An attachment is an additional file separate from the body of the text. Common attachments include digital photos, word processing documents, sounds or music files, even jokes and cartoons. It used to be difficult to attach documents on the Internet. However, today's common encoding standards now developed ensure your email will not appear as gibberish. The two standards are MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) and UUencode. As long as your computer uses one of them, you can easily attach messages, photos, sound, and videos with your email. Both encoding standards are now routinely used, so almost all recent computer systems can understand these attachments. Keep in mind the following:
The protocols used to attach messages involve complex math in which files are converted to text, encoded into a form that other computers can read, and then converted back. Understand that encoding a file is different from encrypting a file. Encrypting adds a layer of sophisticated security to a file, but anyone with the right decoding software can read an encoded file. Because computer programs get more and more sophisticated every year, many computers can now recognize and automatically detect an attachment, decode it, and open it or tell you to save it to your computer's hard drive. With MIME compliant or UUencode email programs, this is fairly automatic.
Another type of file, binary, is also something most computers will recognize, but with all files, you need to make sure the person on the receiving end can accept binary files and that they understand what to do if you send them. This is especially true if you encrypt a file.
To attach a file, first compose your email, then look for the "attach" or "send file" function in your particular email software - it is generally a fairly obvious button or menu option. It will then prompt you to point the email program to the file you want to attach, so just as when you are looking for a file on your computer, you click through your individual layers of folders and files until you find the one you want to send. Generally you click an "OK" button and then send your email as you normally would. Some email programs even allow you to send multiple attachments at one time.
When you receive an email message with an attachment, your mail program usually indicates that something is attached. Usually, your program saves the attached file as a separate file in the folder or directory you specify. After it has been saved, you can read and use it like any other file.
If you receive an unknown attachment, it will appear as a large message in your mailbox. If it contains text, it may be garbled but still readable. In this case, you can try saving the message as a file and then extracting the contents of it through a separate program. However, if the garbled text represents a botched attempt at sending a sound or picture, you will not be able to recover the information. Be especially careful before opening an attachment from someone you do not know.
Email is the most common way that viruses spread, so let me say this again because it is extremely important: avoid opening files with attachments from people you do not know. Even if you know someone, always run the attachment through a virus checker. If you get an attachment and want to avoid the risk of a computer virus, check it before you open it. Make sure you have the most recent anti-virus software, as you need to stay current to preventing your computer from becoming infected.
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