Mechling/Mechcom Support Group   

Why I can't get Attachments in Outlook Express?

(Outlook Express Attachment Blocking)

Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express can be configured to block what Microsoft calls "unsafe" email attachment types. Until the release of Outlook Express 6 service pack 1, this feature was disabled by default. With the new release being distributed through Windows Update, people may start finding that email attachments are unavailable to them.

It is recommended that most people leave the feature enabled. Malicious use of these email attachment types is much more common than non-malicious use. For example, in March of 2002, the JMU email server handled 2607 messages with .exe attachments and 2376 of those were viruses. If you get an occasional email message with a blocked attachment type, inform the sender that your mail system will not accept such attachments and ask them to rename the attachment and resend it. The JMU e-mail server already blocks many of these attachment types.

If you find that you are unable to receive desired attachments on a regular basis and you cannot make other arrangements for a different filename format, you can reconfigure Outlook Express to allow these attachments. If you do this, however, you will be exposed to both desired and undesired attachments. We highly recommend a good anti-virus software (like Norton Anti-virus by Symantec) to be installed before disabling this feature. Outlook Express cannot determine whether a particular attachment is desired or not and a good anti-virus software is your best defense against viruses. Please treat any unexpected attachments with caution. You cannot opt-out of the central JMU e-mail server filters.

There are two ways to get attachments:

You can choose to enable delivery of only certain types of high risk attachments. 

• Click Start 
• Click Settings 
• Click Control Panel 
• Double-click Folder Options 
• Click the File Types Tab 
• Under the Extensions column, locate the extension of the attachment type that you would like to receive and highlight it. If the extension you would like to receive is not in this list, then you cannot disable receipt of only that attachment type. Instead, you will need to disable the unsafe attachment protection feature entirely as described in the second option below.
• Click Advanced 
• Uncheck Confirm Open After Download
• Click OK 

OR, You can choose to disable the unsafe attachment protection entirely in which case all types of high risk attachments will be delivered to you.

• Start Outlook Express 
• Select Options off the Tools menu 
• Click the Security tab 
• Under Virus Protection, uncheck the box labeled "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus". 
• Click OK

If you do the above mentioned and still can't receive your attachments, check your firewall settings and/or anti-virus software settings. We have seen instances where the firewall rules (set by the default install) won't allow email to pass correctly. Sometimes a recent Microsoft update or firewall/anti-virus software update can also change a parameter of a rule and you just need to delete the old rule for Outlook Express and let the software create a new one automatically.