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Unable to open .doc files from hotmail

haley111, on Sep 11, 2008 10:47:19 am BST
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Hello,
I am suddenly unable to open a MSWord document sent to me through hotmail. When I click the link, the file download box appears, but never gets past 'getting file information'. I'm pretty sure I havent added any new programs or changed any settings recently and up til today this has worked fine. HELP!
Thanks in advance

Configuration: Windows Vista
Internet Explorer 7.0

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1

narutolegend, on Sep 11, 2008 2:39:40 pm BST
  • +8

Hey there,

make sure that your firewall or any antivirus you are using isnt blocking access to the mail you are wanting to open

   

4

capecodlady8, on Oct 3, 2008 3:36:54 pm BST
  • +2

I was wondering how to check to see if Norton is suddenly blocking things. We may have had a Norton update that is causing the problem.

Thanks so much~

   

2

haley111, on Sep 11, 2008 5:59:52 pm BST
  • +9

Thanks but that doesnt seem to be the issue. I disabled both for a short period but this didnt help. In the end I have done a system restore which seems to have resolved it....

   

3

capecodlady8, on Oct 3, 2008 3:34:42 pm BST
  • +2

I am also experiencing the exact same problem. This came on suddenly and I do not think anything has changed on my computer. I may have had some auto-updates, but really don't know. It is extremely frustrating as I am not able to open word documents or adobe, pdfs, etc. Photos do seem to be coming through in emails for the most part, but I can't open the attachments. Please help! How do you perform a system restore? I don't want to mess anything up...
Thanks so much!!

   

5

jmp59, on Oct 3, 2008 4:40:22 pm BST
   

6

capecodlady8, on Oct 3, 2008 4:46:12 pm BST

Thank you for the link. I will try that over the weekend to see if it cures the problem. I wish I could figure out what is causing it though. Any ideas?

   

7

jmp59, on Oct 3, 2008 6:13:02 pm BST

Yeah ! "Misteries of Windows". Also called "Bugs".
Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum.

   

8

Capecodlady, on Oct 5, 2008 6:19:26 pm BST

Thanks so much. Still so frustrated. Oh dear...now forwarding my hotmail emails to my yahoo account just to open attachments [and I hate yahoo!]....

Whatever MSN/Hotmail/or whomever did, I do wish they would send an alert as to how to fix. I am finding multiple stories with google search of the exact same issue happening to other hotmail users. I've had my hotmail account since i first went online many years ago. It has been my favorite and is far better than yahoo/aim/aol/ and my cable email account combined. I stick with the old version since the new one stinks, but the old version works just fine.


This computer may be tossed into the yard if I cannot fix this problem soon!! I hate 'bugs'...need an exterminator quickly!!

   

9

kirk748, on Oct 7, 2008 3:57:10 pm BST

I also have the same problem, downloading ANY kind of attachment in Hotmail, using IE. The only work around I have come up with so far, is to use a different browser (Opera in my case), to download the attachments. Then I sign out and go back to IE (it still handles better than with other browsers).

Hope some one finds the cure soon!

   

10

capecodlady8, on Oct 7, 2008 6:24:25 pm BST

It is really annoying, since silly forwarded jokes or movie files open just fine, it's the word documents/pdfs, etc. that will not open. They just hang there, as if they are opening, with the flying envelope, into eternity. I have been forwarding everything to my yahoo account and opening them there. The only other browser I have is AOL and I don't like it, but it's worth a shot to see if it works with that browser.
thanks.

   

11

Jeff, on Oct 12, 2008 2:15:59 am BST
  • +2

It seems that its a windows problem. try using a download manager such as download accelerator plus (dap) it wil take the downloading from windows over and open or save the file for you

   

14

Kirk748, on Oct 20, 2008 8:01:30 pm BST
  • +1

Thanks for the advice. The download accelerator works nicely, and I can download ALL attachments now, without problems.

   

33

sas, on Feb 17, 2009 5:27:16 am GMT
  • +17

Thank you! It resolved the problem!!:)

   

12

xpcman, on Oct 12, 2008 3:48:11 am BST

I had this problem - and found that my "normal.dot" file was corrupted. It's a file that WORD uses to store a profile of your data/computer. When it's corrupted in will not allow you to dbl click to open a file.

Make sure Word is closed.
use windows search to find ALL copies of normal.dot rename them normal.xxx (I think a right click will open a dropdown menu).

Open Word - it will recreate normal.dot (in the background)


Double click open of Word files should then work.

   

13

A, on Oct 16, 2008 4:50:21 pm BST

Hi,

I have this problem too.

I tried your solution but I don't have any normal.dot files when I do a search.

Is this possible?

THks

A

   

15

Dez, on Oct 24, 2008 4:39:23 pm BST
  • +1

Hi,

I have the same problem. Also affects Windows Live Mail and downloading files on Internet Explorer. I've uninstalled recently installed serurity updated, lowered security settings in IE browser, switched off firewall and antivirus programs, all to no avail. I have a work around though:

Run Hotmail on Firefox (or other non MS) browser. I can access all forms of attachments and dowloads using this browser. They don't disappear into the ether as with IE7.

Funny thing I noticed with Windows Live Mail. I can drag and drop the attachment files (from open email to an open documents folder) with no problems and the files are present. Why this works and not the "save as" or "run" options is something only God can answer!!

Hope this helps but it's still a giant pain in the ass!!!

