Opening and Editing Attachments from Windows Mail or Outlook Express
If you double-click an attachment in Windows Mail or Outlook Express, it opens (as long as the file is deemed save or you have enabled all attachments and Windows know how to handle the file).
You can view the file, and — if it's a word processor document, for example — you can edit it. You can even save it. But woe is those who save changes they made and then expect these changes to be reflected in the copy of the file stored in the email. When you open the attachment again from Windows Mail or Outlook Express, the changes are gone!
Fortunately, they may not be gone forever. When you open an attachment directly from Windows Mail or Outlook Express, it creates a temporary copy of the file and then calls for the associated program to open that copy.
Always Save Attachments Before Opening Them
So, to avoid any problems with lost editing:
- Always save attachments to a Windows folder.
- Open the copy in the folder for editing in the appropriate program.
Where Attachments Opened from Windows Mail or Outlook Express are Stored
Should you ever forget to do that, you can try recovering the file:
- Select Control Panel from the Start menu.
- Open Internet Options.
- If you cannot see Internet Options, try clicking Classic View.
- Go to the General tab.
- Click Settings under Temporary Internet files.
- Now click View Files... under Temporary Internet files folder.
- Look for the edited copy of the attachment in
- the Temporary Internet Files folder,
- the Content.IE5 sub-folder or
- a folder beneath the Content.IE5 folder.
