Vista - zip files of pictures are retrieved as text files

I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
assistance? Thanks you.

/SandyDee/ said:

> I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> assistance?

When files are attached to a mail message they are encoded as
(gibberish) text.

When received, the browser decodes the text - back to its original
format. Depending upon the browser, it may require that the attachment
MIME type be correctly identified - or that the file extension be correct.

Try attaching a .jpg (most common graphic format) file to a message to
yourself. If you receive it as an image, then the problem may lie at
the sender end.

Report your results here, and more help will be offered.

Any chance you use AOL? I had the same problem sending pictures to my
father-in-law. He uses AOL and when I attached more than one picture to an
e-mail (with Yahoo!), they arrived as a zip file and AOL couldn't display the
contents as pictures. When I sent one picture per e-mail, they arrived just
fine.

"SandyDee" wrote:

> I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> assistance? Thanks you.

Downloading and applying the .zip file association fix from here helps.

File association fixes for Windows Vista:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1D4DE16F-61E1-4E80-A991-DAF5E5C1F4F4@microsoft.com...
I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
assistance? Thanks you.

Dev, I did try your suggestion and I sent 4 pictures (they were jpg. files)
to myself and they opened just fine. Any suggestion on how to fix the pics I
received from family members. I used to receive pictures from them all the
time before I had VISTA and I never had a problem opening them. I asked my
neice if she had sent them differently this time and she said she wasn't. Any
suggestions?

"dev" wrote:

> /SandyDee/ said:
>
> > I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> > them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> > the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> > explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> > wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> > open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> > assistance?
>
> When files are attached to a mail message they are encoded as
> (gibberish) text.
>
> When received, the browser decodes the text - back to its original
> format. Depending upon the browser, it may require that the attachment
> MIME type be correctly identified - or that the file extension be correct.
>
> Try attaching a .jpg (most common graphic format) file to a message to
> yourself. If you receive it as an image, then the problem may lie at
> the sender end.
>
> Report your results here, and more help will be offered.
>

PNutt You are correct, I am on AOL, but I have been on AOL for years and
have never had this problem until I got VISTA. Not sure what the difference
is.

"PNutts" wrote:

> Any chance you use AOL? I had the same problem sending pictures to my
> father-in-law. He uses AOL and when I attached more than one picture to an
> e-mail (with Yahoo!), they arrived as a zip file and AOL couldn't display the
> contents as pictures. When I sent one picture per e-mail, they arrived just
> fine.
>
> "SandyDee" wrote:
>
> > I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> > them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> > the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> > explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> > wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> > open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> > assistance? Thanks you.

Ramesh, when I try to download the fix and open the zip file to extact the
reg file it trys to open it with Adobe photo shop but it can't open, it says
it's the wrong kind of file, then when I try to open it with Snapfire I get
the same response. Can you give me better direction? Please and thanks.

"Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:

> Downloading and applying the .zip file association fix from here helps.
>
> File association fixes for Windows Vista:
> http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
> Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>
>
> "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1D4DE16F-61E1-4E80-A991-DAF5E5C1F4F4@microsoft.com...
> I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> assistance? Thanks you.
>

Hi SandyDee,

It appears that the .exe file association in your system is messed up as well. Try this:

Save the .zip file association fix (zipfix_vista.reg) to the Desktop. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) from Start, Search box. In the registry editor, click "File", click "Import", and select the file zipfix_vista.reg that you downloaded earlier.

See also:

Restore the .exe file association in Windows Vista, after incorrectly associating it with another application:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/165/1/

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


"SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1C470B07-6506-4110-9036-EB5FC99977E9@microsoft.com...
Ramesh, when I try to download the fix and open the zip file to extact the
reg file it trys to open it with Adobe photo shop but it can't open, it says
it's the wrong kind of file, then when I try to open it with Snapfire I get
the same response. Can you give me better direction? Please and thanks.

"Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:

> Downloading and applying the .zip file association fix from here helps.
>
> File association fixes for Windows Vista:
> http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
> Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>
>
> "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1D4DE16F-61E1-4E80-A991-DAF5E5C1F4F4@microsoft.com...
> I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> assistance? Thanks you.
>

Thanks for the clarification, but I tried that and it still doesn't work. At
least now it doesn't open them with Adobe Print Shop. When I open the zip
files it shows that the type of file is a text file. Is there a way to
change that? is that from their end or mine? I have received many past
emails with pictures from them andnever had problems opening them, only now,
since I've had Vista, so I find it hard to believe it's from their end. Any
other advise would be appreciated.

"Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:

> Hi SandyDee,
>
> It appears that the .exe file association in your system is messed up as well. Try this:
>
> Save the .zip file association fix (zipfix_vista.reg) to the Desktop. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) from Start, Search box. In the registry editor, click "File", click "Import", and select the file zipfix_vista.reg that you downloaded earlier.
>
> See also:
>
> Restore the .exe file association in Windows Vista, after incorrectly associating it with another application:
> http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/165/1/
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
> Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>
>
> "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1C470B07-6506-4110-9036-EB5FC99977E9@microsoft.com...
> Ramesh, when I try to download the fix and open the zip file to extact the
> reg file it trys to open it with Adobe photo shop but it can't open, it says
> it's the wrong kind of file, then when I try to open it with Snapfire I get
> the same response. Can you give me better direction? Please and thanks.
>
> "Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:
>
> > Downloading and applying the .zip file association fix from here helps.
> >
> > File association fixes for Windows Vista:
> > http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
> > Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
> >
> >
> > "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1D4DE16F-61E1-4E80-A991-DAF5E5C1F4F4@microsoft.com...
> > I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
> > them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
> > the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
> > explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
> > wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
> > open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
> > assistance? Thanks you.
> >
>

Have you tried saving the .zip file to your desktop (or elsewhere on
disk) and opening from there?


SandyDee wrote:
> Thanks for the clarification, but I tried that and it still doesn't work. At
> least now it doesn't open them with Adobe Print Shop. When I open the zip
> files it shows that the type of file is a text file. Is there a way to
> change that? is that from their end or mine? I have received many past
> emails with pictures from them andnever had problems opening them, only now,
> since I've had Vista, so I find it hard to believe it's from their end. Any
> other advise would be appreciated.
>
> "Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:
>
>> Hi SandyDee,
>>
>> It appears that the .exe file association in your system is messed up as well. Try this:
>>
>> Save the .zip file association fix (zipfix_vista.reg) to the Desktop. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) from Start, Search box. In the registry editor, click "File", click "Import", and select the file zipfix_vista.reg that you downloaded earlier.
>>
>> See also:
>>
>> Restore the .exe file association in Windows Vista, after incorrectly associating it with another application:
>> http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/165/1/
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>>
>> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
>> Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>>
>>
>> "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1C470B07-6506-4110-9036-EB5FC99977E9@microsoft.com...
>> Ramesh, when I try to download the fix and open the zip file to extact the
>> reg file it trys to open it with Adobe photo shop but it can't open, it says
>> it's the wrong kind of file, then when I try to open it with Snapfire I get
>> the same response. Can you give me better direction? Please and thanks.
>>
>> "Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:
>>
>>> Downloading and applying the .zip file association fix from here helps.
>>>
>>> File association fixes for Windows Vista:
>>> http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
>>> Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>>>
>>>
>>> "SandyDee" <SandyDee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1D4DE16F-61E1-4E80-A991-DAF5E5C1F4F4@microsoft.com...
>>> I have received several emails with pictures from family, but when I download
>>> them and open the zip file they show up as text files. I have tried changing
>>> the "open with" program to Coral Snapfire or Photo Shop or even Internet
>>> explorer and I get an error message from all of them saying that they are the
>>> wrong kind of file. They automatically open in Notepad or wordpad and when I
>>> open them it's a a lot of code that looks like jibberish. Can you offer
>>> assistance? Thanks you.
>>>