Outlook doesn't really know how to open attachments, whether Word documents or Excel spreadsheet files, so try a different way.
Save the attachments to your hard drive. I use my Desktop as a temporary location for email attachments. Then open the attachments from those saved files. That way, Windows controls which application to use to open the attachments, and not Outlook.
It is the method we always recommend anyway because we can then scan the attachments for viruses before opening them.
Mark
Hi, have a dell workstation with windows xp prof spk3. My microsfot outlook is from the basic edition 2003 works great with the exception when I try to open an Excel or Word attachment from an email it frequently hangs. Outlook 2003 then goes to a white screen with just the window border, and says not responding, my antivirus is Mcafee. I tried disabling everything from msconfig, and starting up, but the dang outlook still hangs when I try to open word/excel attachments. I am at a loss. My computer has 3 gb RAM plenty space available in the hd, i think it is something to do with some microsoft updates or maybe microsoft office basic edition 2003, i have been googled i found a lot of people asking the same questions but actually i don't see an specific answer for it, can you please guide me here thanks a lot
Regards

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