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Q182083: XFOR: Attachment Extensions Handled Differently in Exchange 5.5

Article: Q182083
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): WINDOWS:5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 03-APR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if
a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring
the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key"
Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY
=======

With Exchange 5.0 and 4.0, the attachment file names received and sent through
the Internet Mail Service (Internet Mail Connector in 4.0) may be altered. For
more information regarding this behavior, consult the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article:

  Q147299 XFOR: Attachment Names Changed in Messages To & From Internet

With Exchange 5.5, the attachment file names received and sent through the
Internet Mail Service are preserved.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This change was made in an effort to better preserve message fidelity (the
ability to reconstitute a message exactly as it was received for later
resubmission), and due to customer demand.

The Exchange Server versions 4.0 and 5.0 behavior can be restored by implementing
a registry value change as documented below.

Exchange 5.5 offers a mechanism for restoring the Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0
behavior with respect to file name extensions. It is recommended that customers
not enable this feature, because it has the effect of preventing some document
handlers from working properly. It is also possible that this mechanism will be
unavailable in future versions of Exchange.

Consider, for example, the vCard Internet standard. The vCard standard calls for
a <FILE>.VCF file to be sent as a text/plain attachment. In Exchange 4.0
and 5.0, the attachment is renamed to <FILE>.TXT, and a user
double-clicking on the attachment invokes the document handler for .txt files,
instead of the vCard document handler associated with .vcf files.

If you still want to enable this mechanism, here are the instructions for adding
the required registry value:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use
Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And
Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete
Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in
Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

1. Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

2. Go to the following key in the registry:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS
  \ParametersSystem\InternetContent

  NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value and use the following entry:

     Value Name: RemapExtension
     Data Type:  REG_DWORD
     Value:      1

4. Exit the Registry Editor and restart the information store service for the
  change to take effect.

Setting the RemapExtension to 1 causes the information store to restore the
Exchange 4.0/5.0 behavior as described in Q147299. To restore Exchange 5.5
behavior, either delete the registry value or set it to a value of 0 and restart
the information store.

Additional query words: Missing Wrong Changed Altered Filename Behavior extension

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange550 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:5.5
Issue type        : kbhowto

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