Windows Mail - Trouble with opening some emails..

[debby]

I have Vista and am using Windows Mail.  Some emails come in with attachments, I click on the attachment, window pops up to tell me to open it, I click on the Open box and up pops the message:  This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Association control panel.  Okay, fine, I can't find "Set Association control panel", so I don't know what to do.  The email sent today from a friend was best photos of 2008 and that is the message I got when trying to open it.  How do I create this "association"?  This is not the first time this has happened.  It happens more frequently than I'd like, so I would like to open these messages.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Debby

[Rob Pomeroy]

Debby, this is happing because you don't have software installed that knows what to do with those attachments.  For photos/images, you can use Irfanview - if you install the plugins, Irfanview can read most image formats.  For Office documents, you can use OpenOffice.  For PDFs, I suggest Foxit Reader.  All free.

[debby]

Thanks, Rob (that's my husband's name too!), I did download Irfanview and plug-ins, so now my question is how do I make it work in Windows Mail? Sorry, I am a bit computer stupid on some issues, but I thought if I downloaded this and opened my email attachment, it would automatically show it, but I'm still getting the message about no program associated, etc., etc.  Do I have to send the email to Irfanview, if so, how do I do that?  A lot of my problem is working with Vista.  I don't like it, like XP much better, so I am still learning with Vista. I looked on the Help Menu and found nothing that helped me with File Association.  So this forum has always been my lifesaver.  So glad there's people like you to help.

Thanks, Debby

[soybean]

Are those photos .jpg files?  If your Vista system has the default settings it had when new, any photos received in Windows Mail should open in Windows Photo Gallery.  At least, that's the way my Vista notebook PC has worked from the get-go.

From http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-vista/63458-set-association.html:

To set the file association in Vista:

    * Locate a file of the type you are after. For example, if you were looking for a text file you could use the * wildcard and search for: *.txt
    * Right click on a file of the appropriate type and select Properties.
    * Next to the entry "Opens with" there is a button "Change". Click on that button.
    * Windows will then offer a dialogue box that will let you choose the program you want to use for this file type.

This procedure should work to change/set Irfanview as the default photo editor.  However, if it still doesn't work, I have to wonder whether your anti-virus software might be interferring.  What anti-virus software are you using? In Windows Mail, if you go to Tools, Options, and select the Security tab, is the box for "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus." checked?

[debby]

I don't know what kind of files these are that I am trying to open.  It was just an email with the title "Best Photos of 2008".   I have Security Shield as my anti-virus and everything that is checked says to "Prompt for Action" so that shouldn't stop attachments from being opened.  I open attachments all the time, but about once a week I get one of these that gives me that File Association box.  I will try your link and see if I can figure it out.

Thanks bunches!  Debby

[debby]

I looked at my email that I can't open again and it said it was a pps file, which I researched more was (I think) Power Point Slide show.  So I did what the set associations file told me to do to change it and now when I click on to open the attachment, it's not giving me that box that tells me there is no association with it, it just doesn't do anything. So now I'm totally lost.

Debby

[patio]

Power Point Viewer is FREE and will open those files...

[debby]

Power Point Viewer is NOT opening my emails.  This is frustrating.

[Quantos]

When you click on the file select "Save As" instead of "Open".  Save it to a location that you can find, I suggest the Desktop.  You can open it from there by double clicking it.

[Rob Pomeroy]

OpenOffice can open .PPS files - follow Quantos' advice first.

[soybean]

I looked at my email that I can't open again and it said it was a pps file, which I researched more was (I think) Power Point Slide show.  So I did what the set associations file told me to do to change it and now when I click on to open the attachment, it's not giving me that box that tells me there is no association with it, it just doesn't do anything. So now I'm totally lost.

Debby

At this point, you did not have Power Point Viewer installed, right?  So, what did you associate the .pps files with?

[debby]

  I've done everything all have told me to do.  I put it on my desktop, double clicked it, nothing happened.  I think I am just going to have to tie down the computer dude that built this for me and make him figure it out.

I do thank all of you for your help - this computer just isn't responding to all the things I've been told to do.  (Also not being a whiz at the computer doesn't help!)

Debby

[Quantos]

Do you have Power Point Viewer installed?  If it's not installed it can't open files.

[debby]

Yes, I do have Power Point Viewer Installed - still doesn't work.  Go figure - if it's meant not to work, it's me it's not going to work with.  It's getting so frustrating that I'm getting to the point I don't care anymore.  I tell myself I didn't want to see the best photos of 2008 or any others that won't open.  Will Power Point Viewer automatically open the email?

Debby

[soybean]

Yes, I do have Power Point Viewer Installed - still doesn't work.

How do you know it's installed?  Merely downloading software does not cause it to be installed.  Installation is a separate action.

Do you see PowerPoint Viewer on your Programs menu?  If you open Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, do you see it there in the list of prgrams installed on your computer?

[patio]

There's also the possibility that these .pps files were not created properly...are they all from the same friend ? ?