Dez

   

16

Calleva, on Nov 1, 2008 8:55:53 am GMT

I have this problem using Windows XP and IE 7 with BT Yahoo mail. . I use AVG as a security protection. All was OK until about two weeks ago. I have not changed anything that I can think of. Could there me a malicious piece of software going the rounds causing this? Not only are Word files affected but Excel files too. Anything zipped in Win Zip is OK.

What is the best solution to this problem. I am having to forward stuff to my husband's PC to get files printed out!

   

17

Rrchain, on Nov 14, 2008 7:52:49 am GMT

I had the same problem, and yes it is certainly a pain.
I've decided to go with firefox as my browser as it not only solves the problem, but I believe it to be much better than IE.
I've ignored firefox before, but I tried it and now i LOVE IT .

   

18

Shish, on Dec 11, 2008 8:02:18 pm GMT

The funny part is it is only happening on one of my laptop, the second one is opening the .doc or xls files, I think it is something to do with security settings.

I really hope someone can help us in this matter

   

19

capecodlady8, on Dec 11, 2008 8:50:26 pm GMT

I have given up on trying to fix it. It seems to be a Windows Explorer browser problem, and in my case, happens with my Hotmail account. What I have done [which is a pain in the neck], is forwarded all of my attachments to an alternate email account and opened them there, or I just use an AOL browser. Both seem to work that way, but I hate using AOL browser because it 'hangs' forever, whereas my XP does not. Mine happened after an 'update'.
Darn those stupid updates. Now I routinely ignore them [if they are not safety related].

I like the medical model: If it aint broke, don't fix it.

   

20

kirk748, on Dec 12, 2008 1:50:46 pm GMT

Have you tried "Download Accelerator Plus"? (See #11 & 14 above). I received the advice from Jeff, and it seems to work nicely for me. It's a free download at: http://www.speedbit.com/dap/
Of course, they have more powerful updates you can upgrade to, but the free one works great.

I agree with you on the Windows updates. A lot of times they create more problems than they solve.

   

21

smithy, on Dec 19, 2008 1:16:08 am GMT
  • +2

I took a VBS class online. I had an XP Pro laptop and all was well, then I purchased a new laptop with vista I could no longer download from the college site. Then I added the college to the trusted sites and it worked for one day. Now it does not work again. I can download from other sites. I installed FIREFOX and I was able to get my assignments, but after FIREFOX downloaded the scripts it crashed after each one. At least I got them.

What a mess. I also get thet GETTTING FILE INFOMATION and it has no est time or anything. It just hangs.

   

22

Peggy, on Dec 31, 2008 9:34:05 am GMT

Hello,
I am suddenly unable to open a MSWord document sent to me through hotmail. When I click the link, the file download box appears, but never gets past 'getting file information'. I'm pretty sure I havent added any new programs or changed any settings recently and up til today this has worked fine. HELP!
Thanks in advance
Configuration: Windows XP
Internet Explorer

Peggy

   

23

capecodlady, on Jan 1, 2009 3:52:27 pm GMT

Dear Peggy,
As you can see from some of the responses here on the same problem, it is not an easy thing to fix. I've given up after trying every suggestion here and elsewhere. I now forward my Word document attachments to a different email address [aim/yahoo], open and print them there. Interesting that other modes of attachments open just fine in hotmail, like movie files, excel files, photos, and others. It's only the word documents that will not open. Tres annoying....thanks microsoft...
Best of luck,
CCL

   

25

Campbell, on Jan 5, 2009 4:30:26 pm GMT
  • +1

I found that the only solution is to use Firefox browser. That does work.

   

32

UAGLT, on Feb 15, 2009 5:49:52 pm GMT
  • +1

I run XP on three different computers and use Yahoo Classic Mail with Firefox on all of them. On all of them, when I click on an attachment, Yahoo mail scans the attachment for viruses.

On two of the computers a pop-up appears giving the option to open or save the attachment.
However, on one computer, I only have the option to “download” the attachment and it is downloaded to a folder where I can then open it buy clicking on it.

Really weird - the configuration of the three computers is very similar..............

   

24

virusexperts, on Jan 1, 2009 4:05:12 pm GMT
  • +1

How To Manually Remove Trojan?

If you have identified the particular program that is part of the malware, and you want to remove it, please follow these steps.

1. Download and extract the Autoruns program by Sysinternals to C:\Autoruns

2. Reboot into Safe Mode so that the malware is not started when you are doing these steps. Many malware monitor the keys that allow them to start and if they notice they have been removed, will automatically replace that startup key. For this reason booting into safe mode allows us to get past that defense in most cases.

3. Navigate to the C:\Autoruns folder you created in Step 1 and double-click on autoruns.exe.

4. When the program starts, click on the Options menu and enable the following options by clicking on them. This will place a checkmark next to each of these options.

1. Include empty locations

2. Verify Code Signatures

3. Hide Signed Microsoft Entries

more... at http://virusexperts.blogspot.com/

   

26

K.K.Maheshwari, on Jan 7, 2009 9:53:59 am GMT

For last couple of days, I am unable to open word & excel file attachments through my email. I am using MS Office 2007. Secondly, If i want to save that file first and then open, I found the message that cannot be copied from the source file.


Please suggest me the solution. I already removed my antivirus from the system. If I open the same file on another system having another configuration, the file opens there.

   

31

Jordana, on Feb 7, 2009 3:55:53 am GMT
  • +4

Just wanted to say thank you!! The Speedbit accelerator mentioned above fixed the problem, was an easy install and works great.

   
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