G
Guest
Files attached to emails are being converted to .dat, rendering them useless.
Any ideas on what is causing this?
Any ideas on what is causing this?
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Nikki
Are these Incoming or Outgoing? Do you use an Exchange Server?
The Winmail.dat mystery
Do you ever receive 'winmail.dat' attachments to email messages and wonder
what they are for? Are they anything to worry about?
Winmail.dat appears as an attachment with some emails and it seems useless
because you can't open it. What is the point of winmail.dat, and where did
it come from?
The source is Microsoft Outlook. Outlook creates the winmail.dat file,
containing the email's formatting information. The winmail.dat file is only
created as an attachment to the email received when the mail program or
browser cannot read the original email formatting. It is an attempt to keep
the email's original formatting intact even when it cannot be displayed by
the receiving computer.
Usually the winmail.dat file is sent silently along with the email, because
the email's formatting details are read by the receiving program or browser
correctly. If the receiver also uses Microsoft Outlook you should have no
problems and never see the winmail.dat file.
If you get a winmail.dat attachment, don't panic - just ignore it.
It doesn't do any harm and it is so small that it's not taking up any disk
space of concern.
There's a slim possibility that a real worm or virus is hiding under the
guise of a winmail.dat file - so best not to try opening such an attachment,
just in case.
What to do about it - receivers
If you are the one receiving these attachments, you can ask your friend to
set up the email they send to you to be only plain text. Ask them to follow
these steps:
a.. In Outlook 2003, open the Contacts folder.
b.. Open the record of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. Double click their email address.
d.. In the 'Email Properties' window that opens, change 'Internet format'
to 'Send Plain Text Only'.
e.. Click Ok.
a.. In Outlook 2000, open the Contacts folder.
b.. Open the record of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. In the Contact window that appears, select the General tab.
d.. Underneath their email address, check the 'Send using plain text' box.
If they use the Address book instead of the Contacts folder, use these steps
instead:
a.. In Outlook 2003, select Tools | Address book.
b.. Double click the name of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. In the Properties window that appears, uncheck the 'Always send to
this recipient in Microsoft Exchange Rich Text Format' box.
d.. Click Ok.
a.. In Outlook 2000, select Tools | Address book.
b.. Select the name of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments, and select File | Properties.
c.. In the Properties window that appears, select the 'Name' tab and check
the 'Send E-Mail using plain text only' box.
d.. Click Ok.
What to do about it - senders
If you have Outlook and you have a recipient who is really bothered about
winmail.dat files then you have some options to stop them being sent.
Outlook only creates the winmail.dat file when you are creating a Rich Text
Format (RTF) or HTML email, or if you are using Word to create the emails.
If an email is created using Plain text, no winmail.dat is created.
RTF and HTML emails are those you create that have formatting options, like
font styles, background colours, and text positioning, using the formatting
toolbar in Outlook. Plain text emails are those with just text.
If you are the one sending the winmail.dat attachments, follow these simple
rules to make sure you never do so again.
a.. In Outlook 2003, select Tools | Options. In the Options window that
appears select the Mail Format tab.
b.. Under the 'Message Format' heading, change 'Compose in this message
format' to Plain Text. Uncheck the 'Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit
e-mail messages' box.
c.. Click Ok.
d.. In Outlook 2000, select Tools | Options. In the Options window that
appears select the Mail Format tab.
e.. Under the 'Message Format' heading, change 'Send in this message
format' to Plain Text. Uncheck the 'Use Microsoft Word to edit email
messages' box.
f.. Click Ok.
Switching email formats
If you want to decide which emails you send as Plain text and which not, you
can easily change the format of your emails as you create them.
a.. In Outlook 2003, select File | New | Mail Message.
b.. In the new message window that appears, select Format | Plain Text.
c.. The warning that appears tells you that you will lose all formatting.
This is what you want. Click Yes.
Now you are ready to create a plain text message!
If you ever feel the need to create a more decorative email, and feel that
the plain text is just not cutting it, you can change the format back to RTF
or HTML.
a.. In the email composer Window, select Format | Rich Text or Format |
HTML.
