After the update Outlook Express 6 SP1
is applied to Win98 to WinXP,
many file attachments, by default, cannot be accessed by the user. There is an
Outlook Express setting:
Tools | Options ... | Security
"Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus"
The application oettachment.exe is a utility designed to provide
convenient access to this Outlook Express configuration setting.
When the utility is started, it checks the CurrentUser registry setting describing
the "Safe Attachments" configuration. If the registry setting is present, and is currently configured
as the default (blocking attachments), the GUI shows a RED lightbulb and relevant text.
The CHANGE button allows the user to toggle between the "allow attachments" and
"block attachments" setting.
If the status is currently "BLOCKING attachments" and the button
is clicked, the "ALLOWING attachments" is set, but for 5 minutes only. A second-counter is
displayed. At the end of the count-down, the setting reverts to "BLOCKING attachments".
Also, when oettachment.exe is exited (with either Exit button, or menu choice or X button), the security
setting again reverts to "BLOCKING attachments". This behaviour encourages the use of the
more secure Save Attachments setting except for temporary use in receiving required attachments.
Note that since Outlook Express caches configuration settings, OE must
be restarted to use the new settings.
If the registry setting is not found, is not accessible, or contains a value that is
not a recognized value (REG_DWORD 0 or 1) a blank lightbulb, with relevant
text is displayed. In this case, a registry named-value IS NOT GENERATED and no
registry data is changed.
[Note: When Outlook Express SP1 is installed, the registry value
may NOT be present by default. In this case, the Outlook Express menu setting must
be manually changed once only to initially generate the registry setting.]
Michel I. Gallant
neutron@istar.ca
Download oeattachment.exe