[HM] Re: Can't open picture attachment

[Denise]

> From: "Mary C. Youra" <mcyoura at ix.netcom.com>
> Reply-To: "Home Macintosh Users List"<HomeMac at lists.themacintoshguy.com>
> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 11:12:26 -0500
> To: "Home Macintosh Users List" <HomeMac at lists.themacintoshguy.com>
> Subject: [HM] Re: Can't open picture attachment
> 
> Denise--
> If you are getting attachments that are 1K in size, they are not
> pictures (that's just not large enough). If you able to save the 1K
> file to your desktop and do a Get Info (highlight, then cmd-I), what
> does it say it is?  If you're not getting an indication of an attached
> file (the paper clip), it sounds as though the attachment got stripped.
> The question is at what level--by the sender's ISP, yours, or your
> Outlook Express. Can you send an attachment to yourself? By any chance
> does your ISP have attachments blocked? It's been a long time since
> I've used Outlook Express, but I seem to remember that you could set
> its Rules to strip attachments--have you checked to see if something's
> gone amiss there (Tools>Rules>Mail)?. Does your ISP offer a way to
> check your email using the web? If so, check online to see if there are
> attachments, and how they are identified. That might help identify
> whether the problem is to do with Outlook Express or something to do
> with your ISP. I have no idea how Postini works--you say you've checked
> the settings, but have you ever gotten an attachment since your ISP has
> been using Postini? You might want to check with either your ISP or
> Postini Support about their default settings for attachments. (I once
> had to ask an ISP to reduce its Spam Sieve settings because it was
> blocking legitimate email, so they can be *too* aggressive.)
> 
> Another thought--is your ISP blocking attachments from particular
> ISP's? With the recent rash of viruses, some ISP's were doing just
> that. I have received other notices that ISP's are blocking
> attachments, but the recipient receives a 1K notice that there had been
> an attachment (typically, this happens when the attachment is suspected
> of being a virus).
> 
> Lots of questions, but no real answers, sorry. I hope something here
> helps you track down the source of the problem.
> 
> Mary

Thank you for the thorough reply, Mary.  I did successfully send a 69K .jpg
attachment to myself.  I have emailed my ISP to see if they are stripping
attachments.  I have also contacted two of the people that had previously
tried to send me attachments.  One of them uses the same ISP I do, the other
is a different ISP.  I have asked them to try and re-send attachments to me,
since I have since purged the others from my system (spring cleaning).

Postini is the filtering used by my ISP.  I catches things with suspicious
attachments, content, etc. and notifies me so that I may view them safely
from their site before telling them to discard or forward to my mailbox.

I was not able to even save the 1K attachment to my desktop.  It was grayed
out, and I could not do anything with it.  When I checked with this friend's
computer, he showed me the email he sent, with three picture attached.  He
has emailed me pictures before successfully.

It is a mystery, and a frustrating one.  I do not usually permit
attachments, but once in a while it is handy, especially with the prevelance
of digital cameras.

Denise