Word document attachments garbled

Question

When I try to send a Word document to users outside of my ISP they come through as "noname" This does not happen with TextEdit files or with pdf files. It also doe snot happen when sending attachments to other users in my ISP (Road Runner). The folks at Road Runner insist that I have a virus. I ran a virus scan with the most recent virus defs and nothing showed up. I repaired permissions and repaired the hard drive -- no problems found.I have tried using the extension, not using the extension, clicking to open, opening from within the application and it's always the same result. This is what appears at the top of the "noname" file (titled "test file" when sent):
--Apple-Mail-2-863040009
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Type: application/applefile;
name=test file
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="test file"
A string of letters, mostly A's
--Apple-Mail-2-863040009
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Id: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: application/octet-stream;
x-mac-type=5738424E;
x-unix-mode=0644;
x-mac-creator=4D535744;
name=test file
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="test file"
More computer gibberish.
I can receive with no problem. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

"It's a virus" can sometimes be loosely translated as "I don't know."
It could easily be that the Word documents are getting stripped by intervening SMTP servers or firewalls, or by anti-spyware or anti-virus tools. Word documents are common mechanisms for transmitting malware and thus a common target for filtering; the whole family is a particularly hazardous form of file as it can easily contain executable code.
What you're showing are the MIME section headers of Base64 MIME-encoded mail. With the intervening text that comprises that part of the MIME message.
The "gibberish" is the message text or the attachment, encoded using Base64. (Base64 is a way to get binary or arbitrary data converted into printable data for transmission, since most mail systems only deal properly with printable characters.)
When you are sending the message (with Mail.app, I assume?), did you select the "Windows Friendly" option? You can set this Windows Friendly option on a per-message basis, or you can always select it via the (IIRC) Edit menu; to default it. It's generally safe to default it.
I'd also suggest having the receiver extract the text of the mail message for a look. (If that wasn't the headers from the receiver that you were showing.)
The MIME headers look to be missing the filename information, which could be the sending mail client, some filter or firewall, or something in the receiving software. A more typical header is:
--Apple-Mail-2--31415926535
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Type: application/applefile;
name="whatever.doc"
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="whatever.doc"
Have you tried sending the mail messages with another mail client? With Thunderbird, for instance.
And as a test, when you receive the message with the noname file, extract it as you would normally, and name the created file noname.doc, and try opening it using catdoc, NeoOffice, OOo, or whatever you're using to read that file format. (There seem to be a few tools around that will open .doc files.)