This is a spacer. No Picture here. JMU Home  | Accounts Info  | Computing  | Downloads  | Forms  | Passwords  | Self-Help    
Assistant Vice President for Information Technology

Computing Support

IT Training Home

      - Training Center & Map
      - How to Register/Cancel
      - Items Left in IT Training Center
      - Evaluation Form

Training Opportunities
  - Course Calendar
- House Call
JMU Central Systems
  - Requirements for IS
  Access
- Request for IS Access
Microsoft Office &
General Training
  - Assessments
- Course Completion Certificate
- Handouts & Exercises
- Skills Inventories
Tutorials Home
  - E-mail
- WebMail
- Outlook
- Listserv
- DoForms
- HR 8.9 Update J-Ess
& e-training



- Tutorials Home


James Madison University

PUBLISHER:
JMU Office of Information Technology
MSC 0602,
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
PHONE: (540) 568-3555


FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Computing

Privacy Statement
Last Modified: October 05, 2004




Tutorials

Microsoft Outlook Tutorials

About File Attachments in Outlook

     

If you receive a file attached to a message, you can save it to a disk, or you can open it directly from Outlook. Once a file is opened in its associated application, you can then choose to edit, save, or print the file.

 

When you open a file attachment, one of two actions may occur: either the Opening Mail Attachment dialog box will open and allow you to open or save the file, or the attached file will automatically open in its associated application. The applications installed on your computer and the file extensions (e.g. .doc for Microsoft Word files, .xls for Microsoft Excel files, etc.) associated with those applications determine how an attachment will open.

 

Recent security enhancements to the Outlook e-mail client have changed the way a number of file attachments and file types are handled.  If you have installed Office 2000 SP2 or higher, including Office XP, you will be required to specify whether you want to save the attachment to a disk or if you want open it directly-attached files will no longer automatically open.

 

Note:  There are a number of file attachments which Outlook automatically blocks for security reasons and you will not be able to save or access these files, regardless. See the list of blocked file attachments in the next tutorial.

 

 

 

If you view a folder in the preview pane, items containing attached files appear with a paper clip icon in the preview pane header. Clicking the paper clip icon displays a list of the attached files. Clicking a file name in the list opens the Opening Mail Attachment dialog box.

 

 

We recommend that you do not open file attachments unless you both recognize the sender and know the purpose of the attachment.

 

 

Some computer viruses that we’ve seen on campus have been designed to look in one’s e-mail address book and send messages with an attachment. The recipient, who recognizes the sender’s name, opens the attachment – which activates the virus.

  

 

We also recommend that you do not open any executable program (a file with a .exe or .vbs extension) received via e-mail, even from a recognized sender, unless you are absolutely certain of both the origin and purpose of the file attachment.