Opening a *.msg file with Thunderbird

[Jeff Layman]

Is it possible? (Win7HPx64 TB17.0)

I use Free Opener to view the contents of *.msg files. However, I have
a couple of files which, although they open, appear to be empty (they
aren't). I tried right clicking the file, and selected "Open with" TB.
It seemed to open, but only appeared as a "Write (no subject)" message
from me, with no addressee or subject, and the body appeared blank, with
the whole file appearing as an attachment. If I try to open the
attachment, it opens in Free Opener as before, but the contents are
still empty. I tried the same thing with a *.msg file in which the
contents appear clearly in Free Viewer, but TB still behaves the same way.

If I try "Open saved message" and "All files" (not *.eml), navigate to
the *.msg file and try to open it, it opens with all the From, To, and
Subject information, but the contents are still empty.

(NB I tried WLM, but oddly that can't open *.msg files, and MS don't
appear to offer an Outlook file reader.)

--

Jeff

[Mike Easter]

Jeff Layman wrote:

> I use Free Opener to view the contents of *.msg files.

Free Opener is a multipurpose tool which can open a myriad (80+) of file
types, graphic, archive, multimedia, proprietary, .pdf etc.

.msg is often/typically the proprietary format of MS Outlook.

.msg is listed by Free Opener as a supported file type and as an OL format.

> However, I have a couple of files which, although they open, appear
> to be empty (they aren't). I tried right clicking the file, and
> selected "Open with" TB. It seemed to open, but only appeared as a
> "Write (no subject)" message from me, with no addressee or subject,
> and the body appeared blank, with the whole file appearing as an
> attachment. If I try to open the attachment, it opens in Free Opener
> as before, but the contents are still empty. I tried the same thing
> with a *.msg file in which the contents appear clearly in Free
> Viewer, but TB still behaves the same way.

It isn't clear to me what you are talking about above -- 'a couple of
files' doesn't say they are .msg files or where they came from.

My general impression is that there are a limited number of programs
which can open .msg files and the only one I know which is free is free
viewer. OL and MsgViewerPro and BitDaddys Email Open View Pro are not
freeware.

http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/msg Program(s) that open .MSG files

There is also a viewer called .msgview to be found on sites that try to
install additional ware to your Windows computer.

> If I try "Open saved message" and "All files" (not *.eml), navigate to
> the *.msg file and try to open it, it opens with all the From, To, and
> Subject information, but the contents are still empty.
>
> (NB I tried WLM, but oddly that can't open *.msg files, and MS don't
> appear to offer an Outlook file reader.)

Some sites say that some .msg files can be opened by OE Outlook Express,
but I've never done that. OE is not 'identical' to Windows Mail and
even more different from WLM.

I would not expect Tb to be as versatile about opening proprietary
formats as the Free Opener


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Mike Easter wrote:
> Jeff Layman wrote:
>
>> I use Free Opener to view the contents of *.msg files.

> There is also a viewer called .msgview to be found on sites that try to
> install additional ware to your Windows computer.

Here is the site for msgview without tagalong unwanted intallerware
http://www.scalabium.com/msg/ Viewer for MS Outlook Messages - This
application do not use any external libraries and you may run this tool
on computer without any additional setup/install.


msgview is not freeware -- free trial with restrictions

--
Mike Easter

[Ron K.]

Mike Easter on 1/10/2013 3:19 PM, keyboarded a reply:

To add to Mikes comments, consider that the the *msg file may contain a
winmail.dat attachment. That case can cause a blank viewport in TB.

--
Ron K.
Who is General Failure, and why is he searching my HDD?
Kernel Restore reported Major Error used BSOD to msg the enemy!

[Jeff Layman]

On 10/01/2013 19:45, Mike Easter wrote:
> Jeff Layman wrote:
>
>> I use Free Opener to view the contents of *.msg files.
>
> Free Opener is a multipurpose tool which can open a myriad (80+) of file
> types, graphic, archive, multimedia, proprietary, .pdf etc.
>

> ..msg is often/typically the proprietary format of MS Outlook.
>
> ..msg is listed by Free Opener as a supported file type and as an OL format.

>
>> However, I have a couple of files which, although they open, appear
>> to be empty (they aren't). I tried right clicking the file, and
>> selected "Open with" TB. It seemed to open, but only appeared as a
>> "Write (no subject)" message from me, with no addressee or subject,
>> and the body appeared blank, with the whole file appearing as an
>> attachment. If I try to open the attachment, it opens in Free Opener
>> as before, but the contents are still empty. I tried the same thing
>> with a *.msg file in which the contents appear clearly in Free
>> Viewer, but TB still behaves the same way.
>
> It isn't clear to me what you are talking about above -- 'a couple of
> files' doesn't say they are .msg files or where they came from.

