Windows Live Mail/Vanished Paperclip Icon

[Want-to-know]

I have WIndows 7, Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Live Mail 2011 for my emails. My provider is Tiscali who recently had a big crash. I lost all my emails, but they eventually returned in the storage folders section of Windows Live Mail.

However, all these past emails have lost their paperclip symbol next to them, which shows there was an attachment with the emails. I have thousands of emails and now I have to trawl through each sub-directory (which I had to re-set up for each topic), to find a document I want with the relevant attachment.

Note, new emails are coming in and out with the paperclip but not old ones.

I have contacted Tiscali who basically say it is a Windows Live Mail problem and I should contact them. However, there was no problem before Tiscali had a crash.

I am loathe to alter things, in case new emails do not show the paperclip icon, but would like to know if there is a way of restoring the icon to my old emails. (I have moved the old emails from storage into the main section of Windows Live Mail.)

Any advice would be gratefully received on fixing this problem. I am not very technical, so please reply in plain language. Thanks.

[Buenchico]

Right-click on one of the column headings. (e.g. 'Subject', 'Date', etc).

Go to 'Columns'.

Put a tick alongside 'Attachments'.

Chris

[Want-to-know]

Hi Chris,

No, what you have suggested is already in operation. I have the paperclip symbol up before the "From", "Subject", "Date", "Size", both with old and new emails lists, as column headings.

The problem is when I look at the list of OLD emails. Next to the actual emails themselves, there is no paperclip.

[Buenchico]

Try clicking to remove the attachment column tick, restarting Windows Live Mail and then putting the tick back again.

[Want-to-know]

Thanks Chris. I have just tried this. Unfortunately, it makes no difference. I think Tiscali has just mucked my system up.

[Buenchico]

How is Windows Live Mail configured to access your Tiscali account?

If it's via POP3 then those awkward emails are on your computer, not on Tiscali's server, so it would be impossible for a later Tiscal crash to change the information relating to whether they've got any attachments or not.

However if you use IMAP then the mail remains on Tiscali's server, with Windows Live Mail reading the information from there. So any crash at Tiscali's end could affect the data which is displayed.

[wiltsman]

The only advice I can give you is, that as soon as you do get back to normal, move from Tiscali as soon as possible.

They are the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to get involved with, and they also lost all my emails which I never managed to retrieve!

Their call centre was absolutely useless and made no attempt to help me.

For your own sanity move away as soon as you can. I would also recommend you use an email system like Hotmail so that moving from one internet provider to another is relatively pain-free.

[Buenchico]

Wiltsman seems to be suggesting jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Yes, Tiscali is awful but Hotmail is totally pathetic as well!

If you want a reliable free email service, which allows you to use POP3 or IMAP access (as well as webmail) use GMX.

[Want-to-know]

I think I am Pop3. Yet it is a strange coincidence that after I was reconnected by Tiscali and could finally open my Windows Live Mail, that the emails had vanished, then came back but without the attachment symbol showing. This does not make sense to me.

Do you have any other suggestions on what I can do about showing the paperclip symbol next to by my old emails, where there is an attachment? Thanks.

[Want-to-know]

Thanks for your advice Wiltsman. I have used Hotmail and have had emails vanished from that site. I also had a friend who was locked out from that site. As for Tiscali, unfortunately I have some 100 email addresses in my address book, plus many sites who I am registered with. It would take ages to email everybody individually to notify about a change of address. I do ancestry research, so there is no way around this.

Of course providers like Tiscali know this. The problem was when Talktalk took it over. Bigger isn't better; it is more inefficient, which is why so many people are leaving Tiscali. Their technical staff are polite and extremely hopeless and they never take responsibility for any problems. Usually I have ended up fixing problems myself, but this latest one even defeats me. I live in hope that Talktalk will offload Tiscali or that they get a new Chief Officer.

[wiltsman]

Hi 'Want-to-know' and Buenchico, I can only speak as I find. If I've jumped out of the frying pan into the fire, I quite like it here in the fire! lol