Outlook Express Digital-Ids

[Denise]

Hi,

When sending an email from my OE6 main identity I know get a message “You do not have a digital ID. If you send this message it will be sent properly but you will not be able to read it in your sent items folder”.

I did go to the OE6 help section and am prepared to get the digital id because I do like to have my sent emails saved in the sent folder. However, I am a bit confused on the whole encrypting bit and how it may affect people I send email to. I don’t want the receiver to have to jump through hoops to get my email.

I am also curious as to why this suddenly is occurring, and only on main identity, as well as other thoughts or opinions on this subject.

Thanks - Denise

[Gene K]

Denise,
Go to Outlook Express/Tools/Options/Security Tab and you will see, I think, your problem.
1. Check mark these:
a. Internet Zone.
b. Warn me when other applications try to send mail as me.
c. Block images and other external content in HTML E-mail.
2. Remove check mark from these if it is there:
a. Restricted sites zone.
b. Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that, etc,.
c. Encrypt contents and attachments for all outgoing message
messages.
d. Digitally sign all outgoing messages
The last one I think is your particular problem. Let us know if this is correct. Ask any questions you need to about my recommendations.
Gene K

[Gene K]

Originally posted by Denise
Hi,

When sending an email from my OE6 main identity I know get a message “You do not have a digital ID. If you send this message it will be sent properly but you will not be able to read it in your sent items folder”.

I did go to the OE6 help section and am prepared to get the digital id because I do like to have my sent emails saved in the sent folder. However, I am a bit confused on the whole encrypting bit and how it may affect people I send email to. I don’t want the receiver to have to jump through hoops to get my email.

I am also curious as to why this suddenly is occurring, and only on main identity, as well as other thoughts or opinions on this subject.

Thanks - Denise

I note I did not answer all your questions in my other post, so I will try:
1. You need to only encrypt and digitally sign e-mails which contain data you DO NOT want to be revealed to someone other than the recipient.
2. You will find about all you will need to know in Outlook Express/Help/Contents and Index/index/scroll down the list to "e-mail messages" and look at both "encrypt" and "decrypt".
3. What is the cause of the problem? You may not ever know but I suspect someone else [another "Identity" such as a mischievous son/daughter, spouse] is probably responsible either through playfulness or ignorance.

Gene K

[Denise]

Thanks Gene

Unchecking the (c) Encrypt contents and attachments for all outgoing messages and (d) Digitally sign all outgoing messages was the trick.
Choosing between Internet Zone & Restricted Zone had no impact.

Do you have an opinion on choosing Internet Zone or Restricted Zone?

I am fairly certain that what happened had to do with my having to do a Restore (from disc, not System Restore) resetting email. But the odd thing is, it worked as usual for 1 -1/2 weeks after the restore. Absolutely positive daughter was not dinking around. The generation thing is flip flopped in this house. I know more about the PC than she does Who would have thought

Thank you again for taking time to help - Denise

[Gene K]

Denise,
Glad your problem is solved. As to "Internet Zone" and "Restricted Zone", I stay with "Internet Zone" since I use Outlook Express both as an E-mail tool and newsreader for Microsoft Newsgroups plus one other newsgroup [Terabyte]. Would changing it to "Restricted Zone" affect that usage in any way I do not know, so I will change it in a few minutes in an effort to find the answer. I suggest you do the same. Maybe by trying that, we will both learn something new.
Gene K
PS: At least some of the things you changed are default settings in Outlook Express. The next time you get a change to Outlook Express, they will be changed back to the default.

[Denise]

Hi Gene,

Well I toyed around with the Internet Zone vs Restricted Zones and did not really see a difference. Every thing came through as expected. I did switch after the emails were downloaded into OE. Not sure if that would make a difference or not. Definitely didn’t reduce spam, darn.

Do you know how Restricted Zones is defined in OE6?

Thanks again - Denise

[Gene K]

Denise,
From help portion of Outlook Express:
"To set security zones

In Outlook Express, security zones enable you to choose whether or not active content, such as ActiveX Controls and scripts, can be run from inside HTML e-mail messages. You can choose a moderate security level that allows most active content to run, or you can choose a more restrictive security level.

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Security tab.
In the Security Zones section, choose an Internet Explorer security zone:
Choose Internet zone for standard use. It is used by a majority of Outlook Express users.
Choose Restricted sites zone to create a more secure environment."
I am going to stick with the "Restricted Sites Zone" since ActiveX Controls and script are one way to slip worms/bugs/virus content into your system. If you have SP2 installed, a notation of blocked content appears above the E-mail telling you what is being blocked and giving you the option to receive/not receive them. The reason is I receive some commercial e-mails. This should not be a problem with e-mail from friends/relatives.
Gene K