Unable To Open Pdf In Email Attachment

[bapak]

Using Win 7.. When receiving an email with a pdf attachment, I am unable to open the pdf.

Get message "Unable to open file.... " (see attachment). So I go into Control Panel/Programs to check and pdf is already there and associated with Adobe Reader. If I save the pdf and then click on it, it opens ok.

This is a recent occurence. Until several days ago, could open from the email attachment. Only recent change to computer is MS overnight upgrade.

[JohanV]

To determine if the problem is in your email program's settings or in Windows itself,

do the following test:

# Put a copy any PDF file on your desktop - not a shortcut, but a real file.

# Then double-click it and see if it opens or not.

If it opens, the Windows shell is probably properly configured and the problem would then be somewhere in your email settings

like how to handle attachments or MIME-types or similar..

If it doesn't open and you get the same error message as you describe, then your email settings are OK and the problem lies

in the Windows shell itself.

Then, post the result here for further advice..

[garyh]

pretty sure it is a security thing, look through your options.

[bapak]

To determine if the problem is in your email program's settings or in Windows itself,

do the following test:

# Put a copy any PDF file on your desktop - not a shortcut, but a real file.

# Then double-click it and see if it opens or not.

If it opens, the Windows shell is probably properly configured and the problem would then be somewhere in your email settings

like how to handle attachments or MIME-types or similar..

If it doesn't open and you get the same error message as you describe, then your email settings are OK and the problem lies

in the Windows shell itself.

Then, post the result here for further advice..

pdf opens ok on desktop..

Have checked thru email settings (Windows Mail) and settings appear ok.

[JohanV]

OK.

That means that your problem is in the settings of your email program - garyh might be right when he says there might be a security setting

preventing certain file types from opening - if so, you should be able to dig deep in your settings / help files to find the place where you can

set that manually.

Also, you said the only difference was an MS Win7 auto-update. This could of course affect your settings, it might have reset some to default values etc.

I think, however, that you probably have the Adobe update service running in the background - as it is a default install when you install the reader -

which means that your PDF reader itself might have been updated without you knowing it.

This could lead to security problems if - for example - an application has 'verified' the "reader.exe" file from the last update and it has now been

replaced. Accessing it by name/path - as the Windows shell does - would then be exactly as before, but if the checksum or file size etc. are

verified at opening then the program attempting to open your reader would react as the .exe file would have changed.

Also, it could be an issue with your anti-virus program - as it might act as a filter between your email program and the OS.

Thus, again, verifying .exe files etc.

This is where I would start looking if I were you.

However, I'm not a Win7 user so I leave to others to go into details.

Also, you haven't said what emailprogram you are using, and - if so - what antivirus program you have installed.

You can always google "PDF attachment doesnt open in <your email program>" + "Windows 7" or similar to see if you can find

some answers on the web.

Anyway, good luck - and maybe some other TV posters can help you if you post more specific details.

Cheers

[garyh]

I was assuming you are using MS Outlook, if you are preview of attachments is disabled by default.

[bapak]

Using Windows Mail

[bapak]

Went thru the various solutions above but to no avail... even uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe Reader 9.3..

Google search produced the following... and it now works ok. Thanks for the help.

1. Download and save the attachment on the desktop.

2. Right click on the saved file.

3. Select: Open With from the pop-up menu.

4. Click: Choose [default] Program.

5. Select: Adobe Reader.

6. Check: Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.

7. Click OK.

[JohanV]

Which actually points to an issue with the Adobe reader update service.

I've had that in XP as well - and for me it was like this:

# Windows has two ways of registering applications that opens certain file types:

One is by path/file name [ i.e. My Program Files/Adobe/Reader/reader.exe ]

One is by "application alias" which is registered elsewhere - meaning that the "alias name" Adobe Reader

points to a certain file [ i.e. My Program Files/Adobe/Reader/reader.exe ]

As long as both of these registers are the same all is well..

# The email program ( or whatever application involved ) picks the data from - let's say, the "alias" register.

Since nothing has changed, all works well when opening attachments.

# Now, Adobe updates it's reader to a new version

i.e. My Program Files/Adobe/Reader9/reader.exe ( which is a different .exe file, please note that )

and updates the "regular" path/name info to use the new exe to open PDF files.

It also eventually updates the "alias" info, but it doesn't tell the system properly that something has been changed

# Since the system has no message saying that anything is changed, your email application does not update its

now useless old "alias" path, which is why you can't open the attachments anymore.

Note that the desktop double-clicking works as this uses a direct check with the path/file register entry,

whereas your email program either saves a copy of that info itself, or uses the "alias" method instead..

# By re-registering the application as the default choice for PDF's - which you just did -

you refresh Windows registers and ( correctly, this time ) a message is issued that the default app path has changed

( which wasn't done when Adobe updated it )

# As you open your email program, the program is informed that the path has changed, and it updates it's

information to the new path

# Voila! You can now open your attachments again...

A way to prevent this issue from happening again would be to open the Adobe Update agent ( on the taskbar, I think )

and change the settings to prevent automatic updates.

I mean, how many of the LATEST functions in Adobe Reader do you need/use anyway ??

All you want to do is just read a simple PDF, after all.

If you want to update the Reader, do it manually.. and after doing that, do exactly what you just did, every time.

Congratulations and enjoy your PDF's

Cheers