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Unsafe Attachments Blocked in Outlook Express
If you have recently installed Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
or Windows XP SP1 (both of which include Outlook Express 6 SP1) you may find
that some of your email attachments may be greyed out and you will be unable
to save the attachments.
If you open the message containing the attachment you
will notice the following message displayed in the alert bar at the top of the
message:
Outlook Express removed access to the following unsafe
attachments in your email: file1, file2 . As shown in the following screen
shot.
This is caused by a new feature in Outlook Express 6, which allows for the
blocking of attachments considered as unsafe. In Outlook 6.0 it was turned off
by default but in SP1 it is enabled by default. To enable or disable this
feature go to the options-security tab and check or uncheck the box.
Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that
could potentially be a virus
See the screen shot below:
When this virus-protection feature is enabled, Outlook Express will block any
attachments that are on the Internet Explorer unsafe file list, thereby removing
access to these attachments.
If you want to access these attachments then you
can disable this option by unchecking the check box.
You should be advised that
by doing so you could be making yourself vulnerable, and therefore I would
advise against it. A safer way of accessing the attachment is to try to forward
the message as by doing so it allows you to save the attachment. See screen shot
below:
Note: You don't need to actually forward the message
The file types that Microsoft consider as unsafe are listed in the following
Microsoft article
KB:291369 Information About The Unsafe File List in Internet Explorer 6
------- . The list however appears incomplete as zip files are also blocked and
they are not listed on the unsafe file list. For a solution to this problem see
Why can't I open Zip file
attachments in Outlook Express 6.0 SP1?
If you find attachments are being blocked that should not be and you want to
modify the unsafe file list yourself then there is Microsoft document that
covers this
OLEXP:
Using Virus Protection Features in Outlook Express 6.
There is a freeware tool Detachol available on the Internet however it cannot be
used for editing the unsafe list for Microsoft Outlook Express; only for Outlook.
Attachment Blocking By Your ISP
Some ISPs provide attachment blocking or filtering for high-risk
attachments. You may find that a message will be delivered without the
attachment and with the following message added:
"A message filter removed the following attachment from this message: "
See the following screenshot.
If you receive such a message and you want to receive the attachment, then reply
to the sender and ask them to rename the attachment to something less sensitive
like attach.txt for example.
When you receive the attachment just rename it back
to the original name and it will work as normal.
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