Viewing Attachments Other Than Photos

Links in e-mail messages and newsgroup articles can refer to attached files other than photos, such as .WAV (sound) or .AVI (video) files. When you click one of these, the e-mail or news program starts a program on your computer than can display or play the file. If that doesn't happen, you set the e-mail or news program to make certain types of files always appear in a certain program. You can do that with most news or e-mail programs, but the only instructions we have handy here in the ol' primer are for Netscape:

To cause Netscape to make certain types of files always appear in a certain program

1. On the Options menu, click General Preferences. The Preferences dialog box appears.
2. Click the tab for the Helpers page of the dialog box.
3. Click an item in the File Type column, then press DOWN ARROW until the file extension you want (.BMP, for example) appears in the File Extensions text box.
4. Click the option button for Launch the Application.
5. Click the Browse button. Use the Select an Appropriate View dialog box to specify a program capable of displaying or playing a file with the extension you chose (PAINT.EXE displays a .BMP file, for example).
6. Click Open. The Select an Appropriate View dialog box closes.
7. Click OK.

If you click on a link for a file type not associated with a program, you're usually given the option of saving the file to a disk. You can open the file with the appropriate program immediately, or you can wait until you're offline.

Caution: Be careful about downloading a file attached to an article. You potentially could bring a virus into your computer. A virus is a destructive program created by unscrupulous computer hackers, and it could damage your programs and files. It's a wise precaution to scan everything you download with a virus scan program.

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