I use Windows 98 and Explorer 5.5. All emails I send out are in Rich Text Format from Outlook 2000. I am able to send attachments to my work email address which is on the same system and is also set up for Rich Text Format. My problem occurs when I send attachments to other addresses. The email arrives but the attachment doesn’t. Instead, the file ‘winmail.dat’ is attached to the email. I have also found that when I send emails from work to home they are sent in Rich Text format but arrive in Plain Text even though my home address is set up for Rich Text. Any ideas? Is it something to do with the server that somehow changes the format or is there some other cause for this, possibly within outlook itself? Please help if you can.

This is a confirmed problem with Outlook 2000. The winmail.dat file is created by Outlook 2000 and contains the formatting of the message including the Rich Text Formatting instructions. However, the client that receives the email does not recognise this file. Unfortunately, the only work around for this problem is to use Plain Text Format. You can find instructions on how to set Outlook to use the plain text format and a more comprehensive explanation of the problem at support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q278/0/61.ASP.