Guest Jbaker Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 I am looking for a Web host that doesn't treat its customers like clueless Windows users. My current Web host has began filtering outgoing email attachments ... a practice I find wholly unacceptable. Now, because some lazy admin is afraid of viruses I can't forward email anymore (forwarded emails are attached as EML files which are one of the filtered attachments). Not to mention that I can't email REG files, EXE, etc. eithout having to explain to some poor newby how to get an unizpping program, unzip the file, and then find where they unzipped it and run it. Anyway, I'll get off of my soapbox. Is Total Choice Hosting the place, or do I need to move on? Thanks.
abinidi Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 Jbaker, Welcome to the forums. I'll leave it to one of the techs to speak to the specifics of your question as I use TCH servers for my e-mail, though I believe the forwarded messages work fine, as I've never heard anybody complain about it. As for filtering .exe files, your former ISP isn't the only one; Did you know that Google's email system, Gmail, doesn't let you send .exe files as attachments? If you are having trouble emailing certain file types, you might consider providing a link to them on your webspace. Uploade the .exe or .reg file to your webspace, and send your customers (or whoever) a link to the file. If you are worried about the security of that, then you might password protect the direcory the file resides in, and provide individual users with credientials to access the directory. I hope you find what you are looking for in a web host. I've found TCH to be the most reliable web host out ther with fantastic (!!) support both here in the forums and from the help desk. TCH is run by people who genuinely care and want to make you experience positive. You can IM the owner of the company if you have any questions. What other company do you do business whith whose AIM screen name you have? Anyway, good luck! Thanks for stopping by the forums. Hope you stick around.
Guest Guest Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 Jbaker, As for filtering .exe files, your former ISP isn't the only one; Did you know that Google's email system, Gmail, doesn't let you send .exe files as attachments? If you are having trouble emailing certain file types, you might consider providing a link to them on your webspace. Uploade the .exe or .reg file to your webspace, and send your customers (or whoever) a link to the file. If you are worried about the security of that, then you might password protect the direcory the file resides in, and provide individual users with credientials to access the directory. Thanks for your quick response. Forgive me if I am a bit short with my response, but it's really starting to bother me that I can't find a *real* Web host anymore (by *real* I mean just a server that isn't trying to police me until after I do something wrong, not before). Well, I don't think anyone has accused GMail of being an enterprise-worthyemail system. It's a glorified Yahoo! Mail that Goggle can tap for data mining. Not to badmouth your response, just that Goggle's GMail isn't a standard by which to compare email systems IMHO. The whole point is that I am not a clueless Windows user and I do not want to be babysat by my Web host. I do not want to waste my time figuring out ways to work around roadblocks that my Web host has thrown in my way. I'd rather just find a Web host that is a better fit for me.
abinidi Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 I didn't mean to imply the Gmail is the standard. All I mean is that its not just some random webhost that blocks the .exe attachments. There are major corporations that do the same for security purposes. While you and I know enough to not double-click on a .exe attachment we weren't expecting, there are many users who don't. Another solution you could try, if uploading the file to your webspace wouldn't work, is to simply rename the file. Instead of file.exe, you could rename it to file.exe.remove_this, and then instruct your users to remove the ".remove_this" extension. Or your could rename it to "file" and have your users rename it to "file.exe" In any case, I hope you find the answers you are looking for, and a webhost that provides you with the services you seek.
TCH-Bruce Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 You can look here to see the blocked attachments list. Most of these extensions can contain some sort of vulnerability and the reason they are blocked. You don't have to zip any of these files before attaching them. Change the last letter of the file to an underscore and they will pass through the mail system without being blocked. Zipping the file is the preferred method though. As Paul has stated, good luck finding a host that will allow email to handle the attachment types you wish to send. But you may as well resign yourself to the fact that even if you can send it, the person you are trying to get it to most likely will have it blocked on their end.
Guest Guest Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 You can look here to see the blocked attachments list. Most of these extensions can contain some sort of vulnerability and the reason they are blocked. You do realize that blocking EML attachments means that anyone not using Outlook for email cannot forward mail as an attachment right (try it with Thunderbird or Eudora for example)? That's why I'm leaving my other host. I did find a host that doesn't want to babysit me, but thanks for your assistance. As far as an attachment being blocked on the recipients end, there's nothing I can do about that. That would be their problem. Edit: TCH-Bruce - link removed. We don't appreciate links to other hosting sites, thank you.
TCH-Bruce Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 You do realize that blocking EML attachments means that anyone not using Outlook for email cannot forward mail as an attachment right (try it with Thunderbird or Eudora for example)? That's why I'm leaving my other host. I did find a host that doesn't want to babysit me, but thanks for your assistance. This is how many of the trojans and phishing schemes are transmitted. But not to beat a dead horse. Good luck.
