I rec'd an email attachment and when I opened it a window popped up asking me which program to open attachment with. I chose wordpad and open attachment was scrambled. Now all attachments open scrambled in wordpad. How do i change the program to something that will open attachments so I can read them? Thanks

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

You first have to know what the file is, what program created it, in addition to 
the version of program (if something like MS Word) created it and/or what version 
it was saved as, before it was sent to you.  Notepad and Wordpad handle only the 
basic word processor files (such as Office 95 docs) and can not handle many of the 
MS office/word formats since then.

Ask the sender what program, version, and "saved as" version the files were created 
in.  You then have to use a program able to open and read the files correctly if 
Notepad and Wordpad can't do it.

A free app that can handle most doc files is "Open Office" but not sure if newer 
versions work on Win 9X.  I've had problems with it handling some file formats correctly 
and crashing so can't endorse it whole heartedly, but it may work for you if you 
need something to read the files.

Also make sure they aren't compressed.  you would have to decompress them first. 
 What is the file extension?  (3 digit extension after the dot--  Example:  myfile.zip 
)







On Friday, April 11, 2008 at 6:22 pm, Terry wrote:

>I rec'd an email attachment and when I opened it a window popped up asking me which 

>program to open attachment with. I chose wordpad and open attachment was scrambled. 

>Now all attachments open scrambled in wordpad. How do i change the program to something 

>that will open attachments so I can read them?

>Thanks 

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thank you for the follow up. The attachment is a docx. file. Originally when I tried to open it the "open with" window popped up and I chose wordpad so it always opens in wordpad. How can I change it to open in another program. TM


On Friday, April 11, 2008 at 7:15 pm, C K wrote:
>You first have to know what the file is, what program created it, in addition to
>the version of program (if something like MS Word) created it and/or what version
>it was saved as, before it was sent to you. Notepad and Wordpad handle only the
>basic word processor files (such as Office 95 docs) and can not handle many of the
>MS office/word formats since then.
>
>Ask the sender what program, version, and "saved as" version the files were created
>in. You then have to use a program able to open and read the files correctly if
>Notepad and Wordpad can't do it.
>
>A free app that can handle most doc files is "Open Office" but not sure if newer
>versions work on Win 9X. I've had problems with it handling some file formats correctly
>and crashing so can't endorse it whole heartedly, but it may work for you if you
>need something to read the files.
>
>Also make sure they aren't compressed. you would have to decompress them first.
> What is the file extension? (3 digit extension after the dot-- Example: myfile.zip
>)
>
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

|The attachment is a docx. file.
| Terry

Contact the person (Heh--caught myself. I almost said "moron".)
who sent you this.

Tell him to change the default settings in his brand new Micro$oft crapware
so that it saves documents in an old format
--one that can be read BY ANYONE who has Office 95.

In addition, make a point of telling him
how he is alienating people with his current ignorant behavior.

This (OOXML 
thing) is EXACTLY the kind of thing I hate about Microsoft:
They keep moving the goal line so that you are on an endless treadmill
of paying them for needless updates.

OOXML (DOCX, XLSX,...) is another steaming pile from Microsoft.

The glaring lack of technical quality
and the outright corruption associated with it
have made this pseudo-standard a huge black eye for Microsoft. 
cache of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization_of_Office_Open_XML#Investigation_of_Microsoft_by_the_European_Commission

The fact that the corporate media hasn't covered this corrupt process
points to their worthlessness.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

|A free app that can handle most doc files is "Open Office"
|  C K
|
That's http://openoffice.org
(VERY powerful.)

|but not sure if newer versions work on Win 9X.
|
All versions currently available will work under **any** version of Windoze
(as well as Unix and many Unix-like OSes--Linux, BSD, OS X).
More below.

|I've had problems with it handling some file formats correctly...
|
That's odd.  OOo opens more ostensibly M$-compatible document types (versions)
than does M$ Office.
It's been a well-known trick for YEARS
that if you can't get a document to open in M$ Office, try OpenOffice.
It is RARE when that won't open an exemplar of a supported format.

|..and crashing...
|
NOT a commonly reported problem.  Perhaps a reinstall of the app is indicated.

Many people say OOo is slower than M$ Office;
I haven't have noticed a problem with its speed.

|...so can't endorse it whole heartedly...
|
I can--AND I DO.

|...but it may work for you if you need something to read the files.
|
As noted:  It does a BETTER job than ANY version of M$ Office
when trying to open supported M$ file formats.


The current version of OOo is 2.4.
Rumors are that it will be the last version to support W98.

...and UNLIKE M$ PROGRAMS, when a new version of OpenOffice is released,
the old versions **do not** become unavailable from its producers.
Old versions can still be easily acquired and they are still completely FREE.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 is due in September 2008.
It is expected to support OOXML (DOCX, XLSX,...)
(well, as best that poorly-defined "standard" can be decyphered outside Redmond).

OOo v3 is also expected to drop support for Win9x.
Note: If you are planning to move to (FREE) Linux, this is a good year for that;
The upcoming version of Firefox (and SeaMonkey) will also drop Win9x support.

As has been noted here several times before,
software firewall vendors have also been dropping Win9x support.

Note:  Linux ships with a free software firewall
and there is a wide choice of others (still free).
You can even use ancient hardware you have lying around
to run a version of Linux that is built specifically as a firewall implementation.
http://www.livecdlist.com/?pick=All&showonly=firewall

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