I experienced a difficult problem with PGP Desktop 10.1.2 and Outlook 2007/2010: attachments to digitally signed messages were unreadable after installing PGP (the attachments would show up in the Outlook message as an unrecognized file having the Windows logo). The only way I found to solve this involves 4 steps: copying the Windows Installer file for PGP, creating a batch file (remember the old DOS command-line?) that installs only certain options for PGP, uninstalling PGP using the Control Panel, and reinstalling PGP Desktop without its Outlook (and other unnecessary) interfaces using the Windows Installer file and batch file. Below are detailed instructions for Windows 7.
0. Before starting, verify that you have PGP Desktop installed, and verify the version number. Click Start, All Programs, PGP, and you should find PGP Desktop at the top of the list of 4 total items. Click on PGP Desktop to open the program, and then click Help, About PGP. You should have PGP Desktop 10.1.x or 10.2.x. If you have something other than PGP Desktop installed, or if you don’t have version 10.1.x or 10.2.x, stop here. If you have created a PGP virtual disk, copy everything from that disk to a folder on your hard drive. If you indeed have PGP Desktop 10.1.x or 10.2.x and have everything from your PGP virtual disk copied safely to a folder on your hard drive, close PGP Desktop and all other programs, and then continue with steps 1-4 below.
1. Copy the Windows Installer file for PGP: The PGP installation program creates a Windows installer file (with .msi extension) and stores it in a folder in the Windows Temporary Folders location. To find this, Click Start, Computer. In the search box (top right corner), type PGPDesktop.msi and press Enter. It will likely take 1-4 minutes to find this file. Right-click on that file once it is found and copy it to a convenient folder (such as your desktop).
2. Create a Batch File (this batch file tells the PGP installer what options NOT to install): Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Notepad. Copy the following text and paste it into Notepad as a single (long) line:
msiexec /I pgpdesktop.msi PGP_INSTALL_MAPI=0 PGP_INSTALL_NOTES=0 PGP_INSTALL_LSP=0 PGP_INSTALL_WDE=0 PGP_INSTALL_GROUPWISE=0 PGP_INSTALL_NETSHARE=0 PGP_INSTALL_MAPI_Plugin=0
a. Optional: You can edit the installation options, if desired. I simply turned off all Outlook interfaces and any other PGP options that I am not using. See http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH149282 for a list of options. Remove any options that you want to install from the batch file, leaving only the options you DON’T want to install.
b. Once you have finished editing (or not editing) in Notepad, click File, Save As, and in the file name box, put in “PGP Batch File.bat” (***INCLUDE THE QUOTES***). Also, in the Save as Type box, select All Files. Now click Save.
3. Uninstall PGP Desktop: Click Start, Control Panel, and under the category of Programs (bottom of first column), click Uninstall a Program. Find PGP Desktop in the list of programs, click on it, and then click Uninstall (above the list of programs). Follow the prompts to uninstall PGP Desktop and restart the computer. Note: Your PGP key information is stored in the PGP subfolder of My Documents. The uninstaller will not tell you to delete this folder, and do NOT manually delete it either. PGP will use this folder to recover its keys when you reinstall PGP Desktop.
4. Install PGP Desktop without its Outlook (and other unnecessary) interfaces using the Windows Installer file and batch file: Click Start, Documents, and go to the folder you used in Steps 1 and 2 to store the Windows Installer file and the batch file. Double click on the ***PGP Batch File*** (NOT the Windows Installer file). Follow the prompts to install PGP Desktop and restart the computer. Your Outlook problem will now be fixed, as you can verify by reading attachments to digitally-signed messages.