Cannot open htm html attachments in Windows Mail

Grrr. My cousin will not stop 'fiddling' with her pc and l'm sure she's changed something somewhere. She's doing my head in! I'd like to supply you with the least possible info to start with, just in case it's an easy fix. All l know is that she is using Vista (everything is up to date) and her email client is WIndows Mail. She says that she can open any attachment sent, apart from htm and html ones. Can you answer this from the above or do you require any further details? Thanks

Hey Willythecat, It sounds to me like you have changed the association for htm and html files from your web browser to something else. I believe this method should work with Vista (I have Windows 7 but they are similar in many ways). First off, you will need to open your start menu. You should see "Default Programs" somewhere in the Start Menu. If so, click on that and it will open up a window which shows 4 options. Choose the "Associate a file type or protocol with a program" option. It should go to another page which may take a minute or two to load up. Scroll down and find the ".htm" extension and double click it. It should open up an "Open With" mini-window. Find "Internet Explorer" or whatever browser you use from the list (it should be in either "Recommended Programs" or "Other Programs"). If this isn't the case (i.e. it doesn't appear on the list), then your best option is to do it manually. I can guide you through it if this happens but this is unlikely to be the case. Repeat this with the ".html" extension. Hope this works for you, -Daniel

Hi willythecat,

Since you specifically refer to Windows Mail as the supposedly problematic utility, I'll comment on Windows Mail specifically.

But first, I'll comment on risks….
— one of the most likely vectors of malware and crapware links is content that is displayed in .htm or html
Therefore, a good question might be: "Why on earth would a person wish to enable viewing such content on a default basis?"

Windows Mail - Tool - Options - Security(tab) has .html set as "block images and other external content in HTML e-mail.
In my opinion, this is sensible.

Sure, you may miss some of the pretty pictures and enticing advertisements and colorful components such as "stationary", but in my mind that is a small loss in favor of better security.

Your cousin probably just has Windows Mail set to default settings.