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Q: Hello!
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– Corey C.
City Withheld

A: Hello back!
Sent from my newspaper column

Q: I can’t save an imbedded picture using 2007Microsoft Outlook. When I have the e-mail open and right click on the picture the only option I have is “COPY”. This problem started a month ago. I have checked on the internet and found several questions with the same problem with no fixes for the problem.

– David S.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A: Just to clarify for those Geeks that don’t understand what David is talking about, he does not mean picture files that are attachments to an e-mail, but rather pictures that show up embedded within the text of an HTML-formatted e-mail. He wants to save a picture, but Outlook is not providing the correct options to make it happen. Well, David, the reason you can’t find any fixes is because there are no fixes for this problem – at least not for the version of Outlook from Office 2007. The issue finally got fixed in Office 2010, but for whatever reason (thanks, Bill!) Microsoft decided that this issue wasn’t worth fixing for people who shelled out the big bucks for Office 2007. I guess they feel justified in expecting you to pay again for Office 2010.

Although there are no fixes to the problem per se, there are some work arounds that will allow you to accomplish the end-goal of saving an embedded picture. Whether a given work around will work for you will depend on how you have Windows configured. If you have Active Desktop enabled, one relatively easy way is to select the picture, then either copy/paste it to the desktop, or simply drag it from the e-mail to the desktop. You will be prompted that you need to save it before adding it to Active Desktop, which is what you wanted to do anyway. So just go through the motions to save it, and when it finally asks if you want to add it now, tell it no. Alternatively, you can save the entire e-mail to a temporary folder, by choosing File->Save As… from the menu. This will also create a sub-folder named the same as the e-mail subject line, and inside you’ll find the embedded images. You can copy them where ever you like, then delete the temporary folder. If you have an image editor program handy (such as IrfanView) you can always copy the image using the right-click method, then Paste it into the image editor and save it from there. If you’re feeling particularly Geeky, I found a work around that’s as close to a true fix as you’re going to find. Someone posted Visual Basic code that allows you to create a macro that saves all attachments using a button on the toolbar. You can find the complete instructions at tinyurl.com/337y79.

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