[linbybag]

Could anyone please shed some light on my e-mail problem!?

I am having trouble with AOL Mail where some e-mails do not show images. By this I mean images which are in the text body, not attachments which open with no problem.

The really confusing thing is that my wife is having no problem with this on the same computer.

If she receives a joke e-mail (which I'm sure we all exchange ) that she thinks I may find amusing, she will forward it to me. However, when I open it in my account all I can see is any associated text and a gap where a picture should be. No empty boxes, nothing!

This problem is specific to AOL as any emails received from friends using their various email clients present no problems whatsoever. It is only AOL to AOL on my computer.

I have opened an email account with Yahoo and channeled my AOL through Thunderbird but still no difference!

This is now a variation on an annoying theme because when I was running XP Pro on my old computer I would often get a blank box with a red cross in the corner that I could do nothing with.

I have checked my e-mail settings against my wife's and they are exactly the same. I have been on AOL's e-mail troubleshooting page and worked through the instructions http://help.aol.co.u...816080809990036 but that hasn't helped either!

Could this in any way be to do with the fact that I haven't installed AOL (because of all the garbage that installs with it) but instead choose to access it through Firefox? But that's a stupid question anyway because my wife does exactly the same!

I have refrained from telephoning AOL Helpline (which seems to be based on the Indian sub-continent and any verbal instructions tend to get lost in translation) and decided to ask the experts on here instead.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
Firefox 3.5

This is really annoying and it's got me bamboozled so thank you in advance of any suggestions.

Phil

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Howdy linbybag.


I had a quick search in AOL and found a more intense troubleshooting guide for you to try:

http://help.aol.com/...ternalId=183872


Do each step in order, regardless of whether you have done it before or not. This will help us troubleshoot your problem if it still isn't solved.

[Robin Hood]

Howdy linbybag.


I had a quick search in AOL and found a more intense troubleshooting guide for you to try:

http://help.aol.com/...ternalId=183872


Do each step in order, regardless of whether you have done it before or not. This will help us troubleshoot your problem if it still isn't solved.

[linbybag]

Thanks for your rapid response Mr Hood.

Before I start the lengthy process of elimination could you please confirm that the article is relevant to my problem as it states unable to view images on the internet. Also, please bear in mind that AOL is not installed on my computer.

Sorry to be a bit dense but I thought I'd better ask.

Thanks again

[Robin Hood]

Hey linbybag.

Not a problem.


Just to confirm:

Could this in any way be to do with the fact that I haven't installed AOL (because of all the garbage that installs with it) but instead choose to access it through Firefox? But that's a stupid question anyway because my wife does exactly the same!

AOL is not installed on your computer, correct?

[linbybag]

That is correct sir!

And just to clarify, I have no problems viewing images in any other programme / application other than as stated in my post.

Thank you for your patience

[Robin Hood]

That is correct sir!

And just to clarify, I have no problems viewing images in any other programme / application other than as stated in my post.

Thank you for your patience

You are very welcome.


I would recommend going through the article as one of the steps may just solve the problem. I feel your pain though; that is one lengthy guide.

Let me know if it doesn't work and we will go from there.

[linbybag]

Well that didn't take as long as first anticipated!!

Most of it doesn't apply to W7, IE 8 and the fact that I don't have the AOL software installed.

I await further suggestions.

Thank you again.

[linbybag]

I forget to say there was no difference!!!

[Robin Hood]

Hey linbybag.

No problem.


Give this a go and see if makes a difference:

1. On the AOL Toolbar click Settings
2. Click Mail Settings
3. Uncheck the Hide images & disable links in mail from unknown senders box
4. Click Save

If that doesn't solve the problem, try this:

1. Launch AOL in your browser but do not log in
2. Click Settings > Offline Storage > Graphics Settings
3. Click the Maximum disk space to use for online art drop-down arrow and set the value to its lowest setting
4. Click Save
5. Click the X button in the top right corner of the window
6. Go to AOL Toolbar > File > Exit
7. Launch AOL but again do not sign in
8. Go to Settings > Offline Storage > Graphic Settings
9. Click the Maximum disk space to use for online art drop-down arrow and increase the value to 60 megabytes
10. Click Save
11. Click the X button in the top right corner of the window
12. Sign in to AOL

[linbybag]

Once again I thank you for time and effort with my problem Mr Hood.

