How Do I Open .MIME Formatted Email?

A friend sends a lot of email to me in .MIME format. I asked him what application I need to open them but he's just a casual surfer and doesn't understand "computer lingo". When I open them all I see is a loooong list of letters & numbers. With Google search I figured it must be an old unix code. The only website I found supposedly with a converter is just a shell with that

< Parent Directory

followed by a list of
folder 8k
files 150k
Yeah. 56k
that 666k
type 69k

I run Windows ME

 

You're running Outlook or Outlook Express I would guess. Checking the Outlook Express help files it looks like OE can't deal. You might want to dowload Eudora mail client. It comes in a free (adware) version as well as a couple of pay versions. I used it a long time ago and it handled MIME email (which was the old "four wheel drive" of mail) just fine. Probably still does.

 

MIME is reasonably old. Here's what to do:

1. If the MIME part is an attachment, save the attachment as a file with a .uue extention.
2. If the MIME part is inline, save everything between the "-------------" (inclusive) to a text file, except give it the .uue extention (note that if you have Hide file extentions enabled that Windows might be dumb and call it file.uue.txt just to annoy you).

WARNING: MIME encoded files can be of any type, including executable files. That means the file might very well be a virus. If you do not know the sender or did not expect to get this attachment DO NOT OPEN IT until you can confirm the contents are legit. Especially of the Content-type is some kind of application.

In any case, once you have the .uue file, you can open it with WinZIP which is able to decode such files. Right-click and choose open, and select WinZIP from the list that pops up.

 

Drats!

Choice 1: Eudora = 8.2M of adware
Choice 2: Copy inside the "...." lines, Open with WinZIP = I don't have WinZIP either

I found a readable portion scrolling down the email attachment, somethin' about an orphaned fawn.

The rest is a .jpg

Choice 3: Screw it!

Thanks for the help anyway, guys. If my buddy sends a really important message with a .MIME encoded .jpg, (naked women, stupid cartoon) I'll just suggest to him to send a copy of the .jpg saved on his computer via normal protocol.

 

That's your best way. Caution is always good.

 

Hi,

It sounds as though your friend managed to embed the attachments into the message body of the email, instead of attaching them to the message.

MIME is a way of encoding 8-bit binary files into 7-bit ASCII (which is the lingua franca of the Internet... plain, human-readable text, and that's why encryption standards exist (such as SSL for sockets, HTTPS at the application layer for hypertext... and why people use VPNs with encryption, too) - to encrypt the plain text data stream at various levels before sending it out over the 'net).

Modern email clients still use MIME as a common binary attachment format, but they do binary attachment conversion via MIME in both directions transparently to the user, without intervention.

UUencode/UUdecode was another format that accomplished the same thing as MIME, but in another way... I had a UUEncode/Decode gateway on the email system for a former employer... it logged into CompuServe (which was our way of sending and receiving Internet email 'way back then... sad, but true: We'd had a CompuServe account for years, and when the Internet started to grow, it was easier to just use CompuServe's MHS mail hub), downloaded email, then UUDecoded any binary attachments... and, conversely, UUEncoded binary attachments outbound because back then, CompuServe was THE electronic service of choice, and, while they supported UUEncode, they didn't support MIME (then).

Anyway, since it's all ASCII - you could cut and paste the individual blocks into seperate files, then look for a stand-alone MIME-to-binary converter...

Easier just to teach your friend how to attach files to his mail messages, and have him resend them, I think

Regards,

dj

 

Hey DJ Gee whiz, Compuserve, huh.Orange letters, black screen. Lynx was the hot new thing. Probably you went out on the big bad web armed to the teeth -- with good reason. I remember all of that stuff. I know it was wild west dangerous out there and all, but don't you miss it just a little. I know I do

 

Hi,

Orange letters, black screen, on an Amdek Video 310A via a Hercules-compatible monochrome video adapter made by Everex on my Rakoa Turbo XT clone (10 MHz) *grin*. At 1200 baud, at first... then 2400 baud, once Everex released their 1200/2400 baud internal 8-bit ISA modems. But, I had to wait while CompuServe upgraded their local access nodes to 2400 baud.... and wait again at 9600 baud... while paying a premium per minute for the highest speed access once it became available.

I didn't encounter the Internet, in "raw" format, until 1995 (I did the BBS scene and CompuServe before the 'net became "it")... I was reluctant to give up my personal CompuServe account (ID: 75530,2670. So, my Internet email address was: 75530.2670@compuserve.com, as I recall, but it's been a LONG time).

I used to use a program made by Dvorak Software to minimize my online time to CompuServe, as it was billed per minute, by connect speed... and 2400 baud was considered "high-speed" access. Neat software, though: I could tag the forums that I was interested in, and it would grab the messages, download them, and then upload my replies... and it could do the same for file downloads, too. I used to schedule it to run very late at night when connect charges were at their lowest, then review everything the next day. Rinse, repeat... still, I managed to rack up some serious connect time bills.

The software worked by sending the commands to CompuServe, just as I would if I was online and typing.

Later, CompuServe released CIM (CompuServe Information Manager), and later, WinCIM (the Windows 3.x version of it), to help automate that stuff.

I finally gave up my CompuServe account in 1996 (after first going online with it in 1986): I'd gotten a real Internet account with Advantis (then owned by IBM - and I had been running OS/2 for quite awhile then*, since version 2.0 - it multi-tasked Windows 3.x applications much better than Windows 3.x itself did *grin*), and never looked back.

AOL later bought CompuServe, and it's now just a web site front, basically.

But, yeah, I miss CompuServe sometimes.

Regards,

dj

*And, my crowning triumph with OS/2: I got NetWare for OS/2 (based upon NetWare v4.1) running as a task under OS/2... on a 486DX/33 with 64 MB RAM, with an ARCNET NIC, on my office PC (I wasn't geek enough to have a network at home back then... but then again, few were *grin*).

And, it worked And, I could actually use OS/2 in the foreground, while NetWare ran as a task, serving files, etc. I could open up DOS windows, Windows 3.x windows... smooth as silk, all while NetWare ran in the background. And, the odd native OS/2 app, too

Proof positive that even back then, Novell was committed to multi-platform networking. And further proof that IBM knows how to make operating systems.

My manager freaked out when he saw a "foreign" NetWare server on the wire, though, LOL. It only took him a week to realize that it was there.

And, just so you don't think I'm bullshitting - here's my CNE ID: 6201744. Certified since December, 1992. Go ahead, look it up

But, yeah, I miss CompuServe sometimes. Back then, there was no "leet" talk. People were polite, kind and helpful... and nobody ever posted a message that read: "Cn ne1 tell me how..."

Back then, I'd never have thought to post a question, anywhere, without first having exhausted my resources... and, once I'd gotten to the point where I had to do so, I'd include everything that I had tried as well, and the results, to show that I'd made an effort, and had at least half a clue (OK, 1/4 of a clue *grin*).

Anyway, I'd best not let this devolve into a rant, lest Jim quang me proper