After publishing the article on missing pictures in Outlook Express (the Red X's), Infopackets Reader George W. asked a related question about hearing music through email.

" Dear Dennis,

I just got done reading your article about missing pictures in Outlook Express: I've got a similar problem and hope you can help me. Until a short time ago, I was able to insert background music (MIDI and .WAV files) into my emails and have the recipient listen to the music as they read the email.

I did this by creating my email, then clicked Format -> Background -> Sound, and selected my music file. The music would then play in the background of my email, but when the recipient received my message, there was no music. Is this something I'm doing wrong or they doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated. "

My response:

Did you just upgrade to Internet Explorer 6? Or Windows XP? Both picture and sound file (if inserted to an email, not "attached") need HTML compatibility. That means you need to be sending in HTML email format, and the receiver needs to be reading in HTML format.

In either case, please review the original article concerning the Red X and make sure both computers can receive (read) and send in HTML.

To change the read format, load Outlook Express, click Tools -> Options -> Read, and ensure that "Read all messages in plain text" does *not* have a checkmark beside it (as seen above).