Why do some HTML messages display improperly?

G

gofarnow

Messages I get from some senders appear in code (I think) instead of HTML.
For example this is part of what I got from United Airlines:

Planning & booking
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/600-1sape/100278/235383/3e9dd90a29cd2a6d5e5
2defd02bf5328> Itineraries & check-in
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/600-1sape/100279/235383/3e9dd90a29cd2a6d5e5
2defd02bf5328> Mileage Plus®
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/600-1sape/100280/235383/3e9dd90a29cd2a6d5e5
2defd02bf5328> Services & information
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/600-1sape/100281/235383/3e9dd90a29cd2a6d5e5
2defd02bf5328>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>
<http://www.unitedoffers.com/clr.gif>

I use Gmail and can look at this message in web mail and it appears in HTML.
This happens with some senders, while others come through OK.

I am using Outlook 2003.
 
J

JoRene Anderson

I'm having the same problem on one computer only. Two other computers
display properly. This happens in both Outlook and Outlook Express so I
think it is a system problem but I can't solve it. I rolled back my system
several months but it didn't help. I also have this with only some
messages. Since these same messages appear ok on a different computer, I
don't think it is the fault of the email, either. I'd like to find an
answer, so if you find one, please add it to the newsgroup. Thanks!
 
N

noone

For the past several weeks, I have been having the same problem. Not all my
emails are affected. Most are displaying fine. Some seem to be hit and
miss, and some won't ever display correctly, even though a month ago all of
them were working. The troublesome ones are from larger sites (Barnes and
Noble, Tripadvisor, About.com). The ads I get from Circuit City are fine,
but my receipt email and shipping notification from them are not displaying
coreectly.

I have made sure the sender and their domain are on my Safe Sender lists.
I've also tried adjusting my settings so Outlook 2003 will download all
pictures, but that didn't help (unless that accounts for why some are hit and
miss -- I changed it back when I saw it didn't completely fix my problem).

I recently upgraded to AVG 8, and also reinstalled McAfee (through Comcast),
and I'm wondering if that could be the problem. I've researched online about
both of these, and found nothing so far, until I found this forum. I sure
hope someone can help with this!
 
D

davidlea

I have had the same problems that started about 10 days ago after an
automatic Microsoft security update....I got so frustrated I installed
Service Pack 3 for Outlook and the HTML messages started displaying again for
about 4 hours and then back to plain text.

I have found a number of posts with everyone describing the same issue but
not a single MVP response....to add to the strangeness, everyone in my office
on the same Exchange server is doing fine...only my machine and my home
office machine that mirrors my Outlook.

davidlea
 
N

noone

Can anyone help?

davidlea said:
I have had the same problems that started about 10 days ago after an
automatic Microsoft security update....I got so frustrated I installed
Service Pack 3 for Outlook and the HTML messages started displaying again for
about 4 hours and then back to plain text.

I have found a number of posts with everyone describing the same issue but
not a single MVP response....to add to the strangeness, everyone in my office
on the same Exchange server is doing fine...only my machine and my home
office machine that mirrors my Outlook.

davidlea
Click to expand...
 
D

deadheadinnj

After looking through pages of the same problem and then doing some
testing on my own, I have found a solution to this problem that will
hopefully work for you too!

I have Outlook 2003 SP1 and all of the latest updates from Microsoft.
The HTML emails stopped working about two weeks ago, which was when I
updated my AVG to v8.0. Not sure if this is a coincidence or not but
I would assume it is not.

The problem seems to be the Certify Mail option in AVG 8.0. Not sure
what this does other than putting in a disclaimer but by turning it
off any new emails I received were fine. Emails already read would
still not display properly. To turn this option off, open AVG and
then click Tools, Advanced Settings. Click Email scanner on the left
hand side and then uncheck the box for Certify Mail on the right side
pane. Click Apply, then OK.

Hope this helps everyone get their HTML formatted email back.

Bob
 
B

Brian Tillman

The problem seems to be the Certify Mail option in AVG 8.0. Not sure
what this does other than putting in a disclaimer but by turning it
off any new emails I received were fine. Emails already read would
still not display properly. To turn this option off, open AVG and
then click Tools, Advanced Settings. Click Email scanner on the left
hand side and then uncheck the box for Certify Mail on the right side
pane. Click Apply, then OK.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't be scanning incoming mail in the first place. It's pointless
anyway and can cause protocol problems between the mail client and server.
 
N

noone

Thank you to both of you (deadheadinnj and Brian) for your answers! I
followed the instructions to disable email scanning in AVG 8. One weekly
email that had been giving me trouble was readable when it arrived in my
Outlook inbox, but another daily one which had been coming in fine is now
unreadable. Also, when I check AVG 8's status, it says email scanning is
still active even though I have disabled scanning both incoming and outgoing
emails.

I think what I may do is revert to an older version of AVG if that's possible.
 
B

Brian Tillman

noone said:
Thank you to both of you (deadheadinnj and Brian) for your answers! I
followed the instructions to disable email scanning in AVG 8. One
weekly email that had been giving me trouble was readable when it
arrived in my Outlook inbox, but another daily one which had been
coming in fine is now unreadable. Also, when I check AVG 8's status,
it says email scanning is still active even though I have disabled
scanning both incoming and outgoing emails.
Click to expand...

Don't just disable it. Uninstall the program completely and reinstall it
without the mail scanning feature.
 
N

noone

Thank you -- this worked for me. I also left out the linkscanner option, and
now my surfing is alot faster.

Also, the email I had trouble with after disabling AVG email scanning was
from a website that was being updated, and I think that was its problem. All
my emails are fine now. Thanks again for all your help!
 
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