I’m getting quite a few messages from friends with attachements that I cannot open. For example, one is from my camping buddy and the file he sent me has a .pps file extention and I’m not quite sure what do to with them. How can I open these?

Well, the reason you can’t open attachements is usually because they were created with a program you don’t have on your computer. The good news is that you can normally download free viewers for most type of packages which let you view their contents quite freely. I’ve checked out the .pps file you sent me and it’s a Powerpoint presentation of different rv parks around the US.

Microsoft Powerpoint is a presentation package that is quite useful for preparing slideshows and presentations. Most people have it as part of Microsoft Office, but if you don’t own this package then you’ll have difficulty opening the file. The solution is to download the free PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft’s website. Once you install this, all you have to do is open your attachment in the normal way and you should be able to view the slideshow in it’s full glory!