Where are my email attachemnts?

[fizzyblue]

I recently upgraded to Mailwasher Pro 2010 and was using the very old 1.33 version. I email work back and forth, usually excel files - but now my emails from work are missing the attachments. After opening up up Mailwasher Pro 2010, it then checks and lists all the mail including mail I have sent myself from work. But there are no attached files. The email list shows the paperclip but where is the attachment? Am I doing something wrong? I cannot see anything about this in the Help.

I have tried forwarding the email with the paperclip to myself from within Mailwasher but the emails are arriving in my inbox without the attachments. How can I ensure the attached files I am sending myself can arrive?

[Sidewinder]

I recently upgraded to Mailwasher Pro 2010 and was using the very old 1.33 version. I email work back and forth, usually excel files - but now my emails from work are missing the attachments. After opening up up Mailwasher Pro 2010, it then checks and lists all the mail including mail I have sent myself from work. But there are no attached files. The email list shows the paperclip but where is the attachment? Am I doing something wrong? I cannot see anything about this in the Help.

I have tried forwarding the email with the paperclip to myself from within Mailwasher but the emails are arriving in my inbox without the attachments. How can I ensure the attached files I am sending myself can arrive?

First, let me explain that all messages reside on the mail server, including attachments. MWP is not a full email application like Outlook, Thunderbird, etc. MWP downloads only a portion of each message to do the evaluation(s) against the tool set. The size of the message fragment is determined by the Spam Throttle e.g. number of lines. Through testing by several of us beta testers we think that 100 lines is about the minimum size, 200 lines provides better detection of messages with attachments and if you must always be able to restore any deleted message from the recycle bin then you would need to go to the maximum setting of 999.
Any messages that you deem are unwanted or spam etc. are then marked for deletion from the server when you manually Wash the mail. All other messages remain on the server ready to be downloaded into your email application. The preview pane or pop out are text only and do not display the content of attachments.

[fizzyblue]

Thanks for your reply. I have downloaded the relevant emails but they have arrived minus the attachments.

Having opened up Mailwasher after downloading my email and clicking Check Mail - it still lists the emails plus attachments. How do I get my attachments?

[Sidewinder]

Thanks for your reply. I have downloaded the relevant emails but they have arrived minus the attachments.

Having opened up Mailwasher after downloading my email and clicking Check Mail - it still lists the emails plus attachments. How do I get my attachments?

It is most likely either your email application or your security software blocking message attachements. It's not MWP. If you indicate which email application and security software you are using there may be help available.

[fizzyblue]

I've been using the very old free version of MW 133 for years with no problems at all. (I have only upgraded as it will no longer work on my computer since SP 3 was installed for Windows XP.)

I upgraded a few days ago to the paid version of MW Pro 2010 - and nothing else has changed or been changed in terms of any of my security settings or anything at all. From years of trouble free use I have gone almost overnight to not being able to receive emails with attachements that I have sent to myself.

I am using Outlook Express, and running Mcaffee but have not changed any settings. I am also puzzled by why MW still lists mail as being on the server AFTER I have downloaded it - the old version never did - and also why my file attachments have vanished.

[Sidewinder]

I've been using the very old free version of MW 133 for years with no problems at all. (I have only upgraded as it will no longer work on my computer since SP 3 was installed for Windows XP.)

I upgraded a few days ago to the paid version of MW Pro 2010 - and nothing else has changed or been changed in terms of any of my security settings or anything at all. From years of trouble free use I have gone almost overnight to not being able to receive emails with attachements that I have sent to myself.

I am using Outlook Express, and running Mcaffee but have not changed any settings. I am also puzzled by why MW still lists mail as being on the server AFTER I have downloaded it - the old version never did - and also why my file attachments have vanished.

Open OE, and go to Tools, Options, Security and see if the attachment box is checked to stop them.

[Sidewinder]

Also check the log from Mcaffee to see if they indicate that they have blocked an unsafe attachment.

[Sidewinder]

More info on OE6 Security here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291387

[stan_qaz]

I upgraded a few days ago to the paid version of MW Pro 2010 - and nothing else has changed or been changed in terms of any of my security settings or anything at all. From years of trouble free use I have gone almost overnight to not being able to receive emails with attachements that I have sent to myself.

Just to make sure this is clear, MW can take only one of two options with a message - it can delete it or leave it on the server. There is no way for MW to remove an attachment or make any other alteration to a message.

The inability to alter the message is not a MW limitation, rather it is one of the POP or IMAP protocols that MW uses to talk to your server, you can read the RFCs for the exact details but bottom line is modifications to messages are not allowed.

[mcullet]

I've been using the very old free version of MW 133 for years with no problems at all. (I have only upgraded as it will no longer work on my computer since SP 3 was installed for Windows XP.)

I upgraded a few days ago to the paid version of MW Pro 2010 - and nothing else has changed or been changed in terms of any of my security settings or anything at all. From years of trouble free use I have gone almost overnight to not being able to receive emails with attachments that I have sent to myself.

I am using Outlook Express, and running Mcaffee but have not changed any settings. I am also puzzled by why MW still lists mail as being on the server AFTER I have downloaded it - the old version never did - and also why my file attachments have vanished.

Hi Fizzyblue, I sometimes need to be reminded that the rest of the world are not geeks So - thanks for that. And I'm amazed that you have been using such an early version of MW (free) for so long - that has to be some sort of record.

I've noted comments / advice put to you by Sidewinder and Stan_qaz - excellent and accurate stuff so will try to not stray across their comments.

