Paypal has fixed the problem on their end, so messages received on or after Oct 18, 2011 will not cause Outlook to hang. However, messages that caused Outlook to hang cannot be fixed by PayPal. Viewing these messages will cause Outlook to hang. We recommend using the Hosts file fix for these messages. If you need to keep the messages long term, we recommend editing the messages to remove the webbug from the bottom of the message.
Over the last few days, Outlook users with recently active PayPal accounts have experienced issues with Outlook hanging when they view email messages from PayPal. Outlook goes into a not responding state while it tries to process a web bug using a malformed url (missing HTTPS to //102.112.2O7.net/b/ss/paypalglobal/*).
While this is old news (and very annoying) to anyone who received messages from PayPal over the last couple of days, it should be fixed soon.
The bigger concern is that Outlook is trying to connect to a web address, even though all external content is supposed to be blocked.
I don’t allow any automatic downloads, not even from trusted addresses, but Fiddler shows traffic to 102.112.2O7.net when I select a message that causes Outlook to hang.
Bad Outlook! When I say “don’t download external content” I don’t want you to contact the server. Outlook thinks the address is a local network address, and since it trusts local network addresses, it tries to connect. In this case, the URL is invalid, so Outlook hangs until it times out. But if the URL were valid, Outlook would happily download the content.
This bug needs fixed ASAP. it defeats the reason many people blocking web bugs in email: not being tracked when you read email.
Until its fixed, any marketer can defeat the blocked external content feature by leaving the HTTP off the URL and track what you did with the message, or display images.
Thanks PayPal and 2o7.net for bringing this bug to my attention!
If you are affected by the PayPal hang:
Be patient. Outlook will eventually display the message (it takes a minute or so here.) However, every time you select an affected message you need to wait for Outlook to time out.
A better solution is to edit the hosts file to point the offending domain to the local host. Outlook will time out faster with this entry in Hosts and you will not be sending web bug data back to PayPal in the future (unless they change the server name.)
Type Notepad in the Start menu’s Search field (or find it on the Start menu). Right click on Notepad and choose Run as Administrator. (You’ll need to enter your administrator password in Windows 7 or Vista).
Paste this line in the File, Open dialog then press Enter.
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS
Type or paste this line into the hosts file and save. (That’s an o in 2O7, not a zero):
127.0.0.1 102.112.2O7.net
Save the file.
Note: if you don’t open Notepad using Run as Administrator, you’ll need to save the file to My Documents and copy it to folder. Using Run as Admin is so much easier. :) If you don’t see Run as Administrator on the right-click menu of Notepad, hold Shift and right click again.
PayPal / 2o7.net could easily fix this by redirecting calls to that path to an HTTP server, but if they choose not to, messages affected will always cause Outlook to hang. If you need to keep a copy of the message, you should convert it to plain text format or edit the message to remove the web bug (at the very bottom of the message).
Tutorial: Edit the Hosts File and Edit the Message to Remove the Webbug
This video tutorial shows you how to edit the Hosts file. It also shows you how to edit the message to remove the web bug.
To remove the web bug or convert to plain text:
Open the message and go into Edit mode. In Outlook 2007 and 2010, you’ll go to the Actions Command, Edit message.
In older versions, look on the Edit menu in an open message.
Note: It may take a few seconds to enter Edit mode as Outlook will need to download external content.
Once in Edit mode either:
Delete the last line of the message. It will be something along the lines of “PayPal Email ID PP1303″ .
Or switch to the Format Text ribbon and choose Plain text.
Save and close the message.
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Last reviewed on Oct 18, 2011
Thanks very, very, very much for the hostfile fix! You’ve saved me a lot of time today!
Thanks for the suggestions. For system admins who are faced with the Outlook hanging on PayPal messages, there is some notes in this post that may help too: http://www.interactivewebs.com/blog/index.php/general-tips/outlook-hangs-stops-responding-opening-email-messages-sent-from-paypal/
PayPal just fixed it. Had no problem opening Receipt for your Payment to xxx
Diane, it may be helpful to add ‘Fixed’ to the title of this subject?
Yes, I’m going to update that next.
I am looking for longer time for these path:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS
And Thanx for the video