makalunga,

To open most attachments in OE, open OE and go to Tools|Options|Security tab and uncheck "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus." Make sure you are running an antivirus program before you uncheck that item.

For PowerPoint files, you can download a viewer from here. If you have the problem of selecting a program to open other attachments post the extension of the attachment for specific help. It may be that the associations within your computer for some file types have become corrupted.

If you are unable to open links from emails, the procedure here may be helpful.

If you check the " Email me if someone replies to this" box at the bottom of your post in the Dell Forum you will be notified automatically of a reply.

Thank you Dennis Denham.  I'll try your suggestions. I did not know ther was just a viewer for Power Point.   Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean with OE?  Where do you go to find it? and when you mention to "post the extension of the attachment for specif help"..do you mean post it here in the forum or in some other place? As you can see, I really need help.

OE=Outlook Express. (Start--All programs--Outlook express)

Yes, post the extension of the attachment.

(Sometimes, pics are not visible to me, because OE renames them

"picture.tmp"

So when I rename them "picture.jpg" they appear.)

Repost when you have the info.

Thanks to all that are responding to my "cry for help".  I guess I have to learned a lot about files and what "extensions" and  "pick" mean and how each file should be labeled.  Is there any web site with this information?

Still, I find this feature of Window XP to open files quite a nuisance.and one I did not have with Windows 98  Are there other people our there having the same problem as I am?

makalunga,

The association of file types with applications is exactly the same in Windows XP as it is in Windows 98. All commonly used files have a default association which, if corrupted, will cause problems. For example, graphics files with the extensions .gif and .jpg will open in Internet Explorer by default. Bitmap graphics (extension .bmp) will open in Microsoft Paint.

If you have a file of unknown type you can usually determine what program can open it by learning what program created it, and a listing of this is available here.

To create an association, right-click on the file in Windows Explorer and select "Open with" from the context menu. On the dialog that opens click the "Choose program" link at the bottom and on the next dialog which lists all registered applications click to select the application you wish to have associated with that file type then check the box that tells Windows to always use that application to open that file type.