File Sizes?

[bitsnstuff]

Right, I have got to the bottom of my Outlook problem.

My sister apparently decided it would be a good idea to send me a copy of the Access Database she is working on for me, by email!!!! She said 'It didn't work the first time I tried to send it, because it was too big, so I zipped"!!

Yes, she did, down to 4mb! :shock:

Could any expert give me some advice to pass on to her, as to the max size file which can be or should be sent by email to avoid the recipient's system crashing?!

All help appreciated.

Kate :lol:

[mattk]

Hiya Kate.

I'd have thought that as long as you both have a broadband connection a file of 4Mb is fine to be sent via email.

Anything more than about 10Mb might start clogging up your Inbox.

[Rob Holmes]

Kat you could ftp it up to your hosting account and then send her the url to download it from :)

Rob

[bitsnstuff]

Hi Matt,

We do, but when I logged into to my webmail to try to get at my messages, her message was sitting there and all other from then onwards. I deleted her message and then eventually all the others were sent to me at Outlook.

What could have caused it then?

Kate

[Mortime Business Software]

Hi Kate. I'm not an expert, but I would say that 4mb isn't that big really, well not big enough to crash the system. Are you sending the application as well as the data? If you both have the same application, then you only need to send the compressed data.

Also, you could try FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Upload the files to your website with your FTP program, and send sis a link to download them. You could send the link in an email so you don't have to place it on your site.

Dave

[confused]

just a sidenote, access databases tend to grow in file size rapidly, but you can compact it, toos/database utilites/compact and repair.

If I'm understanding right, you were getting no mail through outlook but when you deleted the message your sister sent then the rest came through fine?
If you are struggling, pm me and your sis cam mail it me if you like and I'll put it up on some webspace for you (I wont be offended if you password the zip or dbase!)

[mattk]

Kate

How long did you leave your Outlook downloading the file? It might take a minute or two for it to completely download, but a file of 4Mb shouldn't block your whole system up!

[james.hill]

Right, I have got to the bottom of my Outlook problem.

My sister apparently decided it would be a good idea to send me a copy of the Access Database she is working on for me, by email!!!! She said 'It didn't work the first time I tried to send it, because it was too big, so I zipped"!!

Yes, she did, down to 4mb! :shock:

Could any expert give me some advice to pass on to her, as to the max size file which can be or should be sent by email to avoid the recipient's system crashing?!

All help appreciated.

Kate :lol:

1 meg for dialup, 10 meg for broadband.

It all depends really... everyones computer system is different. The rule of thumb is to not send large files via email - it simply wasn't designed for that.

Examples:

MS Word document: OK
PDF document: OK
Excel spreadsheet: OK
Movie: NOT OK
Music: NOT OK
Small Pictures: OK
Large Pictures (directly from a digital camera) NOT OK
Screen savers: NOT OK (could be a virus)
Computer Programs: NOT OK (could be a virus, could be too large).


Of course these are only my suggestions and are just a guide. There will be plenty of exceptions to the above rules.

Cheers,

James

[bitsnstuff]

I like the FTP suggestion for the future, if I can work out how to do it. Thank you for the offer Confused, but I think it would be best to do it myself as it is my customer database.

She zipped the database and when I received it and tried to open it the whole application opened.

I always thought that you weren't supposed to send such large files, as the recipient may not have a system to cope with it - maybe I have just made up my own version of email ettiquette?!

If that didn't cause the problem, then why did my system stop sending and receiving emails from that point onwards? Could it be a restriction by my host 1and1?

It would be good to know/find out as it lost me half a day's work. :cry:

Kate

[confused]

She zipped the database and when I received it and tried to open it the whole application opened

so you got it ok in the end? I wouldnt have thought anything would have been lost.

I always thought that you weren't supposed to send such large files, as the recipient may not have a system to cope with it - maybe I have just made up my own version of email ettiquette?!
Not so much the system cant cope with it, it could be that either the senders or recipients ISP has a maximum size limit, and as mentioned, a 4 meg file on a 56k would take some time, that said, if you are expecting it then theres no problem waiting, its no slower than downloading a file of the same size from anywhere else.

[bitsnstuff]

I didn't get it to my outlook on my desktop, I logged into my webmail on my hosts website to see if I could find a problem and tried to open the email from there, when it opened up the database, if came up with a message that there was no error message available for that particular problem (helpful!!).

Could it be a problem with my outlook then?

Kate :lol:

[confused]

ok heres what I'd do
Delete the mail (from webmail)
and have your sis resend it, I'd also reccomend you ask her to do the compact/erpair that I mentioned prior to sending it.

[DotNetWebs]

How about transferring it via an instant messenger service like MSN. That what I do especially when dealing with friend and family. 4mb would be no problem.

[bitsnstuff]

Ooooo can you do that on IM with a file that large??? Excellent. I think I will go down that route for now as my Outlook is obviously feeling touchy and I am not able to fix it if it conks out again.

Thanks all for your help. :lol:

Kate

[JustOneUK]

How about transferring it via an instant messenger service like MSN. That what I do especially when dealing with friend and family. 4mb would be no problem.

argh..you read my mind, good call DNW.
will still take 45 mins on dial up probably, but what would I know surfing the web like a speed demon. !! 8)

[crus]

Right,

OK, here is the real deal, when email servers are set up a number of constraints are put in place, often one of these is the file attachment size limit.

Now days many email providers set this towards the 10mb limit, so if you are both on the same provider and they stipulate 10mb then you are OK to use that size.

BUT, and its a big one, the web is a big place and the 1mb limit is
much more common when you look at the global picture and restricted services.

Therefore, the solution is to avoid mail attachments over 1mb when you are sending to recipitents on a provider other than your own when you can use up to thier specified limit.

To move larger files always use FTP or a peer to peer client, its faster and more reliable.

D

[easyasit]

i have not read all the threads where but can say
hotmail allow a max of 10mb to be emailed, as doe si think gmail.

Otherwise for anything much bigger, try sending it to an ftp site for downloading

Al