the computer? How can I resolve this contradiction?

TIA
...Geshel
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[Hal Hostetler [MVP DTS]]

You might try emptying the Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders.
Whenever you open an attachment, OE and Outlook must first decode it and
they both use these folders for this purpose. When the folders are large
and heavily populated with temporary files, unexplained problems like this
can result.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-DTS -- WA7BGX
http://www.kvoa.com -- "When News breaks, we fix it!"
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I have a client with WinNT 5.1 ("XP") SP2. When she opens a PPT file or
PPS (Power Point Slide Show) file from her hard drive, Windows is able
to find the PowerPoint viewer without any problems and pass the file on
to that program.

However, when she tries to open a PowerPoint file from as an attachment
in Outlook Express, she is unable to do so. Outlook claims that the
computer does not understand how to open that kind of a file, and that
she should go to Tools - Folder Options - File Types and create the
correct file type.

Problem is, the correct file types (mime types) already exist!!
(otherwise the computer wouldn't know how to open those files when they
are on the hard drive, which it does know how to do) This problem exists
for ONLY PowerPoint files. All other types (zip, rar, pdf, etc.) work
just fine.

Re-installing the PowerPoint viewer (a free download from M$'s web site)
does not correct the problem.

Outlook Express cannot be re-installed, because what you can download
from M$'s web site is NOT the latest version, provided you have all the
service packs, updates and patches installed.

My client is a very elderly woman, and the fewer steps needed, the
better. She has always been able to open PowerPoint attachments in
Outlook, and this is the way she wants to keep it.

How can I get Outlook Express to properly recognize the file types
already set on the computer? How can I resolve this contradiction?

TIA
....Geshel
--
**********************************************************************
My reply-to is an automatically monitored spam honeypot. Do not use it
unless you want to be blacklisted by SpamCop. Please reply to my first
name at my last name dot org.
**********************************************************************

 

[Neo Geshel]

You might try emptying the Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders.
Whenever you open an attachment, OE and Outlook must first decode it and
they both use these folders for this purpose. When the folders are large
and heavily populated with temporary files, unexplained problems like this
can result.

Hal

I have already tried this. Both folders are squeaky-clean and completely
empty. I even checked manually (via Windows Explorer). BTW, this
computer is a clean install of XP.

....Geshel
--
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My reply-to is an automatically monitored spam honeypot. Do not use it
unless you want to be blacklisted by SpamCop. Please reply to my first
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