Large attachment alert - any ideas?

[rickyj99]

Hi, hope someone has a few ideas. We are running Outlook 98/2000 as the client on MS Exchange 5.5 email system. We have a number of users who regularly email large attachments to users with externally hosted email accounts. The external users have to dial up to collect emails and complain frequently about download times for attachments. What I would like to know is there a utility within Outlook or Exchange which will pop up a warning when an internal user clicks "send" that the attachment is over a certain size, e.g. 1Mb and to give them the option to abandon sending the email at that point. The nearest I've see is an Outlook VB script on Slipstick which pops up asking the sender to confirm sending of an attachment but nothing specific to attachment size. Sorry for the long post.

 

[jmatt]

If they all use a viewer to read the mail , before they download it & you put in the subject line the warning .

Outlook , I think will let you do that .

Here are other ways .

------------------------------------------

I use this email client , which allows me to read , reply , open hyperlinks , delete , all before I download .

http://geminisoft.com/geminisoft.eng/

Pimmy - Your personal postman.

Geminisoft Pimmy lets you manage your electronic mail easily and everywhere you are. The full
program may be put on a floppy!
What you can do using Pimmy:

* manage an unlimited number of mailboxes;
* read and write messages on newsgroups;
* check for new messages and be warned about them;
* file messages in folders;
* automatically download mail and newsgroup messages from the mailboxes you desire to one or
more folders;
* read on-line only the message in which you are interested in, not downloading all and
leaving mail on the server until you decide to delete them;
* read a preview of a message on-line not reading it completely or dowloading it;
* delete a message on-line not reading it completely or dowloading it;
* write your messages off-line and send them when connected to Internet, moving all sent
messages in a special folder;
* send messages using different providers easily;
* manage an address book;
* manage different signatures (even with only one mailbox);
* attach files and documents;
* chat with other Pimmy users, even with more than one at the same time.

---------------------------------------------------

http://www.poppeeper.com/

POP Peeper is a utility that runs in your Windows task bar and alerts you when you have new
email on any of your POP3, Hotmail, MSN or Yahoo accounts. You can also use POP Peeper to read
and delete your email. POP Peeper supports HTML email, so you can see your email the same way
as you would in your email client.

Completely Free: No Ads. No Registration. No Fees.
Easy Setup
Compatible with the following Server Types: POP3, Hotmail\MSN, Yahoo
Read and delete email without opening your email client
HTML Email Support
Save or Open File attachments
No account limit -- notifies you of an unlimited number of accounts
Be notified of new email with visual and\or audible indicators

-----------------------------------------

http://www.eprompter.com/

Free Email Retrieval and Notification Program
Delete Spam or Suspicious Mail Without Having to Launch Your Email Program .

----------------------------------------

http://www.mailwasher.net/

MailWasher is a powerful email checker with effective spam
elimination . Discover the safe way to stop unwanted viruses and
emails before they get to your computer .
Why not make them think you no longer exist by bouncing back their
email so it looks like your address has been closed down .

 

[gensan]

Try this, if this is helpful. When your in Exchange administrator, you can go to the properties of your Message Transfer Agent and specify size limit on the "Message Size" section.

Hope this helps

 

[rickyj99]

Thanks guys. Will check out the products suggested. It isn't appropriate to limit the message size as most traffic is internal across our network. I suppose the other option is (yet more!) user education. Life would be so much easier without users ;+>

 

[tk808]

Without users there'd be no jobs.


What is the best practice for limits on attachments? I would think some sort of limit would be "safe", proactive safeguard against a user who accidentally sent an attachment of a .bak of their C drive. :0 see "Murphy's Law".

 

[jmatt]

Possibly that question will be best answered by phrasing a question in Google, here is an example.

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=best+practice+for+limits+on+attachments?+&btnG=Search&meta=

 

[lhuegele]

Upgrade to Outlook 2003. <smile>