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Email generates unwanted attachment copy of itself


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#1
Tom Kelley

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My outgoing emails generate automatically an unwanted attachment containing the email message itself. How I found out is that I sent an email to myself.
Some incoming emails have the same thing. Does my computer generates them?

I found this out just recently. What did I do wrong to create it?

I ran spyware and virus checks (2) and my computer is clean. I also have Avast virus protection and Spy sweeper for other nuisances.

How can I get rid of this unwanted attachments?
Thank you for any advaice in advance.
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#2
piper

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Hi Tom Kelley. Welcome to Geeks to Go!

See this link for how to change the setting in Outlook.

If you don't use Outlook, please let me know which email client you use.
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#3
Tom Kelley

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Hi Tom Kelley. Welcome to Geeks to Go!

See this link for how to change the setting in Outlook.

If you don't use Outlook, please let me know which email client you use.


Hi Linda;
Your comment is not applicable. It deals with how to attach a folder to the email.

My problem is that when I create an email (even to myself), it automatically generates an unwanted a copy of itself as an attachment to the email. What can it cause this? - and How can I get rid of it?
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#4
piper

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No, Tom Kelley, the link I provided explains how to set Outlook to attach the original message as an attachment whenever you forward or reply.

Please confirm that all previous responses do appear in the body of an email you forward or reply to, as well as having the original message attached.

Does this happen with new outgoing messages as well?

What email client do you use?

Edited by LindaGail, 25 April 2007 - 02:53 PM.

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#5
Tom Kelley

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Hi Linda:
Thanks for trying to help me. Unfortunately, somehow we are talking to different things. I do know how to attach the email, I reply to, to my reply, which is covered the link you gave me. No problem there. By the way, I almost never use it. My emails are mostly not business hence, people remember what they wrote to me.

Here is my problem: Let's say, I send an email to myself. It is an original, not a reply to anything. When I click the SENT button, it sends it, but automatically creates a copy of it and attaches to the email as an attachment. I already see it in the SENT folder. When arrives to me (in a few minutes) there it is, the attachment, which is nothing but a copy of the email. -- It is annoying to people to receive an email with an attachment identical to the email.

So, what causes it. It just started some time ago. For over ten years (on several computers) I did not have this problem.
Thank you again for your help. Sincerely, Tom.
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#6
Tom Kelley

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Hi Linda:

Sorry, I forgot to let you know that I use Outlook Express, 6.

Tom
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#7
piper

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Thanks for the clarification of both the issue and your email client. It caused me to search a little differently for a possible solution.

1. What AV do you have? I've found some evidence of AVG in particular causing this kind of problem when a setting called "Certify Outgoing Mail" is enabled. If you have AVG, please check into this. It's possible that other AV software has some similar type of setting, so please check your AV documentation carefully. You might temporarily disable your AV for outgoing mail scanning, just to confirm whether or not it's part of the problem.

2. Another question: can you think of anything at all you did with/to/for/on your system just prior to this problem? Did you install/uninstall/update any kind of software.
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#8
Tom Kelley

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Hi Linda:
Thanks for looking for the mysterious attachment cause.

Sorry for not answering your reply, but my wife is ill, so I spend less time at the computer.

Here are some more details:

1 - Found an email as of april 8, without an attachment
2 - Using Avast AV program - set security: low, sensitivity: low.
3 - never used "certification" or "signature"
4 - do not screen with Avast outgoing mail (if my computer is "clean" then, my outgoing mail should be).
5 - right now, for a test, I stopped screening with Avast the incoming mail too, -but - when I sent an email to myself, merely saying "without Avast" - the outgoing email in the "sent" folder already included the attachment (of the sent email itself) as well as the same incoming mail to myself
6 - I don't recall to change anything since April 8, except maybe, on-line upgrade of the Avast program. - I went through the Avast program - as much as I can - and found nothing which would be suspect.

I am reengaging the Avast AV program screen for incoming mail after I finished this note.

Thanks again. This is the hardest problem I had since I have my PC, for 11 - 12 years.

Once I had the problem of duplicate symbols on the desktop and had to go in the register to fix it, but finally it worked. I really don't know where in the software can this problem be.

Sincerely,

Tom
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#9
piper

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I'm sorry to hear your wife is ill. I hope she's better soon.

Outlook Express isn't my cup of tea, but here's an article on Identities: http://www.smartcomp...r...&emid=97308. I think it would be worth it to set up a new identity in Outlook Express and see if the problem still exists.

I think I'd uninstall AVG altogether and see if you can send email without that pesky attachment.

One other thing to try: sign in with a different Windows User Account, configure Outlook Express and see if it acts the same way. If you use the Welcome Screen, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open the classic Windows Log-In Shell. Here you can type in Administrator as the user and put in its password. You could add another user account easily, just for testing purposes. Be sure to put it in the Administrator Security Group.
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#10
Tom Kelley

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Thank you Linda:

I'll try your suggestions and see what happens.

Will let you know as soon as the problem is gone.

Sincerely,

Tom
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