Strange characters on some emails...

Guys, my wife has been having some issues when receiving some e-mails from people. Not every time and not from the same people... meaning, sometimes the e-mails get there ok and sometime, even from the same people, they get all wigged out. Below you will see a sample of what the e-mail looks like.

This time, the email was sent by me (using Thunderbird, XP w/SP3... but it was a Forwarded email, that much I remember) to my wife (Using Outlook 2003, Vista Ultimate 64bit) but she has other e-mails that look fairly similar to what mine looks like, problem is, I don't know what those people use even if I have asked. :?


Again, I don't suffer from it and I also use Outlook at home and have used it before in my office PC. At home, I am using Vista Ultimate 64 bit (outlook 2003) and also Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit (Thunderbird) and the one with the problem is the Vista side.

Please, do not suggest I move her to the Win 7 side, I have already tried and only those who are Married can understand the power of the Vagina... I'll just leave it at that!

Here is a sample of the email received.

Return-Path: ???????@????.net
Received: from imta33.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net (LHLO
imta33.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net) (76.96.59.218) by
sz0157.wc.mail.comcast.net with LMTP; Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:16:18 +0000 (UTC)
Received: from uat01.uatech.net ([71.184.129.36])
by imta33.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast
id j2GG1f0090nFZeF0Z2GJun; Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:16:18 +0000
X-CAA-SPAM: 00000
X-Authority-Analysis: v=1.1 cv=waMb61QCLq2Xk2TCsi2FLFJhDcpc/9o2JAl81+Mx2Tw=
c=1 sm=1 a=q9QR_PTovjIA:10 a=hs7IsIaYLxTRDjgq4KG4Ww==:17
a=r1lG6g6kzXvnIP37XUwA:9 a=V3PYE4TgYKPeT98Y8JaNvYBZm5kA:4 a=wPNLvfGTeEIA:10
a=_TRkyTP54kRMJAmUXXQA:9 a=ZSDbG_pq9s7Yb-6AgNYA:7
a=YQQfRHtMbQOZmFQXkBAuc2SaY3MA:4 a=hs7IsIaYLxTRDjgq4KG4Ww==:117
Received: from 173-162-78-217-miami.hfc.comcastbusiness.net ([173.162.78.217] helo=[127.0.0.1])
by uat01.uatech.net with esmtpsa (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256)
(Exim 4.69)
(envelope-from <??????@??????.net>)
id 1PSVfp-0005IS-TY; Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:16:14 -0500
Message-ID: <4D077CA9.6080807@?????.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:18:17 -0500
From: ?????? <??????@??????.net>
Reply-To: ??????@??????.net
Organization: ???? ???? Inc.
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101207 Thunderbird/3.1.7
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: LOS TESTICULOS
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="------------030004050703020704020507"
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 101214-0, 12/14/2010), Outbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean
X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report
X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - uat01.uatech.net
X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - comcast.net
X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12]
X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - motolube.net
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 101214-0, 12/14/2010), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------030004050703020704020507
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Click to expand...

I have tried Googling the answer but I get more confused or the changes I tried do nothing at all. I read that it has something to do with the Mime or the encoding but there was nothing there explaining how to solve the issue either.

You are downloading the headers only
Make sure that you are set up correctly to receive email
Download headers and messages for POP3 e-mail accounts - Outlook - Microsoft Office
Check the automatic download section in my article
If the problem is not resolved, you may want to try reinstalling the current email client.
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/vistaupgrade.htm
Try with a clean boot may be conflict with other software, such as anti virus
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135
Let us know if this does not work.

Hi AstaLaVista,

Welcome to Vista Forums!

That header was added by something being termed "X-AntiAbuse". Does this mean anything to you? Could it be an option in Avast! that sometimes activates? Is it possible it is a "service" provided by uat01.uatech.net or comcast.net or whoever might be her ISP and/or e-mail service provider (or yours)?

I'm assuming the message itself wasn't missing but rather that you removed it for reasons of privacy. If in fact that's all that was received (no message, no attachments, nothing else), then we need to check the online account to see if the message is there (and didn't make it to Outlook). It would also be helpful to know if the online account shows the same thing or if it only exists in Outlook.

Thanks and good luck!

richc46 said:

You are downloading the headers only
Make sure that you are set up correctly to receive email
Download headers and messages for POP3 e-mail accounts - Outlook - Microsoft Office

Click to expand...

I checked everything and it is defaulted to download headers and message. As stated before, 99% of the e-mails received are perfect but, from time to time, one of two will have those strange character and some times even no body just the characters itself.

richc46 said:

Check the automatic download section in my article If the problem is not resolved, you may want to try reinstalling the current email client.
Fixing Outlook after a Vista upgrade | HowTo-Outlook

Click to expand...

