Unable to open .PDF attachments from Windows Mail

Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Srinivasan
Error messages , Windows Vista

Symptom

When you attempt to open a .PDF file that came as a mail attachment in Windows Mail, the following error may occur:

This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel.

This may happen even though you have Adobe Reader installed. Also, the same file may open correctly when saved to disk and then viewed.

This article applies to Windows® Vista systems with Adobe Acrobat Reader (v8.1 as of this writing) installed.

Proposed solution

This error occurs if the file type association for .PDF is incorrect. You can fix this using the steps below.

Removing .PDF file type association

Download unassoc.zip and save it to Desktop
Extract the contents to a folder and run the file unassoc.exe
Select .PDF from the list and click Delete file type
The file type association for .PDF is now removed.

Repairing Adobe Acrobat Reader

Right-click on the Adobe Reader shortcut and click Run as administrator.
From the Help menu in Adobe Reader, click Repair Adobe Reader Installation.

The repair process should fix the .PDF file type association. Restart Windows and see if you're able to open .PDF attachments directly from Windows Mail.

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16 Responses to "Unable to open .PDF attachments from Windows Mail"

Arco

said this on 25 Oct 2007 10:32:37 AM PDT

This works great, thanks from Holland

(Reply to this comment)

wez

said this on 15 Nov 2007 3:39:07 PM PDT

Hundreds :-) Thank you it works.. Anyone know if Autocad 2006 runs on Vista Basic? Is there a Fix ?

(Reply to this comment)

Arkturus

said this on 30 Dec 2007 11:38:22 AM PDT

Thanks a lot, it works perfectly!

(Reply to this comment)

perfect

said this on 15 Feb 2008 2:17:57 PM PDT

Great job.

(Reply to this comment)

hulan

said this on 31 Mar 2008 12:42:22 AM PDT

It's very good ^-^ thanks a lot.

(Reply to this comment)

Tim

said this on 06 Apr 2008 12:31:04 AM PDT

I was unable to open an attached PDF from Windows Mail. I had to save them to disk first. This App fixed that and it was simple. Thanks!

(Reply to this comment)

fran

said this on 10 Jul 2008 2:45:52 PM PDT

I followed instructions exactly. It did not work for me. I continue to get the same message when attempting to open pdf file attachments from windows mail - vista. Any other suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

(Reply to this comment)

Dieter

said this on 14 Jul 2008 10:04:45 AM PDT

That helps also under XP Professional and AcroReader 9.0. It was enough to run the repairroutine in Acrobat Reader Dieter

(Reply to this comment)

Mannix

said this on 29 Jul 2008 4:01:04 AM PDT

Tanks a lot. I do it and works perfectly.Great job. Many tanks again. Mannix

(Reply to this comment)

fredco

said this on 07 Aug 2008 1:53:15 PM PDT

An annoying problem gone in seconds! GREAT! Thanx from The Netherlands.

(Reply to this comment)

Mary

said this on 04 Sep 2008 4:35:49 AM PDT

I was sure this was going to work, but alas it did not. I am working with Adobe Reader 9. Any other ideas?? Thanks

(Reply to this comment)

donna

said this on 01 Oct 2008 7:08:31 PM PDT

I had actually been brought to tears in trying to remedy this problem - and searching microsoft and adobe plus a multitude of other sites...... thank you. (Mary & Fran - make sure you open adobe reader and run the repair from the help menu - then close the reader so the repair can finish.

(Reply to this comment)

Gorltar

said this on 21 Oct 2008 1:50:53 AM PDT

EXELEEEENT>>>>>>>>>>>>It did the job for me and I'm very greatfull for this advice. I did it just like you have said it. Tnx guys... keep up with exelent work :).

(Reply to this comment)