You've provided excellent info to help us help you - not everyone does - so thanks heaps for that. XP - SP3, OE and mcafee, problem ('missing attachments?" occurs even when you send yourself emails from work, moved from MW (free 1.33) and paid to upgrade to MW2010. Once again, thank you for paying to use this new version of the product. Despite how things appear for you - this version is really brilliant.

I've tried to replicate your issue as best I can.

I tested out the MWP2010 forward email. It correctly called up OUTLOOK 2007 and created a new email. From within this new Outlook 2007 message I added an attachment (a small image file) and then sent it to myself. In my case, I have Outlook configured so that I must deliberately click 'send messages'. I then clicked the MWP2010 "Check Mail" button and there was my email, and the attachment was noted under the paperclip column. I looked at the source code - correct email and could see the attached image file (although it appears as hex code - which is normal). In short - worked perfectly.

(Sidenote: Word 2007 did crash once while I was looking for an image file to attach but it's crashed on occasion. I doubt this has anything to do with MWP2010 but will play around a bit just to be certain.)

Where are your attachments? If you correctly sent an email with an attachment then it will appear in MWP2010. I don't have (nor will I ever use) Mcafee (whole other topic issue) but doubt it looks at your email server to perform it's job. (If I'm mistaken here - please correct me folks.) Generally AV (anti-virus) products like McAfee or NIS (Norton Internet Security) scan emails during the process of downloading into your email client (OE or Thunderbiurd etc). This didn't happen so we have to look for other possible causes. Your workplace (where you sent yourself the email) probably has some sort of security in place - firewalls, AV, email scanning and so on. If the attachment was red-flagged by your workplace email system (and there are plenty of possible reasons for this) then it might have been deliberately removed before sending. I can see quite legitimate reasons for a workplace doing this with files like a spreadsheet or graphic etc - nothing sinister - and in a general sense, this is considered reasonable / good business practice.

So let's look at your workplace. Your PC might be infected and so too might your workplace network. There are gazillions of malware (viruses, trojans etc) that wreak havoc on PC's networks. Some are triggered by date, day, user ... etc. All cause significant harm and often infect image files, documents (like a spreadsheet) and target / disable whatever security software is found. That is not something we can do anything about - but it's something you (anyone) should consider when confronted by symptoms that you describe. I'll come back to this later.

Assuming that you correctly sent yourself an email with an attachment - are you able to see your emails on your workplace mail server or their ISP's mail server? Generally speaking I doubt a workplace would allow employees access to this feature but ... won't know until you try. The same goes for your workplace ISP - security. BUT .... if you can see your emails, look and see if it contains the attachment. If it's not there then maybe you did not attach it properly, or were prevented by your workplace group policies from being able to do so or ... lots of reasons.

Try sending yourself an email with an attachment from a friends PC - must be someone not connected with your work and on a bog basic ISP (internet service provider). Pick a safe text file (tends to cause less grief). See if that shows on MWP2010. If it does - then you have isolated where the 'problem' occurs to your workplace.

Sadly, despite advances in AV software and (OS) operating system security, old viruses and trojans still keep on causing trouble. There are lots of reasons - the infected file might have been stored within a ZIP file or other archive on an old backup CD or tape. Depending on age - it may not have come to the attention of AV software yet (or then). This has happened to me - years ago I archived a heap of really old files into a ZIP and then put them onto a CD. Some included old emails. Years later when I opened up an old email, I triggered the malware and it screwed up all of the image files on my system. I was using ZAPRO (Zonealarm Pro) at the time - and that was the reason I moved to the far more effective NIS (Norton Internet Security).

You might need to chat with your workplace IT team to ensure (a) the system and network is really free of malware and (b) if there are any policies that prevent you from sending certain attachments via email.

But like the others have already said, your problem, as described, has nothing to do with MWP2010. I tried to walk through the issue because you *might* have a serious problem elsewhere and what you saw was a symptom - not a cause. And I recommend you do follow this up with your workplace IT folk as a matter of urgency - maybe it's nothing, maybe your system has been compromised. But if you don't look then you won't know and that is never a good thing.

I tested out the MWP2010 forward email. It correctly called up OUTLOOK 2007 and created a new email. From within this new Outlook 2007 message I added an attachment (a small image file) and then sent it to myself. In my case, I have Outlook configured so that I must deliberately click 'send messages'. I then clicked the MWP2010 "Check Mail" button and there was my email, and the attachment was noted under the paperclip column. I looked at the source code - correct email and could see the attached image file (although it appears as hex code - which is normal). In short - worked perfectly.

(Sidenote: Word 2007 did crash once while I was looking for an image file to attach but it's crashed on occasion. I doubt this has anything to do with MWP2010 but will play around a bit just to be certain.)

EDIT - removed unnecessary quoted text.

[Sidewinder]

Just for the sake of clarity.
If MWP displays a msg fragment for one of the messages that you are referring to and the attachment indicator in MWP is being shown then the message is setting on your mail server with the attachment.

When you then have Outlook Express download the message from the mail server either OE Security is blocking the attachment or Mcaffee or other security software is preventing the attachment from being accessed or displayed.

If the message remains on the server and MWP2010 does the next fetch it will again display the same msg and content as before. If this is happening then OE is configured to leave a copy of the message on the server rather than deleting it.

Since you did not indicate the time frame when you did the UG to XP SP3 MS may have altered the setting for you to a known "safe" condition. That or some of the many security updates that MS has been doing lately might have been involved. Also did you update your browser to IE8?