[jscarey]

Here's something I haven't encountered before: when a client attempts to either attach or insert a photo (or other file) into a message using Outlook Express 6 with Windows XP home, the dialog box which opens will not a) resize or b) display the full contents of the folder. When "My Pictures" is chosen in the dialog box only about a third of the files and folders are shown. If "My Pictures" is opened in "My Documents" all the files are present and accessible.

Before I perform the general repair steps outlined on MS's IE Community website, I just wanted to know if anyone had encountered a similar problem, what actions were taken and were they successful.

[EAFiedler]

Hi jscarey

Welcome to Tech Support Guy Forums!

That is how it appears for my Outlook Express using Windows XP Home.
The dialog window does not resize, I change the view to details and the scroll bars allow me to see the rest of the files.

Outlook 2003 brings up a much better attachment window.

[jscarey]

I still have the issue of the list of files in the My Pictures folder is incomplete. Only a small fraction of the (My Pictures) files are available in the dialog box of either Attach or Insert no matter how viewed.

In the Attach and Insert dialog boxes of a new message in Outlook Express, the properties of the My Pictures folder are 240MB on Disk with 345 files and 7 folders. But, when I go to My Pictures directly from the desktop, the size on disk is 666MB and there are 782 files and 20 folders.

I have "uninstalled" Outlook Express and installed in its place as the default email program Windows Live Mail. The same problem exists with the exception the dialog box is now resizeable. So the problem appears to be with the My Pictures folder. I just now looked to see if the problem occurred when inserting a picture file into Word (2000) and the problem persists, showing only the abbreviated number of files available.

[EAFiedler]

I am curious, does the My Pictures folder show the same path/directory when viewed in the Attach window as the My Pictures folder viewed from the Desktop?

I don't have a "My Pictures" folder per se, my pictures folder is labeled "EAFiedler Pictures"

[jscarey]

Yes. I have gone all the way back to "Desktop" and clicked down through "My Documents" then "My Pictures" to reach the same folder. I added a dummy file into one of the folders shown and it shows up in both the abbreviated list and when I click on "My Pictures" from the Start menu. So I know I'm dealing with just one folder, albeit a problem folder.

When I'm on site next, I am going to try to copy the folder's contents to another, new folder and access it from OE, Windows Live Mail and Word. If successful, I'll clear the old "My Pictures" folder and copy the contents back into it to see if it will work. Can you delete the "My Pictures" folder or is it a protected system folder? Like you, I have a folder where my images are kept on another drive (partition), E:\, that is but a clicked icon away on the Places menu of the attach/insert dialog boxes in all Office programs.

[slurpee55]

could you post a screen shot of your problem? I use OE on XP but the dialog box always shows some files with scroll bars so I can see the rest.

[jscarey]

The problem is not scrolling through the file list, it's that the file list is incomplete. Less than half of the files in the My Pictures folder appear in the dialog box. Only 345 of the 782 files actually in the My Pictures folder appear in the dialog box list. If I go to My Pictures directly, the files all show up and I can open them, manipulate the images, etc.; but, when I access My Pictures from within another program--OE or Word--the list is incomplete.

[slurpee55]

What types of files are missing? Are they pictures?

[jscarey]

All the files in the My Pictures folder are pictures (in .jpg format) and folders containing pictures. There are no files I could find out of the ordinary or in an unusual format.

[slurpee55]

I thought perhaps that your email wasn't in HTML format and wouldn't look for pics. And the OE default is to look for all files - is that what you see in the dialog box?

[jscarey]

I believe it defaults to show all file types. I am not on site at the moment.

I feel sure the problem is with the folder since when in Word and attempting to insert a file from the folder the same abbreviated list/version of the folder is shown in the insert dialog box.

[slurpee55]

Check to see if the missing files are here - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Pictures\Sample Pictures - notice it is All Users rather than username