My wife just started using Outlook Express, and had trouble inserting an
image into an outgoing e-mail. The dialog opened and accepted input, but
then everything hung. Googling around a little I found this forum, and saw
quickly that she wasn't alone.

I've read in several posts here that she should turn off any anti-virus
e-mail scanning software, as the function is unnecessary. I just tried that,
and it didn't seem to work; I'll noodle around a little more, read some more
here, and hopefully I'll get the problem sorted out. In the meantime, I have
a couple of questions:

1. Is the advice the same for ALL anti-virus software? I saw a reference
to "LiveUpdate," along with a URL to an (expired) page on the Symantec
website, so clearly Norton Anti-virus was the target. But we use PC-cillin
(came bundled with the PC), and I'm curious about whether or not there are
any substantial differences in e-mail scanning processes in different
anti-virus programs.

2. If turning off the e-mail scanning function will not put one at
increased risk for infection, why do the anti-virus software makers include
it? Is it just a marketing ploy? "You'll be safer! Your e-mail will be
scanned as it comes in! If you don't have this you'll get infected!" Or is
there actually some value to the function for certain types of users, or
certain types of machines, or certain e-mail clients, none of which apply to
Outlook Express running on a Windows XP machine? When I turned off the
e-mail scanning function in PC-cillin, the main page warns me that I may be
at increased risk; is this just hype?

Thanks in advance. I should have looked here before Googling: I've used
the Access Programming forum many times, and gotten loads of useful
information!

Cheers,
Rich

Ans 1: Yes. Turn it off for all A/V programs.
Ans 2: Is it just a marketing ploy? Yes.

Save images in JPG or GIF format. Bitmap is extremely large.

If you get an error message when you try to send, please post it in its
entirety.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"rmiller1985" rmiller1985atearthlinkdotnet wrote in message
...
My wife just started using Outlook Express, and had trouble inserting an
image into an outgoing e-mail. The dialog opened and accepted input, but
then everything hung. Googling around a little I found this forum, and
saw
quickly that she wasn't alone.

I've read in several posts here that she should turn off any anti-virus
e-mail scanning software, as the function is unnecessary. I just tried
that,
and it didn't seem to work; I'll noodle around a little more, read some
more
here, and hopefully I'll get the problem sorted out. In the meantime, I
have
a couple of questions:

1. Is the advice the same for ALL anti-virus software? I saw a reference
to "LiveUpdate," along with a URL to an (expired) page on the Symantec
website, so clearly Norton Anti-virus was the target. But we use
PC-cillin
(came bundled with the PC), and I'm curious about whether or not there are
any substantial differences in e-mail scanning processes in different
anti-virus programs.

2. If turning off the e-mail scanning function will not put one at
increased risk for infection, why do the anti-virus software makers
include
it? Is it just a marketing ploy? "You'll be safer! Your e-mail will be
scanned as it comes in! If you don't have this you'll get infected!" Or
is
there actually some value to the function for certain types of users, or
certain types of machines, or certain e-mail clients, none of which apply
to
Outlook Express running on a Windows XP machine? When I turned off the
e-mail scanning function in PC-cillin, the main page warns me that I may
be
at increased risk; is this just hype?

Thanks in advance. I should have looked here before Googling: I've used
the Access Programming forum many times, and gotten loads of useful
information!

Cheers,
Rich

Thanks for the input, Bruce.

No luck. I turned off e-mail scanning in PC-cillin, both incoming and
outgoing. I even shut down PC-cillin altogether during testing. I also
unchecked the box in "HTML formatting" that relates to attaching pictures (I
can't remember the exact name, and the laptop isn't on right now, but it's
mentioned in several of the other threads here). The problem still exists:
no error message, the inclusion of a picture simply doesn't work. Clicking
on the "browse" button in the picture selection dialog opens the browser
dialog, but none of the buttons in the browser dialog (e.g., "open,"
"cancel," new folder, etc.) work. Double-clicking on the image closes the
browser dialog, but then the picture selection dialog won't close (although
it *will* insert the picture into the e-mail), which means that the message
can never be sent (since OE requires the dialog to be closed before the main
message window can be accessed again).

