Microsoft KB Archive/268548

= OLEXP: Outlook Express and MIME Encoded Messages =

Article ID: 268548

Article Last Modified on 1/27/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2

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This article was previously published under Q268548



For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257824 OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express



SYMPTOMS
Outlook Express can receive e-mail messages in the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), uuencode, or BinHex formats. Periodically, e-mail messages may not be displayed correctly in Outlook Express when you receive them.



CAUSE
This issue can occur for various reasons, which are often contingent upon the way that various e-mail servers have handled the mail messages.



MORE INFORMATION
The following is an example of a MIME-encoded message that is not correctly displayed when you receive it:

Received: by johndoe.mydomain.test.com id <01BEB6A2.7127CDC6@JESEOGP42.mydomain.test.com>; Mon, 14 Jun 1999 13:14:01 -0700 From: &quot;Test1142&quot;  To: &quot;Test1142&quot;  Subject: Main Sub Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 13:14:01 -0700 Message-ID: <18587AAA767AF84DA994C2D60D9F25DD083B@johndoe.mydomain.test.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=&quot;=_NextPart_000_0000_01BEB668.130B3C30&quot; content-class: urn:content-classes:message/mail X-MS-Has-Attach: yes X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2918.600 X-Foo: top

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--=_NextPart_000_0000_01BEB668.130B3C30 Content-Type: text/html; charset=&quot;iso-8859-1&quot; Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN&quot;>     Main Sub   <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D&quot;Arial&quot;>Main Body<FONT FACE=3D&quot;Arial&quot; SIZE=3D2 = COLOR=3D&quot;#000000&quot;> <<Emb>> </FONT></FONT> </P> </BODY> </HTML>

--=_NextPart_000_0000_01BEB668.130B3C30 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment From: &quot;Test1142&quot; <Test1142@mydomain.test.com> To: &quot;Test1142&quot; <Test1142@mydomain.test.com> Subject: Emb Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 13:12:01 -0700 Message-ID: <18587AAA767AF84DA994C2D60D9F25DD083A@johndoe@mydomain.test.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset=&quot;iso-8859-1&quot; Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable content-class: urn:content-classes:message/mail X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2918.600 X-Foo: level1 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN&quot;> <HTML>  <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D&quot;Content-Type&quot; CONTENT=3D&quot;text/html; = charset=3DISO-8859-1&quot;> <META NAME=3D&quot;Generator&quot; CONTENT=3D&quot;MS Exchange Server version = 6.0.3915.0&quot;> Emb</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D&quot;Arial&quot;>Body</FONT> </P> </BODY> </HTML>

If you receive an e-mail message that is similar to the preceding example, the cause can vary depending on the way that your e-mail server, the sender's e-mail server, or the transport between the two servers has handled the message.

A number of programs that decode MIME, BinHex, and uuencode messages are available. Some of these programs are:
 * Fastcode32
 * Wincode
 * Winzip

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Keywords: kbprb KB268548

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