You may regret you asked...

They are *.msg files which came from a local council planning website
(http://planningdocs.eastleigh.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=O/12/71514&JSRPath=www.eastleigh.gov.uk/fastWeb).
On that page are links to numerous documents in the "View" column.
These can be various file types - pdf, doc, msg. It is not clear until
you hover over a link what file type the link is to - and even then it
is hidden in the middle of the link (eg ...extension=.doc...).
Previously, Free Opener has opened those with extension=.msg, but it had
problems with a couple of recent files.

> Some sites say that some .msg files can be opened by OE Outlook Express,
> but I've never done that. OE is not 'identical' to Windows Mail and
> even more different from WLM.
>
> I would not expect Tb to be as versatile about opening proprietary
> formats as the Free Opener

I don't have Outlook, and wanted to see if it was a problem with the
*.msg files themselves, or perhaps with Free Opener by seeing if I could
open the files with another program. I also found a couple of programs
which can open msg files, but, as you found, they were not free.
According to http://file.org/extension/msg - see first entry in the
"Programs we know will open MSG files" - TB is one of them.

But apparently not. At least not completely; it does try with "Open
saved message", but it only seems able to extract the To/From/Subject
info from the header in a *.msg file, not the message body itself.
Maybe there is no text and the message consists only of a graphic. Is
that possible?

--

Jeff

[Mike Easter]

Jeff Layman wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>> Jeff Layman wrote:
>>
>>> I use Free Opener to view the contents of *.msg files.

>> I would not expect Tb to be as versatile about opening proprietary
>> formats as the Free Opener

> According to http://file.org/extension/msg - see first entry in the
> "Programs we know will open MSG files" - TB is one of them.

In my opinion, that page is severely in error. Its statement is at
variance with that of a link I posted earlier listing the programs which
would open .msg files and it is directly contradicted by this page for
example:

"Outlook stores saved emails in *.msg format, which is a binary
proprietary format. Thunderbird saves emails in *.eml format, which is a
non-proprietary multi-part MIME format. -- The nature of *.msg files
make them impossible to share with Thunderbird or other email clients."
http://www.avtechpulse.com/opensource/email.html Email Archiving,
Outlook and Thunderbird

> But apparently not. At least not completely; it does try with "Open
> saved message", but it only seems able to extract the To/From/Subject
> info from the header in a *.msg file, not the message body itself. Maybe
> there is no text and the message consists only of a graphic. Is that
> possible?

I am not currently on a system which will open .msg files such as one of
the ones at your Eastleigh link

http://planningdocs.eastleigh.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Consultees%20Response-1054804.msg?extension=.msg&id=1054804&appid=8041&location=volume2&contentType=application/vnd.ms-outlook&pageCount=1

or such as

http://planningdocs.eastleigh.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Consultees%20Response-1058007.msg?extension=.msg&id=1058007&appid=8041&location=volume2&contentType=application/vnd.ms-outlook&pageCount=1

In my opinion, people who are interested in sharing documents with
others should not use proprietary formats, but instead they should use
some open format which has more universal and cross-platform accessibility.

The Eastleigh page says "To view PDF documents you will need Adobe®
Acrobat® reader installed on your P.C."

It should also prohibit the usage of such as the .msg files.


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Jeff Layman wrote:

> According to http://file.org/extension/msg

That is a 'bad' file extension website. It starts by saying "We do not
have a description of what MSG files are yet - however .."

For casual use, the wiki article is better.
List of file formats (alphabetical)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats_(alphabetical)

For a more comprehensive source, this site has much:

http://filext.com/file-extension/MSG


MSG OzWin CompuServe E-mail/Forum Access Message File
MSG PMMail 2000 E-mail Message File (Blueprint Software Works)
MSG Abaqus/CAE Status Message File (Dassault Systèmes)
MSG OS/2 Help Message File (IBM)
MSG Pegasus Mail Stored Messages To Be Sent (David Harris)
MSG TAPCIS Captured Messages
MSG PMMail/2 E-mail Message File (V.O.I.C.E. (Virtual OS/2 International
Consumer Education))
MSG Exchange Mail Message (Microsoft Corporation)
MSG Program Message
MSG FoxPro FoxDoc Message