This links takes me to a problem when you upgrade but this is not my case. I did a clean installed of Vista Ultimate 64 bit and then I started installing all the software. Besides, since 99% of the emails gets in correctly I am reluctant to install again but, if you think it wouldn't hurt... I guess I'll schedule that for tomorrow.

richc46 said:

Try with a clean boot may be conflict with other software, such as anti virus
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
Let us know if this does not work.

Click to expand...

No this did not work, besides, in the day of the problem, others emails were received w/o a single glitch. What annoys me is that I can not recreate the problem even if I send one from my win 7 boot to this e-mail.

Lorien said:

Hi AstaLaVista,

Welcome to Vista Forums!

That header was added by something being termed "X-AntiAbuse". Does this mean anything to you? Could it be an option in Avast! that sometimes activates? Is it possible it is a "service" provided by uat01.uatech.net or comcast.net or whoever might be her ISP and/or e-mail service provider (or yours)?

Click to expand...

No, the term X-AntiAbuse does not say anything to me, in fact, it is the first time I see it.
I went to check in my new Avast 5 and did not see such option. If it were a new service from Comcast, wouldn't all the e-mails received that day had the same problem?

Now, being said that, since I did Forward it from my Office e-mail (also using comcast) to my wife's Home e-mail (comcast as well), I can only guess that it has to do with uatech.net (perhaps the person who initially sent it to me?). I remember that it was a Forward e-mail because it was a joke and I sent it to a few members of my family.

Lorien said:

I'm assuming the message itself wasn't missing but rather that you removed it for reasons of privacy.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are indeed correct...
The joke (content) also was received so I am guessing that the header and the content got downloaded but all wigged out.

Lorien said:

If in fact that's all that was received (no message, no attachments, nothing else), then we need to check the online account to see if the message is there (and didn't make it to Outlook). It would also be helpful to know if the online account shows the same thing or if it only exists in Outlook.

Click to expand...

Well, unfortunately, this was a few days ago and there is nothing on the Online Comcast Account but again, I did check in the outlook body and the message (joke) got downloaded as well.

Thanks for taking the time to help guys... I really appreciate the effort even if I didn't find the answers yet.

Hi AstaLaVista,

I do not believe this is a problem with Vista or even Outlook unless a program of some sort was installed that includes this X-AntiAbuse feature. We need to find the source of the program that is including those headers and at the moment, I'm not certain where it is coming from. That's the key to resolving this problem. The fact that it isn't on all e-mails should help if we can find something (anything) in common between the e-mails where it does occur (and with the full headers, that should help). Anything at all that is the same (aside from the problem itself) that might help identify the cause. It seems intentional - I only wish like with the X-AntiVirus entries - it showed the program name (if you look, you'll notice they indicate Avast).

I'm sure some program from an email-provider or computer along the chain or something that was inadvertently downloaded to someone's computer or intentionally included to eliminate abusive e-mails or included on the server (perhaps Exchange Server) if one of the computers is attached that way is causing this problem. It is X-AntiAbuse (though it probably goes by some other name). If you still have the original joke without the problem header, then temporarily deactivate downloads to Outlook and resend it to your wife (maybe a couple of times) the same way you did before (preferably from the same computer or at least the same location). After a while for it to be received, check the online account and see if it has the same problem as Outlook. If so, then we can pretty much eliminate Outlook as the problem as it is occurring before Outlook even gets it. If not, re-activate the downloads and do a Send/Receive to get them and see if they show the problem. If so, then there is something about Outlook that's causing the problem. This narrows down our culprit list.

Next, see if you can get your friend to send the joke directly to her (instead of forwarded through you) and see if she has the same problem. I'd like to see if taking you out of the equation resolves the problem or if it still happens. If it still occurs, that also helps us narrow down the cause. Regardless, have her then forward the message to you and see if the problem continues if it existed for her or if it occurs to you though it was fine for her. Again, more information to try to track down the culprit.

Why it occurs only sometimes is a bit of a mystery. Could it be only e-mails from this person (or others at that location) that were either sent or forwarded? We need to find the common element and the source of this "feature." It may be we can do nothing about it (if it exists intentionally), but it's also possible that we can find a way to stop it if we can locate the source.

With this additional information, hopefully we can find options to try to ID the cause (or remove it). Then we can try other steps. For example, if we discover it is her computer causing the problem, then maybe we can activate Windows Mail temporarily and see if the problem occurs there as well as with Outlook. What we try next depends a lot about what you learn by trying the above. Also, ask your friend if he knows anything about X-AntiAbuse or including excessively large headers in e-mails - he may surprise us all by saying "Oh yeah, they have that on our server or installed it on all our computers."

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

If the idea was not already presented, I would suggest a clean boot and see if that affects the situation. As Lorien mentioned it could be some software that is causing this problem
Every member who helps another in these forums tries their best to resolve this issue and that is certainly true in this situation.
I have an additional motivation, I am very curious as to the cause of such a unique problem. Wish you well
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7