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Q: I often receive emails from my friends containing photos, both embedded and as attachments, and typically have no problem viewing them.  From one person however, the embedded photos display only as blanks with a red x in the corner. These are typically forwarded messages.  This was true under Outlook in Vista and continues under Live Mail in Win 7. I have looked for security setting changes available in my Norton anti-virus and Windows and haven’t found anything that cures the problem. He claims that other recipients can open the images.  Is there something I can do from my end to view the photos? They often sound interesting. 

– Peter K.
Destin, Fla

A: Ah, the old “there is a Red-X where there should be a picture” problem!  This is an oldie, but a goodie.  Seems like many people experience this problem, and I’ve talked about it in the column before, but it’s been a while, so it bears repeating.  This problem can occur if the pictures are corrupted, or missing, but since other people are able to view them, I’m going to assume that’s not the case.

The only other explanation is that your computer’s security is preventing you from viewing them, because, depending on the way pictures are attached to an e-mail message, they can put you at risk when you open them.  Pictures can be used as a web beacon to raise a flag to someone that you have viewed the picture, and from what computer.  This provides verification that your e-mail address is valid, and can even provide your IP address, which is nobody’s business anyway.  To get your software to actually show you these pictures means you have to reduce the security settings on your computer to let them through, so I advise you to proceed with caution, and make sure you know what you’re doing before going ahead.  Microsoft has provided some guided steps on how to do this in their knowledge base.  If you’re using Windows XP and Outlook Express, go to tinyurl.com/e36xz.  For other configurations, try tinyurl.com/23kv4j.  You may also want to talk to the sender about how he or she is sending the e-mails.  Make sure that what’s being attached is actually the picture, and not just an external link to it.  It is those external links that make web beacons possible, and that triggers the security that causes the red X problem.

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