Laptop hangs on opening attachments

Slow connectivity is the issue. The user is having to download the file to the dial-up connected system to open it. This is perfectly normal behavior.

If the user wants the file to download faster, then a faster connection is required, such as DSL.

Hi

I would assume that the attachment has already been downloaded, otherwise the message cannot be read because the mail message would be incomplete (assuming the mail is being downloaded from a POP3 box).

Has the user tried to uninstall and reinstall Outlook? And are all the updates applied? Also, is WinXP fully updated - especially Internet Explorer?

Good luck

Dial up is slow. Her attachment is probably big and when you think it is froze, it is actually downloading the attachment.(my wife says the same thing--something is wrong with the computer, NO- it just dial up). Let it sit for 30 minutes and see if it eventually opens up. If your downloading a 2MB attachment, it can take 15-20 minutes to download on some dial up connections. Click on send/receive and watch the progress bar of your new emails that your receiving.

OK this has been an example of Assumption being the mother of all screw ups.
I've just got to the bottom of the problem - it turns out the machine belonged to a business unit with an OU not normally used by laptops - as a result offline files etc. and outlook ost files were not enabled by default!
Needless to say I have rectified this while the user is in the office and synch'd all her files.

I would understand slow connectivity with ISP use, if it's work related I would have techs setup unit for RAS access or progress to DSL connection for faster response.