Tip 1.1: Opening Email Attachments

If you use Email then you’ve probably received an Email attachment. Sometimes, you’ll get an attachment that your computer doesn’t know how to open. The problem your computer is having is that it can’t identify which program to use to open the file. How do you know what the right extension is?

If an attachment cannot be opened, it's usually the result of one of three things.

Corrupted attachment.
If you have no trouble opening other attachments of the same file type, the attachment you are having trouble with is likely to be corrupted in some way, meaning the program used to open this file type cannot process the file’s contents. If this is the case, the only solution would be to have the sender check and re-send the attachment.

Unrecognized file types.
Windows keeps a list of file types. This list associates file types with programs that can run them. This list can sometimes be wrong or out of date, as these file type associations are changed when you install new programs.

By default double clicking on an unknown file type will cause Windows to open an "Open With __" window asking you to associate the file type with a specific program. Windows may already have a file type association for the type of file that you are trying to open, but it could be pointing to a program that can't handle the file type correctly.

No program capable of viewing file type.
The attachment may be in an uncommon file type, which would need a specialized program to view. If this is the case, you would need to have either the same program that was used to create the file, or another capable of handling files in the same format, installed on your computer. Email back the sender and ask them to advise you on this.

Example:
Instructions for showing file name extensions for Windows 2000 users.

  1. Open the "My Computer" icon on your Desktop screen
  2. Select the "Tools" menu and then "Folder Options"
  3. Select the "View" Tab on the top of the page
  4. Under the "Files and Folder" heading check that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected
  5. Also check that "Hide extensions for known file types" is NOT selected
  6. Click the "Apply" button if you've made any changes then click the "OK" button.

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