4 replies to this topic

[frozen.fish]

Hello all,

Im having odd problems with gmail, Cant attach a certain .zip file containing htmls and swfs. Do they also scan ZIP files?
Are there extensions not allowed in Gmail?

[rogerthecamel]

Yes I think they do scan the contents of ZIP files, not sure why they won't let you send HTML or SWF though, probably because they may be able to have active content that can damage computers. Same with EXE files. Best bet is usually to rename extensions to something like TXT or even just _TML and _WF so that you know how to rename them back.

[frozen.fish]

Thanks for the input.. now i know, exes not allowed allright..

[k_nitin_r]

kerco, on Apr 15 2009, 01:59 PM, said:

Hello all,

Im having odd problems with gmail, Cant attach a certain .zip file containing htmls and swfs. Do they also scan ZIP files?
Are there extensions not allowed in Gmail?

Hi!

When you attach a ZIP file to an email in GMail, GMail scans the attachment to check for the presence of executable files. Unlike Yahoo, which permits executables and scans the files with an antivirus, GMail takes the more conservative approach of prohibiting executables from being sent entirely.

A workaround would be to pack your files into a 7-Zip, RAR or ARJ file and send it across. I'm guessing GMail doesn't read these archive formats yet.

Regards,
Nitin Reddy

[Atomic0]

If renaming or archiving files is a hassle, just upload them file hosting services such as Box.net or YouSendIt.com, which besides allowing you to upload executables in archive files e.g. ZIP and RAR, have a larger allowed filesize oftten many times the allowed filesize for attachments in webmail services like GMail.