SERIOUS E-MAIL ATTACHMENT ISSUE: do I have a virus or something on my MBP/MBs?!?

[diehldun]

I'm not one to usually post on this thread, but just recently there's been a serious problem on my MBP and my mom's MB regarding e-mailing .doc/.docx/PDF files. I really need help ASAP because I'm trying to send out my cover letters/resume soon, and something's really not right here.

Whenever I try sending her a Microsoft Office '08 Word document as an attachment, it downloads but not as a Word file. Instead, a folder pops up and automatically unzips itself with folders "_rels", "[Content_Type].xml", "docProps", and "word" inside; the file I sent to her is no where to be seen.

In addition, when I try sending her a PDF, instead of the regular "Preview" icon on Safari's "Downloads" list, a white document with the top corner folded back shows up; I double click and nothing happens. I have to manually override it by forcing it to open the file via Preview. This is happening on my computer too (both 10.5.5 w/ Office 08), but here's the thing: it's been mostly hit-or-miss, with it not working about 90% of the time. Once in a while it will open up in Word/Preview.

I'm concerned because my mom took her MB to the Genius Bar recently, and they weren't much of a help to her. This is really important because I'm sending resumes and cover letters, and I want to make sure that the people I'm sending these out to can open and read them. Any ideas as to what's going on? This did not happen before.

Thanks for help!

 

[Tallest Skil]

Yeah, you don't have a virus.

Right click any PDF that you have and choose Get Info. Where it says "Open With", choose Preview from the list and then click "Change All". Voila.

 

[Objectivist-C]

Telling us how INCREDIBLY URGENT your problem is in THE TITLE in CAPS is likely to annoy people who would otherwise OFFER HELP.

 

[diehldun]

Yeah, you don't have a virus.

Right click any PDF that you have and choose Get Info. Where it says "Open With", choose Preview from the list and then click "Change All". Voila.

I really don't understand, given that I tried "get info", "open with --> Preview/change all" before, and it's still doing the same thing. For my mom, after it unzipped she tried opening some of the files randomly and "Big Bang" games entertainment came up instead... it just seems really random.

Telling us how INCREDIBLY URGENT your problem is in THE TITLE in CAPS is likely to annoy people who would otherwise OFFER HELP.

I've been here since 2003, so I know what constitutes an annoying or not an annoying title thread. Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[blueflame]

try going into safari prefs, and turning off automatically opening safe files. that should save it from trying to open it as a zip file

 

[diehldun]

try going into safari prefs, and turning off automatically opening safe files. that should save it from trying to open it as a zip file

Hmmm, I tried that doing that for both of ours, but that didn't seem to fix it. For her, it's still insisting on opening the PDF through QuickTime instead of Preview (and as a result, only shows one of the two pages)