Are these GIF, JPG or BMP attachments? I'm not sure what you refer to as the
/message box/ but you should not see this in the new message window when you
are creating the message, but in Sent Items, or the Inbox if you sent
yourself a copy. These attachments are automatically displayed after the
message body. This is how OE works. Is this what you are seeing?

As far as the size goes, you have to resize the graphic before you attach
it. There are two ways to eliminate you seeing the attachment without
clicking on the paper clip, but you can't control what the recipient sees.

To prevent graphic attachments to be automatically displayed in messages you
receive, either set to read in Plain Text, or see:

Outlook Express Slide Show OE5, OE6
http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/slideshow.htm
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"John" wrote in message
...
When I create a message and add an attachment I get the paperclip and a
very
large copy of the attachment in the message box. I have tried to delete
the
latter but can't. Is there a way to eliminate the copy of the attachment
in
the message box? My operating system is XP Home edition.