IT Queries: Computer problems answered

The last two questions have asked about problems with email formats. We like to keep things simple and use plain text for emails. The problem with that is most people like some sort of formatting and, like Andrew in this query, may need advanced features.

Microsoft Outlook has a number a quirks in this respect and it’s best to turn them off to avoid problems with sending mail.

Open Outlook and click on Tools, then choose Options. In the email options box, choose Mail Format.

Under the Message Format heading, choose HTML in the box next to “Compose in this message format”.

Below that box, there will be tick boxes for using Word to edit email messages. Take the tick box off each box.

Save the changes and restart Outlook.

I have some emails that I saved and now want to read but when I click on them the wrong program opens and all I see is gobbledygook. How do I get my email program to open them?

What’s happened is your computer is associating the wrong program with the files. When Windows tries to open a file, it looks for three letters at the end of the file which are known the file extension.

Windows keeps a list of programs that open with each file extension. For instance, Microsoft Word documents open with doc while Notepad opens files with the txt extension.

For Outlook, the message are saved with an .msg extension, Outlook Express uses .eml

On your computer, the wrong program is associated with one of those file extensions. To change it do the following.

Right-click on one of the files that won’t open, a menu will appear and select “Open With“. Select “choose program” then find the program you want to use for this type of file, tick the box that says “always use this program to open files of this kind of file” and click “Okay”.

If the program isn’t listed, you’ll have to click “browse” and search the hard drive for the program you want. Most programs are kept in the c:\Program Files folder.

Losing file associations is a nuisance and this is why it’s important to read all messages and notes when installing new software or making changes to your computer.