--
Mike Easter

[Jeff Layman]

On 11/01/2013 00:58, Mike Easter wrote:
> Jeff Layman wrote:

>> Mike Easter wrote:
>
>> According to http://file.org/extension/msg - see first entry in the
>> "Programs we know will open MSG files" - TB is one of them.
>
> In my opinion, that page is severely in error. Its statement is at
> variance with that of a link I posted earlier listing the programs which
> would open .msg files and it is directly contradicted by this page for
> example:
>
> "Outlook stores saved emails in *.msg format, which is a binary
> proprietary format. Thunderbird saves emails in *.eml format, which is a
> non-proprietary multi-part MIME format. -- The nature of *.msg files
> make them impossible to share with Thunderbird or other email clients."
> http://www.avtechpulse.com/opensource/email.html Email Archiving,
> Outlook and Thunderbird

Thanks for the confirmation.

I eventually found a free msg file opener/converter (MSGViewer) at
http://redeye.hoffer.cx/detail.php?id=13. One of the files I had
trouble with seems to have a completely blank message body and a pdf
file attached.

> I am not currently on a system which will open .msg files such as one of
> the ones at your Eastleigh link
>

> In my opinion, people who are interested in sharing documents with
> others should not use proprietary formats, but instead they should use
> some open format which has more universal and cross-platform accessibility.
>
> The Eastleigh page says "To view PDF documents you will need Adobe®
> Acrobat® reader installed on your P.C."
>
> It should also prohibit the usage of such as the .msg files.

You won't find me arguing with your last comment! In fact, I am just
about to email them to state that all documents should be in pdf format.

Anyway, thanks for your comments on this issue. Between those, and Ron
K's point about possible winmail.dat attachments, I won't try to open
msg files with TB. Maybe this thread will save someone else an hour's
wasted time...

--

Jeff

[John H Meyers]

On 1/10/2013 4:54 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:

> They are *.msg files which came from a local council planning website

> <http://planningdocs.eastleigh.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=O/12/71514&JSRPath=www.eastleigh.gov.uk/fastWeb>

> On that page are links to numerous documents in the "View" column. These can be various file
> types - pdf, doc, msg. It is not clear until you hover over a link what file type the link is to -
> and even then it is hidden in the middle of the link (eg ...extension=.doc...). Previously, Free
> Opener has opened those with extension=.msg, but it had problems with a couple of recent files.

> I don't have Outlook, and wanted to see if it was a problem with the *.msg files themselves,
> or perhaps with Free Opener by seeing if I could open the files with another program.

I have a program which can't possibly be beat, when it comes to opening files
which are native to Microsoft Outlook, and that program is Microsoft Outlook itself,
which you can get as part of a _free trial_ of the full version of
Microsoft Office, downloadable directly from Microsoft
(see links at end of this post).

Even when the _free trial_ expires, you can still open any documents for viewing,
including .msg files, as I have just done with the first such file that I noticed
on the site you mentioned, namely "Consultees Response-1059993.msg"

This eliminates the need for any "third party" tool such as "free opener,"
which, according to certain reviewers, will install other third party components
into your Windows operating system without asking, such as video codecs,
which "free opener" also installs so that it can "open" and play videos,
whether or not it is your intention to use "free opener" to play videos,
plus "flash active x control, dotnet client profile and possibly more."

Comments appended to the independent review below
warn about such extra installation
(in addition to the "sponsoring software" which the free program
also suggests that you install) -- for some people, the "extras"
that come along with "free opener" may be useful and not objectionable,
but you will find one commenter who would indeed have objected,
because he had already installed codecs of his own choosing,
which he would not have wanted to be replaced:
<http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/free-opener-is-a-free-file-viewer-almost-any-type-of-file/>

As to files found on a web site, file extensions such as ".msg" are not the last word
as far as what type of content they really are -- rather, each downloadable file
should have its own "Content-type" specification, as is in fact present
on the site you named. For example, the link on that site
for the file that I downloaded and then opened using my
expired free trial of Microsoft Office Outlook is:

<http://planningdocs.eastleigh.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Consultees%20Response-1059993.msg?extension=.msg&id=1059993&appid=8041&location=volume2&contentType=application/vnd.ms-outlook&pageCount=1>

As part of that URL, you see "contentType=application/vnd.ms-outlook"
which is to what most web browsers pay attention for purposes of
deciding how to handle the object, as well as telling you
what application should be associated with that file.

