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OL2002: Users Can Read Nonsecure E-mail As Plain Text (Q307594)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 2002


IMPORTANT : This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article describes a new feature that is added to Outlook 2002 in Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 1 (SP-1). This feature allows individual users to set Microsoft Outlook to read all non-digitally-signed e-mail or nonencrypted e-mail in plain text format.

This change also allows system administrators to use policies to lock down users to read all non-digitally-signed e-mail or nonencrypted e-mail in plain text only.

Digitally signed e-mail or encrypted e-mail is not affected by this update and cannot be modified by a system policy. Digitally signed e-mail or encrypted e-mail is read in its original format.

For additional information about the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q307841 OFFXP: How to Obtain the Latest Office XP Service Pack


MORE INFORMATION


Enable the "Read as Plain Text" Feature

WARNING : Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).


To enable the "Read as Plain Text" feature, you must make the following additions to the system registry:
  1. Click Start and then click Run . In the Open box, type regedit .


  2. Navigate to the following registry key:


  3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
  4. On the Edit menu, point to New , and then click DWord Value .


  5. With the new Dword selected, type ReadAs Plain .


  6. Double-click to open the new value. In the Value Data box, type 1 and then click OK .

    NOTE : "Read As Plain Text" is turned on and the BodyFormat property is locked at 1. (Help says it's read/write.) Any attempt to set it to another value will result in an error.


  7. Repeat steps 3 through 5, but instead type EnableLogging .


  8. Click OK and then close the registry.


Changes That Users Will Notice

  • The setting applies to the preview pane as well as open messages.
  • Pictures become attachments to avoid their loss.
  • The object model (custom code solutions) may behave unexpectedly, because the note is still in Rich Text or HTML in the mail store.
  • Digitally signed messages are not altered.


Published Dec 7 2001 1:22PM Issue Type kbbug
Last Modifed Dec 15 2001 12:30AM Additional Query Words
Keywords kbOfficeXPpreSP1fix kbOfficeXPsp1Fix

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