Microsoft KB Archive/265230

= OLEXP: Messages That Start with the Word &quot;begin&quot; Are Received as a Blank Attachments =

PSS ID Number: 265230

Article Last Modified on 9/24/2004

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows 98 Second Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 for Windows 98 Second Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Windows 98 Second Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows 98
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 for Windows 98
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Windows 98
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows 95
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 for Windows 95
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Windows 95

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This article was previously published under Q265230



For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook 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
When you use Outlook Express, you may receive a message in which the text is incorrectly interpreted as an attachment that does not have any data.



CAUSE
The body of the message starts with the word &quot;begin&quot; followed by two spaces. This sequence of characters is identical to that of the header for a file attachment that is encoded in UUencode format. For this reason, the message is incorrectly interpreted as an encoded attachment.

This problem only occurs in messages that you receive in plain text format.

This problem also occurs in Microsoft Outlook 2000.



WORKAROUND
To workaround this problem:
 * Do not start messages with the word &quot;begin&quot; followed by two spaces.
 * Use only one space between the word &quot;begin&quot; and the following data.
 * Capitalize the word &quot;begin&quot; so that it is reads &quot;Begin.&quot;
 * Use a different word such as &quot;start&quot; or &quot;commence.&quot;



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
In a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) e-mail message, a file attachment that is encoded in UUencode format is defined when the word &quot;begin&quot; is followed by two spaces and then some data, and the word &quot;end&quot; appears on a line by itself. In cases where there is no &quot;end&quot; on a line by itself, the &quot;begin&quot; statement should be treated as normal text. However, Outlook interprets the following sequence

begin

as a file attachment that is encoded in UUencode format, even if there is no matching &quot;end&quot; statement to define the end of the attachment data.

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB265230

Technology: kbOutlookExpress500Win95 kbOutlookExpress500Win98 kbOutlookExpress500Win98SE kbOutlookExpress501Win95 kbOutlookExpress501Win98 kbOutlookExpress501Win98SE kbOutlookExpress550Win95 kbOutlookExpress550Win98 kbOutlookExpress550Win98SE kbOutlookExpress95Search kbOutlookExpress98Search kbOutlookExpressSearch

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