Please give me your advice on the following problem. Ever since
purchasing a Compaq computer with Windows XP, I have been unable to
open e-mail attachments. I use web-based e-mail. Typically, I click on
the attachment link. Microsoft Word opens up with a dialog box message
stating:
"Microsoft Word
The command cannot be performed because a dialog box is open. Click
OK, and then close dialog boxes to continue." I can make out another
dialog box behind this one. It appears to say "Windows Installer".
When I click "OK" on the top, "command cannot be performed" dialog
box, two things might happen. Either Microsoft Word shuts down, or I
am taken to a new dialog box which is called ""Microsoft Office 2003
Setup"". It asks that I provide a "25-character Product Key" which is
said to be available on "the cd case" or on the "certificate of
authenticity". Is this a program that I must purchase? I did not have
it on my old computer, but I had no problems opening attachments. I
did have Word Perfect, though. I have been using the Microsoft Works
Word Processor without a problem. I didn't have to install anything.
If I must purchase this (Office 2003) program, how do I go about it?
If it is not necessary to purchase this program, then how do I go
about opening my attachments?

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Clarification of Question by alexandraroman-ga on 31 Jan 2005 06:16 PST

To guzzi-ga:

I've tried (& failed) to open attachments ending ".doc". I have also
tried (& failed) to open an attachment ending ".pps".  Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 31 Jan 2005 09:41 PST

Hi Alexandra,

Do you have .doc (Microsoft Word) and .pps (Microsoft PowerPoint)files
in your computer? Can you open these files using your Microsoft Works?

-Feilong

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Clarification of Question by alexandraroman-ga on 31 Jan 2005 15:05 PST

To Feilong:
It's a relatively new computer, so i don't have much saved. The things
created in the Microsoft Works Word Processor end ".wps". I've also
saved some pages off the internet. As an experiment, I just sent one
of these ".wps" files to myself as an attachment using yahoo mail. It
went without a problem but, when I tried to open the attachment, I got
a box saying:
"Works cannot open the file you have selected. The file may have been
deleted or moved. To remove this file from the list, find the file
name in the Works Tasks Launcher. Click the file name with the right
mouse button and then click Delete."
When I click OK to get rid of the box, the Microsoft Works Word
Processor opens up to a blank page. Needless to say, I have no problem
opening this file except when it is an attachment. Maybe I should
mention that I use two web-based e-mails. There is yahoo which I just
used to try to open the ".wps" file. The ".doc" files and ".pps" file
came through university e-mail (also web-based). Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 31 Jan 2005 16:08 PST

Hi,

Thanks for replying to my question.

"Needless to say, I have no problem opening this file except when it
is an attachment."

This is basically your main problem.

Instead of left-clicking on the attachment link, try right-clicking on
it. A menu will appear where you can choose "Save target as..." and
download the .wps attachment to a location of your choice because you
have no problem opening files in your computer.

Now do the same on the .doc and .pps. and see if you can open them
using Microsoft Works. Please tell me what happens so I'll know how to
proceed. Thank you.

-Feilong

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Clarification of Question by alexandraroman-ga on 31 Jan 2005 18:33 PST

To feilong-ga:
This worked with the ".wps" file that I sent to myself. It does not
work with the ".doc" file which someone sent to me. The same thing
happened which I've described. I am able to save the file but, when I
try to open it, I get:
"Microsoft Word
The command cannot be performed because a dialog box is open. Click
OK, and then close dialog boxes to continue."  This time, the
"Microsoft Office 2003 Setup" which asks for the product key is
visible behind the first box.
Do you think this is just a matter of my not having the program I need
to open these attachments? I don't want to buy something which I don't
need. I would have thought a new computer with XP would have whatever
is necessary to open most attachments. Does "set up" imply that the
program is there on the computer but that I must go through some kind
of process to install it? If I click on "start" Microsoft Office Word
2003 is there. If I click on it, I get the "Set Up" box which asks for
the 25-character product key.
Appreciate your help. 
Dazed & Confused.

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Clarification of Question by alexandraroman-ga on 31 Jan 2005 21:05 PST

Update for feilong-ga:

I went to the Microsoft website. It stated that if a program came with
a computer, one should contact the computer company. They provide a
list of companies with 800 numbers. I called Compaq and got a very
helpful guy named Keith. Turns out that the default for opening
programs was set for Microsoft Office even though it is not installed
on the computer. There IS a two month free trial offer for Office on
the computer. Maybe this is why the default was set to it. Very
unhelpful of them if this is the case. Anyway, he took me through
changing the default. It went:
START to CONTROL PANEL to SWITCH TO CLASSIC VIEW (UPPER LEFT OF BOX)
to FOLDER OPTIONS to FILE TYPES.  Once I was in FILE TYPES,  he had me
go down the list of extensions until I came to a "doc" one. He had me
highlight this and click the "CHANGE" button. An "OPEN WITH" box
opened. It was set to Office. I changed it to the works word
processor.
Now, I tried to open the .doc attachment that I had been unable to
open before. The Works Word Processor opened, but I got the:
"Works cannot open the file you have selected. The file may have been
deleted or moved. To remove this file from the list, find the file
name in the Works Tasks Launcher. Click the file name with the right
mouse button and then click Delete."
But, when I followed your advice and right clicked it & saved it, I
was finally able to open the attachment. Hurrah! I've written all this
down in case anyone is having the same problem. Thanks for your help.
I'm ready to put through the payment (your suggestion was the final
thing that allowed me to open the document). Just post your last
comment as an answer, or however you go about it. I wonder if this is
at all a common problem with trial offers for microsoft products.
Also, I wonder why I can't just click on the attachment the way I used
to with my old computer.

Hi Alexandra,

First of all, thank you very much for allowing me to post an official
answer. I'm glad you found my suggestion useful. Now let me add some
more helpful comments.

For .doc files, you can always right-click on it (after you've
downloaded them), choose "Open with" and select "Wordpad". The
built-in Wordpad in your WinXP will open .doc files as well as .wri
and .rtf files. However, if the .doc file you downloaded contains
special formatting and or functions specific only to MS Word, the
document might not display correctly and/or you may not be able to
open the file at all.

Furthermore, you won't be able to access .pps and .ppt files with
Works especially if the file contains special formatting and/or
functions specific only to MS PowerPoint. The result will be the same
as what I mentioned above.

Therefore I suggest that you get yourself a copy of MS Office to
access the full features of the software and also to be able to use
other useful MS programs like Excel (.xls) Who knows, somebody might
send you this kind of file and you will have the same problem without
MS Office.

Regarding MS Office, I'm in no way representing the product or company
in this answer. The answer is only to inform you and help you make
your decision.

I hope this helps you. If you have a question, please feel free to
post your clarification and I'll attend to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for asking.

Best regards,
Feilong

Can you advise on the attachment types which you are trying to open,
such as doc jpg etc.

Best

One comment which hopefully will help with the problem of opening
attachments: when the computer complains that it can't find the file
(as opposed to finding it but not being able to open it) it's often
because there are spaces in the file name or path, and the open
command hasn't been properly configured to handle them.

To fix this, you need to go into the FILE TYPES area that you used to
change the opening program to Works. Go to the "Open" action and click
Edit. Check the ending of the definition. If it has the program name
and nothing else, or if it has the program name followed by something
like %1, change it so that it has the program name followed by "%1".
The " marks tell Windows to treat the whole filename as a single
object and not break it up at the spaces.

In other words, if it says
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Works\Works.exe" 
or
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Works\Works.exe" %1

change it to 

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Works\Works.exe" "%1"

If it has something else at the end with a % sign, make sure there are
" marks around the bit with the % sign.