You can now make a beautiful email using the tools on the format toolbars.
Nikki Peterson
The Winmail.dat mystery
Do you ever receive 'winmail.dat' attachments to email messages and wonder
what they are for? Are they anything to worry about?
Winmail.dat appears as an attachment with some emails and it seems useless
because you can't open it. What is the point of winmail.dat, and where did
it come from?
The source is Microsoft Outlook. Outlook creates the winmail.dat file,
containing the email's formatting information. The winmail.dat file is only
created as an attachment to the email received when the mail program or
browser cannot read the original email formatting. It is an attempt to keep
the email's original formatting intact even when it cannot be displayed by
the receiving computer.
Usually the winmail.dat file is sent silently along with the email, because
the email's formatting details are read by the receiving program or browser
correctly. If the receiver also uses Microsoft Outlook you should have no
problems and never see the winmail.dat file.
If you get a winmail.dat attachment, don't panic - just ignore it.
It doesn't do any harm and it is so small that it's not taking up any disk
space of concern.
There's a slim possibility that a real worm or virus is hiding under the
guise of a winmail.dat file - so best not to try opening such an attachment,
just in case.
What to do about it - receivers
If you are the one receiving these attachments, you can ask your friend to
set up the email they send to you to be only plain text. Ask them to follow
these steps:
a.. In Outlook 2003, open the Contacts folder.
b.. Open the record of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. Double click their email address.
d.. In the 'Email Properties' window that opens, change 'Internet format'
to 'Send Plain Text Only'.
e.. Click Ok.
a.. In Outlook 2000, open the Contacts folder.
b.. Open the record of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. In the Contact window that appears, select the General tab.
d.. Underneath their email address, check the 'Send using plain text' box.
If they use the Address book instead of the Contacts folder, use these steps
instead:
a.. In Outlook 2003, select Tools | Address book.
b.. Double click the name of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments.
c.. In the Properties window that appears, uncheck the 'Always send to
this recipient in Microsoft Exchange Rich Text Format' box.
d.. Click Ok.
a.. In Outlook 2000, select Tools | Address book.
b.. Select the name of the person who complains about receiving
winmail.dat attachments, and select File | Properties.
c.. In the Properties window that appears, select the 'Name' tab and check
the 'Send E-Mail using plain text only' box.
d.. Click Ok.
What to do about it - senders
If you have Outlook and you have a recipient who is really bothered about
winmail.dat files then you have some options to stop them being sent.
Outlook only creates the winmail.dat file when you are creating a Rich Text
Format (RTF) or HTML email, or if you are using Word to create the emails.
If an email is created using Plain text, no winmail.dat is created.
RTF and HTML emails are those you create that have formatting options, like
font styles, background colours, and text positioning, using the formatting
toolbar in Outlook. Plain text emails are those with just text.
If you are the one sending the winmail.dat attachments, follow these simple
rules to make sure you never do so again.
a.. In Outlook 2003, select Tools | Options. In the Options window that
appears select the Mail Format tab.
b.. Under the 'Message Format' heading, change 'Compose in this message
format' to Plain Text. Uncheck the 'Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit
e-mail messages' box.
c.. Click Ok.
d.. In Outlook 2000, select Tools | Options. In the Options window that
appears select the Mail Format tab.
e.. Under the 'Message Format' heading, change 'Send in this message
format' to Plain Text. Uncheck the 'Use Microsoft Word to edit email
messages' box.
f.. Click Ok.
Switching email formats
If you want to decide which emails you send as Plain text and which not, you
can easily change the format of your emails as you create them.
a.. In Outlook 2003, select File | New | Mail Message.
b.. In the new message window that appears, select Format | Plain Text.
c.. The warning that appears tells you that you will lose all formatting.
This is what you want. Click Yes.
Now you are ready to create a plain text message!
If you ever feel the need to create a more decorative email, and feel that
the plain text is just not cutting it, you can change the format back to RTF
or HTML.
a.. In the email composer Window, select Format | Rich Text or Format |
HTML.
You can now make a beautiful email using the tools on the format toolbars.
Nikki Peterson
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