Unfortunately, because I do not have the AOL software installed, the second set of instructions you describe are not available to me.

When I sign in to my email account(aol.co.uk home page accessed via google search) there is a settings tab which gives access to the first instructions, ie :

1. On the AOL Toolbar click Settings
2. Click Settings
3. Uncheck the Hide images & disable links in mail from unknown senders box
4. Click Save

This has been unchecked all the time but it makes no difference.

I hope a fix can be found for this but a fix that will not mean having to install the AOL software and its associated garbage.

Excuse me while I SCREAM!!

Thank you once again.

[Robin Hood]

You are very welcome.

Unfortunately, because I do not have the AOL software installed, the second set of instructions you describe are not available to me.

Ah ok. I hadn't realised the online version was different to the installed program. Not to worry.

With the emails you receive that have images in them, is there a link in the email somewhere asking to turn images on or saying that the images are blocked?

[Robin Hood]

Give this a go:

1. Sign on to AOL
2. On the AOL Toolbar, click Settings, then click Preferences
3. Click Internet Properties
4. Click the Web Graphics tab
5. In the Web Graphics section, select Never compress graphics then click OK
6. Click the X in the upper right corner to close the Settings window
7. Click Start, then click Control Panel
8. Click Appearance and Themes

9. Double-click Display
10. Click the Settings tab
11. Click Advanced
12. Click the Troubleshoot tab

13. Lower the Hardware Acceleration by moving the slider one or more notches to the left, then click OK. Moving the Slider all the way to the left will disable Hardware acceleration.
14. Under Color Quality or Colors, select Medium (16 bit), then click OK.

15. Click Yes to accept the changes. If prompted, select Restart the computer with the new color settings then click OK.

Edited by Robin Hood, 22 January 2010 - 01:12 AM.

[linbybag]

Mr Hood.

Ref. post #11 - The answer to that is no. All I get is a blank space the same size as the picture would have been. There is no blank box outline with an un-clickable red cross in the top left corner as used to be the case on my old computer running XP Pro either.

Ref. post #12 - These features are not visible unless the software package is installed. I have downloaded the AOL stand alone toolbar and there are no clickable buttons on there either!!

I am now tempted to install the software package but I have read several posts on various forums where people have the devils own job un-installing it once it's on the system.

There just has to be something simple and stupid that we aren't seeing here. Do you think that this may in some may be to do with IE8 even though I use Firefox as my browser?

It's worth remembering that the problem exists with my wifes AOL to my newly created yahoo mail account and also from my wifes AOL to my AOL in Thunderbird.

I really do despair!!

[Robin Hood]

Hey linbybag.

I do apologise; I understand it must be quite frustrating.

Does it work for your wife in Firefox, IE and Thunderbird?

Edited by Robin Hood, 22 January 2010 - 04:55 AM.

[linbybag]

Well Mr hood, this is the strange thing! The same problem exists for both of us using any combination of FF, TBird and IE8.

As I see it there are two common denominators here.
1. A setting on AOL that I am unable to access without installing the software.
2. A setting in our computer that I am unfamiliar with.

Remember, either of us can receive emails from any number of friends on numerous different ISP's / email clients, and images show, no problem. But when I forward to her, or she forwards to me, blank spaces!!

The only thing that I am unable to verify is whether images would show from someone else with AOL as their email client. Namely because it would seem that only we among our friends and associates are on AOL. What does that tell you about peoples opinions of AOL?

Having said that, we have been with AOL for 7yrs and apart from this recent pain in the a@@e, we have been quite happy with the service provided.

I despair!!