Comp-U-News from Comp-U-Talk

January 2005

There have been questions concerning e-mails with missing pictures. You have probably received some of these. The e-mail text is there but the picture is replaced with by a little red 'X'.

There are two basic ways to send or receive e-mail. The first is plain text. Plain text is just that - No Pictures! Your Outlook Express settings can be adjusted to send in plain text and/or receive in plain text. The second is HTML. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. In English that means: make it pretty - include the pictures.

To check your settings: open Outlook Express. Pull down the Tools Menu and click on Options. Click on the Send tab at the top. In the Mail Sending Section, click the HTML radio button. Now click the HTML Settings button. In this box, verify that a check mark is beside the line that reads: 'Send pictures with message?'. Leave everything else alone and Click OK.

On the tabs at the top: Click on Read. Find the line that says 'Read all messages in plain text'. If it has a check mark, remove it.

On the tabs at the top: Click on Security. Remove the check mark from the box that says "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus". (If you are using XP security pack 2, it will say 'Block images and other external content?' Click on OK.

You should be able to send and receive e-mail with pictures. If you are still having problems receiving pictures, then send a link to this page to your friend and ask them to make the same changes to their Outlook Express settings.

Wishing you a successful and happy New Year

~ Janet