A couple of points: PC-cillin includes a "spam filter" function that gets
installed into OE. I'm wondering if that's the problem. There's an option
to remove it, but I'd like to avoid that if possible, since OE doesn't
include the "junk e-mail" folder that's part of Outlook, and my wife likes
the function. Also, I haven't tried creating a new identity; I've read in
some of these threads that that can help, but I'm doubtful, since this is a
brand new machine.

I saw a reference to some "motive bridge something" elsewhere. I can't find
any reference to that on the laptop; any advice on where to look for it?

Any other advice in general? I have the option of installing Outlook, I've
just put it off because my wife actually likes the simplified interface of
OE, since she doesn't use most of the Outlook functions.

Thanks,
Rich

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Ans 1: Yes. Turn it off for all A/V programs.
Ans 2: Is it just a marketing ploy? Yes.

Save images in JPG or GIF format. Bitmap is extremely large.

If you get an error message when you try to send, please post it in its
entirety.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

Motive Bridge would be in Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs.

Tools | Options | Send | HTML Settings - Send pictures with messages must be
checked.

The default (Main) identity may be damaged. It is extremely vulnerable to
corruption. So much so that many people create a new named identity for
general use as soon as they get a new computer online.

File | Identity | Add New Identity. Create a new one and test it. If all is
well, you can import your messages from the old identity and delete it.

How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169

You can temporarily disable PC-cillin also, just to eliminate it as the
problem.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"rmiller1985" rmiller1985atearthlinkdotnet wrote in message
...
Thanks for the input, Bruce.

No luck. I turned off e-mail scanning in PC-cillin, both incoming and
outgoing. I even shut down PC-cillin altogether during testing. I also
unchecked the box in "HTML formatting" that relates to attaching pictures
(I
can't remember the exact name, and the laptop isn't on right now, but it's
mentioned in several of the other threads here). The problem still
exists:
no error message, the inclusion of a picture simply doesn't work.
Clicking
on the "browse" button in the picture selection dialog opens the browser
dialog, but none of the buttons in the browser dialog (e.g., "open,"
"cancel," new folder, etc.) work. Double-clicking on the image closes the
browser dialog, but then the picture selection dialog won't close
(although
it *will* insert the picture into the e-mail), which means that the
message
can never be sent (since OE requires the dialog to be closed before the
main
message window can be accessed again).

A couple of points: PC-cillin includes a "spam filter" function that gets
installed into OE. I'm wondering if that's the problem. There's an
option
to remove it, but I'd like to avoid that if possible, since OE doesn't
include the "junk e-mail" folder that's part of Outlook, and my wife likes
the function. Also, I haven't tried creating a new identity; I've read in
some of these threads that that can help, but I'm doubtful, since this is
a
brand new machine.

I saw a reference to some "motive bridge something" elsewhere. I can't
find
any reference to that on the laptop; any advice on where to look for it?

Any other advice in general? I have the option of installing Outlook,
I've
just put it off because my wife actually likes the simplified interface of
OE, since she doesn't use most of the Outlook functions.

Thanks,
Rich

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Ans 1: Yes. Turn it off for all A/V programs.
Ans 2: Is it just a marketing ploy? Yes.

Save images in JPG or GIF format. Bitmap is extremely large.

If you get an error message when you try to send, please post it in its
entirety.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

So here's the final result: we can now send embedded images in an HTML
e-mail. But apparently the problem was NOT due to e-mail scanning in
PC-cillin. It appears that PC-cillin's "spam filter" add-in was the culprit.

I clicked the button in PC-cillin labeled "Remove Anti-spam for Outlook
Express" and attempted to insert a picture into an e-mail. The dialogs
opened and worked as they should, instead of freezing up. Then, just as a
test, I went back into PC-cillin and turned incoming e-mail scanning back on,
and then tried to send an image in an e-mail again. It worked again, which
surprised me. Then I went back into PC-cillin and turned outgoing e-mail
scanning back on, and again, I was able to send a message with an embedded
image. So apparently it was the anti-spam function, and not e-mail scanning,
that was the problem. I haven't done a test after a reboot; I don't expect
the result to be different, since I applied the changes in PC-cillin and they
seemed to take, but if the result IS different I'll post back.