A "msg2mbox" converter (or java script, such as you located)
should be able to convert that type of file to the "mbox" (or "eml") type
(the basic "native" type for Internet email), which Thunderbird
should then understand, but Microsoft Outlook itself,
even as a free trial which persists in remaining available anyway,
after the trial period, ought to be the best of all programs
for being able to interpret its own native message format.

For free trial of Microsoft Office Professional (or Business) 2010, see
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx>
and note that "Home & Student" does not include Outlook, so you must download
either "Professional" or "Home & Business" to include Outlook.

--

[Chris Ramsden]

John H Meyers wrote:

> I have a program which can't possibly be beat, when it comes to opening files
> which are native to Microsoft Outlook, and that program is Microsoft Outlook itself,
> which you can get as part of a _free trial_ of the full version of
> Microsoft Office, downloadable directly from Microsoft
> (see links at end of this post).
>

Yes but...

You're just continuing the basic flaw behind this numpty-run UK local
government site; the (probably unthinking) assumption that /everyone/
uses Microsoft software. It won't have occurred to them that the message
is being stored in a proprietary Microsoft format.

Too much of the web is in the hands of people who don't even know they
are making assumptions. Like the webmaster at my place of work, who on
being told that the new company website didn't work in Firefox, asked
"What's Firefox?"

I kid you not.

--

Chris.

[Rob]

Chris Ramsden <chris....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Too much of the web is in the hands of people who don't even know they
> are making assumptions. Like the webmaster at my place of work, who on
> being told that the new company website didn't work in Firefox, asked
> "What's Firefox?"

I see nothing wrong with that. You can't possibly know about all
programs, and that isn't important because he just has to make
sure the website agrees to standards and all program authors make
sure their program implements standards.

We use Seamonkey at work and when something doesn't work and I tell
the website maker we use Seamonkey they usually don't know what it
is, either. So I tell them we use Firefox.

[Chris Ramsden]

Rob wrote:
>
> We use Seamonkey at work and when something doesn't work and I tell
> the website maker we use Seamonkey they usually don't know what it
> is, either. So I tell them we use Firefox.
>

I can understand and even sympathise with a conscious and deliberate
decision to target the largest audience share browser. But total
ignorance of the alternatives seems unforgivable to me. My webmaster
would probably have said the same had Safari been mentioned.

She may have come along a bit by now. At the time, I'm not sure she
understood the difference between “The Internet” and “Internet Explorer”.

I am not a webmaster. I have a modest personal website and even I can
see my usage statistics. Surely it's part of the job of a webmaster or
site designer to check what the people in their audience are actually
using?

People who place .msg files on a website should know better. They
probably post scans as smudgy jpegs as well. ;-)

--

Chris.

[Jeff Layman]

On 12/01/2013 06:54, John H Meyers wrote:
> On 1/10/2013 4:54 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:

>> I don't have Outlook, and wanted to see if it was a problem with the *.msg files themselves,
>> or perhaps with Free Opener by seeing if I could open the files with another program.
>
> I have a program which can't possibly be beat, when it comes to opening files
> which are native to Microsoft Outlook, and that program is Microsoft Outlook itself,
> which you can get as part of a _free trial_ of the full version of
> Microsoft Office, downloadable directly from Microsoft
> (see links at end of this post).
>
> Even when the _free trial_ expires, you can still open any documents for viewing,
> including .msg files, as I have just done with the first such file that I noticed
> on the site you mentioned, namely "Consultees Response-1059993.msg"

Thanks for that info. I know MS Office trials allow reading of Word,
Excel, and Powerpoint files after the trial ends, but I had no idea that
was also true of Outlook.

> For free trial of Microsoft Office Professional (or Business) 2010, see
> <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx>
> and note that "Home & Student" does not include Outlook, so you must download
> either "Professional" or "Home & Business" to include Outlook.

I see there is a link to download a trial of Outlook without all the
other Office stuff at the bottom of that page. But it's not working
properly at the moment.

--

Jeff

[John H Meyers]

On 1/12/2013 1:43 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:

JHM:

>> For free trial of Microsoft Office Professional (or Business) 2010, see
>> <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx>
>> and note that "Home & Student" does not include Outlook, so you must download
>> either "Professional" or "Home & Business" to include Outlook.

JL:

> I see there is a link to download a trial of Outlook without all the other Office stuff
> at the bottom of that page. But it's not working properly at the moment.

