Microsoft KB Archive/312342

= You receive an open failure error message when you open an attachment in Outlook =

Article ID: 312342

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 98 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0

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This article was previously published under Q312342



SYMPTOMS
When you open an attachment in Outlook, you may receive the following error message:

The file  does not have a program associated with it for this action. To create an association, double-click My Computer on your desktop. On the View menu, click Options, and then click File Types.



CAUSE
This behavior can occur if the file attachment does not have a file name extension that is registered with a program on your computer. This behavior can also occur if the file attachment does not have any file name extension. For example, if you save a Notepad file without the .txt extension, the file name has no association to the Notepad program when the file is received as an e-mail attachment.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, associate a file type with the file:
 * 1) Right-click the attachment, and then click Open.
 * 2) Click Save it to disk, and then click OK.
 * 3) Click the desktop icon, and then click Save.
 * 4) Right-click the file, and then click Open With.
 * 5) Click the program that you want to associate the file with, and then click OK.

Additional query words: OL2K ol2002 ol2003 ol2007

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb kbconfig kbopenfile kbattachments KB312342

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