TCH-Tim Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 As a side note, you could get a dedicated box and do whatever you want with it.
Guest Guest Posted June 5, 2006 Posted June 5, 2006 This is how many of the trojans and phishing schemes are transmitted. But not to beat a dead horse. Good luck. Yes, but it's like banning fast cars because some people die doing stupid stuff in them. It would be a lot more responsible to just shut off the Internet pipes of zombie machines and close the accounts of spammers. Most ISPs and hosts can't be bothered to proactively participate though.
TCH-Tim Posted June 6, 2006 Posted June 6, 2006 It would be a lot more responsible to just shut off the Internet pipes of zombie machines and close the accounts of spammers. Man, we should have thought of that before For what it's worth, I would never open a forwarded email attachment anyway. Want to forward me something? Put it inline in the message body. I don't want to have to guess what's in that attachment. But maybe I'm just paranoid.
TCH-JimE Posted June 6, 2006 Posted June 6, 2006 Hello, You can set Thunderbird not to forward the email as an attachment but as an inline body message, just as Tim does above ( I do too). I am sorry we don't provide what your looking for and I wish you all the best looking for one that does. JimE
Deverill Posted June 6, 2006 Posted June 6, 2006 It would be a lot more responsible to just shut off the Internet pipes of zombie machines and close the accounts of spammers. That's never going to happen! I'm glad TCH, and others like them, does what they do to protect the ones not smart enough to protect themselves. How bad would these things be if these kinds of limitations weren't in place. To continue your example, if you want to drive your fast car fast then you should get a dedicated server... then you can fly, or wrap it around a tree, as you like. On a virtual/shared server it's like driving a Greyhound bus full of people at 150 on a winding mountain road -- you're likely to take a lot of us down with you if you make a mistake.
abinidi Posted June 6, 2006 Posted June 6, 2006 On a virtual/shared server it's like driving a Greyhound bus full of people at 150 on a winding mountain road -- you're likely to take a lot of us down with you if you make a mistake. Great example! Thanks!
Guest Bobby Duncan Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 To continue your example, if you want to drive your fast car fast then you should get a dedicated server... then you can fly, or wrap it around a tree, as you like. On a virtual/shared server it's like driving a Greyhound bus full of people at 150 on a winding mountain road -- you're likely to take a lot of us down with you if you make a mistake. The analogy isn't valid. Shared hosting only shares physical resources (the highway). The software configurations are all separate (cars operating on the highway). Using a shotgun approach by banning all attachments that could possibly contain something malicious has no logical merit other than a false sense of security on the part of the administrator responsible. If a user is uneducated enough to open random files, what makes you believe that they won't unzip the file and then open it? All you are doing is making life difficult for legitimate people and accomplishing very little in doing so.
TCH-Bruce Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 Regardless, the file attachments being blocked is not going to change unless more extensions are added.
Samrc Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 The other side of the coin... Even if you found a host that will not filter your outgoing mail in any way, and allowed you to send any attachment you wanted chances are very good that it would not be received on the other end! Most ISP's have a block list as do antivirus filters too! Not to mention that I can't email REG files, EXE, etc. eithout having to explain to some poor newby how to get an unizpping program, unzip the file, and then find where they unzipped it and run it. Most of us here have had to send files to newbies and give instructions how to access. If you are uncomfortable with this process or it takes too long, have you ever considered loading these potentially vulnerable files to a protected area of a website and allowing your newbie access to DOWNLOAD the files you want to supply? Almost anyone can click a link, and type in a password to get to the file! This process avoids email entirely. The days of emailing just ANY file without zipping or changing the file extension to get the file through are long gone. Learn to grow and adapt or you will become as angry and miserable as the person that still wants to use BETA tapes for movies or 8-Track tapes to listen to music and can't understand why there are no new releases in his chosen format. Good luck!
stevevan Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 ...All you are doing is making life difficult for legitimate people and accomplishing very little in doing so. It seems to me that's the issue in a nutshell right there. Thanks to the idiots who have nothing else better to do with their time, we all have to "grin and bear it". I'm with the others...I'm glad TCH does this for us.
TCH-Dick Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 Well this thread has pretty much become useless, therefore I am closing it. I have no issue with the topic just the fact this particular forum is for pre-sale questions, not debates. If our guest would like to join our forums, I am sure everyone here will gladly continue the debate concerning uneducated users habits of sending unsafe attachments. To our newly found friend, good luck in your search for a new host and to those that your attachments wreak havoc upon.
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