Too bad. Since Outlook Express doesn't come with a junk e-mail folder like
Outlook does, the PC-cillin tool was helpful. My wife's going to try it out
and see which is more inconvenient: deleting 50 spam messages a day, or not
being able to embed images in e-mails.

I'm still a bit perturbed about the fact that all of the anti-virus software
programs include e-mail scanning, which apparently causes problems with at
least one e-mail client, when it's not really necessary. I've looked into
PC-cillin, and indeed, "real-time scanning" is checked, so it wouldn't appear
that I'm at risk if an infected e-mail attachment gets through, because
(presumably) it will warn me about the virus if I try to open or save the
file. Damn marketing.

Thanks again for the assistance!

Rich


"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Motive Bridge would be in Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs.

Tools | Options | Send | HTML Settings - Send pictures with messages must be
checked.

The default (Main) identity may be damaged. It is extremely vulnerable to
corruption. So much so that many people create a new named identity for
general use as soon as they get a new computer online.

File | Identity | Add New Identity. Create a new one and test it. If all is
well, you can import your messages from the old identity and delete it.

How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169

You can temporarily disable PC-cillin also, just to eliminate it as the
problem.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.

K9 and SpamPal are supposed to be good programs that work well with OE. You
might want to try one of them.

Is *filtering in* your messages feasible for you? Have a look at these links
and especially Rule #4 at the first link.

Some Message Rule Ideas:
http://www.mindspring.com/~majik/messagerules.htm

Some tips:
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/tips/rules.htm

Message Rules not working?:
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/faqs/why.htm#rules
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"rmiller1985" rmiller1985atearthlinkdotnet wrote in message
...
So here's the final result: we can now send embedded images in an HTML
e-mail. But apparently the problem was NOT due to e-mail scanning in
PC-cillin. It appears that PC-cillin's "spam filter" add-in was the
culprit.

I clicked the button in PC-cillin labeled "Remove Anti-spam for Outlook
Express" and attempted to insert a picture into an e-mail. The dialogs
opened and worked as they should, instead of freezing up. Then, just as a
test, I went back into PC-cillin and turned incoming e-mail scanning back
on,
and then tried to send an image in an e-mail again. It worked again,
which
surprised me. Then I went back into PC-cillin and turned outgoing e-mail
scanning back on, and again, I was able to send a message with an embedded
image. So apparently it was the anti-spam function, and not e-mail
scanning,
that was the problem. I haven't done a test after a reboot; I don't
expect
the result to be different, since I applied the changes in PC-cillin and
they
seemed to take, but if the result IS different I'll post back.

Too bad. Since Outlook Express doesn't come with a junk e-mail folder
like
Outlook does, the PC-cillin tool was helpful. My wife's going to try it
out
and see which is more inconvenient: deleting 50 spam messages a day, or
not
being able to embed images in e-mails.

I'm still a bit perturbed about the fact that all of the anti-virus
software
programs include e-mail scanning, which apparently causes problems with at
least one e-mail client, when it's not really necessary. I've looked into
PC-cillin, and indeed, "real-time scanning" is checked, so it wouldn't
appear
that I'm at risk if an infected e-mail attachment gets through, because
(presumably) it will warn me about the virus if I try to open or save the
file. Damn marketing.

Thanks again for the assistance!

Rich


"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Motive Bridge would be in Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs.

Tools | Options | Send | HTML Settings - Send pictures with messages must
be
checked.

The default (Main) identity may be damaged. It is extremely vulnerable to
corruption. So much so that many people create a new named identity for
general use as soon as they get a new computer online.

File | Identity | Add New Identity. Create a new one and test it. If all
is
well, you can import your messages from the old identity and delete it.

How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169

You can temporarily disable PC-cillin also, just to eliminate it as the
problem.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~