Received email(Windows XP Home SP2 and Gmail program)including
pictures sent by an AOL user but cannot access the pictures.  Have a
router Firewall and windows XP software firewall but when I click to
see the pictures all I get is a blank 'Done' screen.

How can I access the received pictures.

See if they can send it via one of these
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Thanks for your suggestion, however I need to solve my specific
problem, i.e. How to view pictures sent by email from an AOL user when
they send them using an AOL program and I receive them on a WIN XP
Home SP2 sytem.

Is it Just AOL or all emails?

Iy is just AOL that is being used to send the pictures.  I receive the
AOL email and all other email just fine.  The problem is not about
receiving emails it ia about accessing pictures in the AOL email sent
by the AOL picture sending feature.

Hello,

As a non AOL user please understand that I am only answering this as a
person that has 'dug' for an 'answer' and not from personal
experience.

It seems AOL compresses images used by their members into a format
unique to AOL (Maybe Google can fix this for them with their 1billion
investment!)..anyway, I digress...) with a .art extension.  People NOT
on the AOL system like yourself cannot see inline photos sent in
emails (gee..ya think AOL might automatically decompress these emails
as they leave the system eh?)...The AOL user has 2 choices...either
add the photos as attachements FROM THEIR HARD DRIVE (Not from online
AOL photo storage because that again is another unique standard!) OR
they can follow the following instructions and set AOL to NOT use
compression and be more standard compliant (YEAH!)...

http://www.peoplewithsigns.com/support/aol.asp

If this answer has been helpful please leave a positive comment....if
you need more assistance please indicate so that others may help.

Good Luck.

Turn off the Windows Firewall and then check the issue. If you are
also using an AOL e-mail client, then disable the firewall within the
AOL software.

This should work.

Windows Firewall is OFF but using ZoneAlarm firewall which is also OFF
and Not using AOL, just the recipient of AOL generated Email containg
the un-accessable pictures.