I haven't even found such a link -- maybe Microsoft is prejudiced
against my Google Chrome web browser,
or knows in advance that I'm not going to buy anything from them ;-)

What does "link not working properly" mean, anyway?
In general, we can all learn more together
(e.g. even give useful site feedback to Microsoft)
if we can just be more specific about remarks like that,
which do not give us any direction to proceed along to make progress.

--

[John H Meyers]

On 1/12/2013 10:04 AM, Chris Ramsden wrote:

JHM:

>> I have a program which can't possibly be beat, when it comes to opening files
>> which are native to Microsoft Outlook, and that program is Microsoft Outlook itself,
>> which you can get as part of a _free trial_ of the full version of
>> Microsoft Office, downloadable directly from Microsoft

>> [and continues working to display ".msg" files even after the "trial" ends]

CR:

> Yes but...
>
> You're just continuing the basic flaw behind this numpty-run UK local
> government site; the (probably unthinking) assumption that /everyone/
> uses Microsoft software. It won't have occurred to them that the message
> is being stored in a proprietary Microsoft format.

Of course the site which posted files that many people can't make use of
is lacking in usability, but the OP here is stuck on a road which has potholes,
and has to use it, and will probably find it less work to steer around them,
for the moment, than to persuade "the government" to fix the potholes first.

Sometimes an OP hasn't time to spare to even report potholes,
but anyone reading here could offer to help out by stepping in
for the OP and writing directly to "the government" for him.

"The government" is not likely reading this newsgroup,
so just posting here won't accomplish that, and I, too,
am not "public spirited" enough to step in to "right wrongs" everywhere else,
except occasionally to rant about some Thunderbird wrongs :)

--

[Jeff Layman]

(NB if you are using something like NoScript, you'll have to let it
allow javascript before all of the pages appear)
If you click on the "Download a free trial" link in the middle of that
page which states:
"Get Office 2010. Buy now | Download a free trial", it takes you to
another page at:
http://www7.buyoffice.microsoft.com/emea1/default.aspx?cache=200032206&WT.mc_id=ODC_ENUS_GenTry_Control&culture=en-GB

At the bottom of that page, in the centre, it has:
Office Outlook 2010
Buy Now | Try Now

If I click on "Try now" it takes me to another page:
http://www7.buyoffice.microsoft.com/emea1/product.aspx?sku=10234476&cache=200032206&culture=en-GB
In the centre of that page it has "Try now".(above BUY NOW - £120.00).
If I click on "Try now", I get a Server Error page:
"Server Error

1/14/2013 3:51:53 AM

An error has occurred. The error has been logged and the administrator
has been notified.

This is most likely a temporary problem. Try going back to the page that
caused the error and try again."

--

Jeff

[John H Meyers]

On 1/14/2013 6:52 AM, Jeff Layman kindly replied:

JHM> <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx>

> If you click on the "Download a free trial" link in the middle of that page which states:
> "Get Office 2010. Buy now | Download a free trial", it takes you to another page at:
> <http://www7.buyoffice.microsoft.com/emea1/default.aspx?cache=200032206&WT.mc_id=ODC_ENUS_GenTry_Control&culture=en-GB>
>
>
> At the bottom of that page, in the centre, it has:
> Office Outlook 2010
> Buy Now | Try Now

Different content is apparently delivered to different countries,
and here in midwest USA I do not get any such offer or link.

I can see an offer of just Outlook 2010 by following your next link,
but the URL changes to USA and shows me an empty shopping cart
if I attempt to download or buy.

Good luck with what's offered in "GB"

[John H Meyers]

On 1/14/2013 12:18 PM, John H Meyers wrote:

> I can see an offer of just Outlook 2010 by following your next link,
> but the URL changes to USA and shows me an empty shopping cart
> if I attempt to download or buy.

Oops, that was with cookies disabled -- with cookies enabled,
I got the same "server error" that you mentioned,
but I was asked anyway to "login" via live.com,
so I supplied my hotmail address,
after which I did get a download and a product key,
even though, after my "live.com" login,
I had identified myself as being from the USA.

Time will tell whether this installation gives me
another 60 days to try Outlook, which has some use for me,
in that I am responsible for our email migration to
"Google Apps for Education," which involves testing
installation of "Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook"
<https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync>
so that I can correctly inform and guide our current Outlook users.

That "sync" does, by the way, work very well,
providing smooth and automatic 2-way sync
of mail, contacts, calendars, and Notes,
between Outlook and Google Apps on-line
(whose mail is exactly like Gmail),
with no need to specify any servers or use IMAP.

--