unable to view embedded image in Thunderbird

Occasionally I receive emails with embedded photos. Sometimes I can see them, and other times I just get a blank box where the image is supposed to be, with a little red circle in the upper left hand corner. Same thing used to happen when I used Outlook Express, except it was a little red "X" that showed up then.
Any idea why this happens, and is there anything I can do to rectify the situation?
Thanks!
Rebecca

 

rebecca,

What program do you use for viewing graphics? Have you associated your different graphic file types with this program, if any?

If you have no graphics program, I would highly recommend IrfanView for this purpose. It is a small graphics program, freeware, which is very versatile. You can listen to MP3 files, view WMV files, edit photo's, view Shockwave files offline, etc.

Ramona

 

As a matter of fact, I installed Irfanview a few weeks ago; there's a folder called "iview391" on my desktop now, but I haven't figured out what to do with it next.
When I click on a photo in "My Pictures ", for example, the shot opens up in "MGI PhotoSuite SE ", which is the software that came with my digital camera.
How can I make Irfanview my default program for viewing pix (and for all the other things I can use it for)? How do I "associate it" with Thunderbird?
Thanks in advance,
Rebecca

 

rebecca,

There is a newer version of IrfanView, and it is 3.92.

To associate file types, open IrfanView and click on Options | Set File Associations.

That's all there is to it, and if it is your default viewer for graphic files, you don't have to associate with Thunderbird. If you have made the digital camera software the default, then you will need to go into that program and disable those settings.

I make all my Screen Shots that I use here with IrfanView, and to me, it is an indispensable program.

Ramona

 

I've just installed IrfanView 3.92, and I clicked on the "check all" boxes for which kinds of files to associalte it with (and I downloaded/installed the plug-ins for 3.92). When I open up IrfanView, I can then open up any of my pictures (or .gif or .mpg files, etc. - you're right, IrfanView is awesome!), but I cannot find a way to get rid of MGI PhotoSuite as my default viewer. Would uninstalling it work (sorry, I know this isn't a Mozilla/Thunderbird question any more - should I post the question elsewhere?)?
Thanks -
Rebecca

 

Ramona,
FYI, while I still can't get the picture to display in that email I was talking about, I just thought I'd let you know I finally figured out how to get rid of Photo Suite as my default viewer for pictures: I right-clicked the thumbnail of a photo in My Documents, clicked on properties, and under the "general" tab that came up, below "type of file" (which was jpg), I had the option of changing what program is used to open this kind of a file. I just changed it for that one pic, and that one click took care of switching the default to IrfanView for all my pix.
Thanks for the guidance with IrfanView! Any other ideas/suggestions as to the MIA picture embedded in my email?
Rebecca

 

rebecca,

The only time I see the small square with a red dot is when Thunderbird blocks images. If you look at the top of the message area there is a small gray toolbar which states: "To protect your privacy, Thunderbird has blocked remote images in this message." Could this be why you can't view the images?

Ramona

 

I also get the "To protect your privacy, Thunderbird has blocked remote images in this message" message from time to time, but that notification shows up clearly above the text of the body of the missive - it also gives me the option of showing the images, if I want.
The email in question isn't preceded by that 'notification'l - there's just a written story that goes along with the picture, supposedly, but then a big blank square with a smaller one (with a red circle in the middle) in the upper left corner.
Like I said, it used to happen to me from time to time with OE, too - although in THAT case, *sometimes* (not always!) the images would miraculously show up if I happened to be online when I opened the email (even if it was an old email); once I'd shut down OE and reopened it again when I was offline later on, though, the pictures would be gone again...
It's nothing critical, obviously, I just wish I knew how to "fix" it!

 

rebecca,

From the MozillaZine Knowledge Base:

* For images embedded in messages: make sure that the setting for View Message Body As is set to either "Original HTML" or "Simple HTML ".

* For images attached to messages: go to the View menu and make sure that Display Attachments Inline is checked.

* For remote images: go to Tools > Options > Advanced > Privacy and uncheck the box for "Block loading of remote images in mail messages." It is recommended that you keep this checked as your default setting, however, as spammers can use remote images to detect whether you've viewed messages they've sent to you.

* If you are in Offline mode, try changing to Online mode. If you have the Offline extension/support installed, go to File > Offline and make sure that Work Offline is not checked. Alternatively, you can click on the connection icon that appears on the Status Bar (normally at the bottom of the window). This is especially important for remote images.

* Messages marked as Junk are normally "sanitized ", meaning that they are displayed without any images or other HTML formatting. To change this behavior, go to Tools > Junk Mail Controls, click on the Settings tab, and uncheck the box for "When displaying HTML messages marked as Junk, sanitize the HTML ".

* If you are using Thunderbird with a proxy, it is possible that this is the source of the problem. Try adjusting your proxy settings and see if this helps. A few related forum threads are here, here, and here.

* Messages composed/sent using a Word/Outlook combination may cause problems.

For an easier way to toggle the settings for viewing messages as HTML/plain text or for blocking remote images, try the Buttons! extension. It gives you buttons that you can add to the toolbar to change these settings at a single click.


Ramona

 

My friend resent me the picture as an attachment, so I was ultimately able to view it. That original blank with the little red dot remains a mystery (still can't see the picture there), but now that you've steered me in the right direction at the MozillaZine knowledge base, I'll try poking around there some more myself.
Thanks for all your time and effort, Ramona!
Rebecca