Problems with Mail and opening attachments

Today, I received a notice that a service pack was available for my Vista os.
Wanting to keep my operating system current and up to date, I clicked to
install it. After leaving the computer run, I returned to find the computer
had rebooted as I expected it to.

The problem arrived when I went to check email. Clicking on any attachment,
nothing will open! Jpg, mpg, wmv, pdf, nothing opents! I went to "Tools,
Options" and made sure that my settings allowed attachments to be opened.
Clicking Apply, I checked all other settings, made sure all appeared correct,
I clicked ok.

I rebooted the computer again, and checked mail and once again, nothing
would open...

This happened to me once before, and I simply went to my system restore
points and restored from an earlier date. Problem solved! So thinking that
this would work, and as I have my computer set restore points weekly, I went
to restore to an earlier date. Unfortunately, the only restore point was at
the time of the update! So even though I restored the computer, it didn't
solve the problem.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I use this computer for business and
definitely need to view attachments.

Thanks,

Steve

Any error message when you try to open the attachment?
Can you save the attachment and then open it outside of Windows Mail?
Which antivirus are you running?

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)


"Steve@OutdoorFrontiers" <SteveOutdoorFrontiers@discussions.microsoft.com > wrote in message
news:9DADD87E-ED0F-446A-BB31-2DFB105822CC@microsoft.com...
> Today, I received a notice that a service pack was available for my Vista os.
> Wanting to keep my operating system current and up to date, I clicked to
> install it. After leaving the computer run, I returned to find the computer
> had rebooted as I expected it to.
>
> The problem arrived when I went to check email. Clicking on any attachment,
> nothing will open! Jpg, mpg, wmv, pdf, nothing opents! I went to "Tools,
> Options" and made sure that my settings allowed attachments to be opened.
> Clicking Apply, I checked all other settings, made sure all appeared correct,
> I clicked ok.
>
> I rebooted the computer again, and checked mail and once again, nothing
> would open...
>
> This happened to me once before, and I simply went to my system restore
> points and restored from an earlier date. Problem solved! So thinking that
> this would work, and as I have my computer set restore points weekly, I went
> to restore to an earlier date. Unfortunately, the only restore point was at
> the time of the update! So even though I restored the computer, it didn't
> solve the problem.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated as I use this computer for business and
> definitely need to view attachments.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
>

"Steve@OutdoorFrontiers" <SteveOutdoorFrontiers@discussions.microsoft.com >
wrote in message news:9DADD87E-ED0F-446A-BB31-2DFB105822CC@microsoft.com...
> Today, I received a notice that a service pack was available for my Vista
> os.
> Wanting to keep my operating system current and up to date, I clicked to
> install it. After leaving the computer run, I returned to find the
> computer
> had rebooted as I expected it to.
>
> The problem arrived when I went to check email. Clicking on any
> attachment,
> nothing will open! Jpg, mpg, wmv, pdf, nothing opents! I went to "Tools,
> Options" and made sure that my settings allowed attachments to be opened.
> Clicking Apply, I checked all other settings, made sure all appeared
> correct,
> I clicked ok.
>
> I rebooted the computer again, and checked mail and once again, nothing
> would open...
>
> This happened to me once before, and I simply went to my system restore
> points and restored from an earlier date. Problem solved! So thinking
> that
> this would work, and as I have my computer set restore points weekly, I
> went
> to restore to an earlier date. Unfortunately, the only restore point was
> at
> the time of the update! So even though I restored the computer, it didn't
> solve the problem.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated as I use this computer for business
> and
> definitely need to view attachments.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
>
Can you save the attachments without opening them, then open them
outside Windows Mail? If not, see if this helps:

<http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-Vista.html>

Is your problem only with opening the attachments inside Windows
Mail? If so, see if any of these help:

<http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/236/1/Unable-to-open-PDF-attachments-from-Windows-Mail.html>

<http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/149/1/Unable-to-open-PPS-attachments-directly-from-Windows-Mail-in-Windows-Vista.html>

http://www.winhelponline.com/article...dows-Mail.html

"Gary VanderMolen" wrote:

> Any error message when you try to open the attachment?
> Can you save the attachment and then open it outside of Windows Mail?
> Which antivirus are you running?

I've tried different programs, and had so many problems running anti-virus
software, with fingers being pointed in both directions, I've given up on any
third party AV software.

When I try to save and open the attachment outside of Mail, I get "Command
Failed to Execute."

Steve

"robertmiles@bellsouthNOSPAM.net" wrote:

>
> "Steve@OutdoorFrontiers" <SteveOutdoorFrontiers@discussions.microsoft.com >
> wrote in message news:9DADD87E-ED0F-446A-BB31-2DFB105822CC@microsoft.com...
> > Today, I received a notice that a service pack was available for my Vista
> > os.
> > Wanting to keep my operating system current and up to date, I clicked to
> > install it. After leaving the computer run, I returned to find the
> > computer
> > had rebooted as I expected it to.
> >
> > The problem arrived when I went to check email. Clicking on any
> > attachment,
> > nothing will open! Jpg, mpg, wmv, pdf, nothing opents! I went to "Tools,
> > Options" and made sure that my settings allowed attachments to be opened.
> > Clicking Apply, I checked all other settings, made sure all appeared
> > correct,
> > I clicked ok.
> >
> > I rebooted the computer again, and checked mail and once again, nothing
> > would open...
> >
> > This happened to me once before, and I simply went to my system restore
> > points and restored from an earlier date. Problem solved! So thinking
> > that
> > this would work, and as I have my computer set restore points weekly, I
> > went
> > to restore to an earlier date. Unfortunately, the only restore point was
> > at
> > the time of the update! So even though I restored the computer, it didn't
> > solve the problem.
> >
> > Any suggestions would be appreciated as I use this computer for business
> > and
> > definitely need to view attachments.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Steve
> >
> Can you save the attachments without opening them, then open them
> outside Windows Mail? If not, see if this helps:
>
> <http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-Vista.html>
>
> Is your problem only with opening the attachments inside Windows
> Mail? If so, see if any of these help:
>
> <http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/236/1/Unable-to-open-PDF-attachments-from-Windows-Mail.html>
>
> <http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/149/1/Unable-to-open-PPS-attachments-directly-from-Windows-Mail-in-Windows-Vista.html>
>
> http://www.winhelponline.com/article...dows-Mail.html

I cannot open attachments either outside of, or inside Mail. I get the same
message, "Command Failed to Execute." And with my previous restore points
missing, I'm getting frustrated beyond belief.

I've been on the road a lot recently (12 states, 4 time zones) and have been
playing catch-up, so haven't even had time to back up the computer.

And it's not with any particular file type. From what I can see, it's ANY
attachment, whether it's a picture file, document file or media file.

Steve

Regrettably, your problem is not limited to Windows Mail.
If you can't open documents outside of Windows Mail, then the
problem is more severe. It is really beyond the area of expertise
that those of us who specialize in email problems are able to
help with.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)


"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" <Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:68A6B73A-7596-4E62-B325-A47B0F967EDF@microsoft.com...
>
> "Gary VanderMolen" wrote:
>
>> Any error message when you try to open the attachment?
>> Can you save the attachment and then open it outside of Windows Mail?
>> Which antivirus are you running?
>
> I've tried different programs, and had so many problems running anti-virus
> software, with fingers being pointed in both directions, I've given up on any
> third party AV software.
>
> When I try to save and open the attachment outside of Mail, I get "Command
> Failed to Execute."
>
> Steve