Files not deleted from olk2c temp directory

[Bob-CRW]

My company has a problem where attachments that have been viewed or opened
are not being deleted from the "\Documents and Settings\LOCALUSER\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK2C" folder. Each file in this folder
seems to be numbered, i.e. "xxxxxx yyyyyy zzzzzz (15).rtf" , (16), (17), etc.
It appears that when the count of files with the "same name" reaches "99",
OutLook (I think 2003) will not allow another new attachment with that name
to be received with a new e-mail! The e-mail is received fine, but no
attachment!

The "99" name limit is probably not the problem. The fact that the directory
is not cleared out seems to be the "real" problem. There were 718 files in
the directory when we last looked. No more than 99 with the same name.
Deleting the 99 files with the same name allows attachments to be received
again with that name.

Any help that someone could provide to resolve this problem would be
appreciated.

Bob Harris

 

[Roady [MVP]]

It's a temp folder which you can clear if you want. For easy access to it
(and to clear it) you can use OutlookTools (free)
http://www.howto-outlook.com/products/outlooktools.htm

 

[Bob-CRW]

Robert, thanks for your reply. A few comments. The environment where we're
having this problem in is restricted. We cannot give the users the tool you
suggest and have them clear the directory. So that is not an option.

I was able to reproduce the problem myself and saw a slightly different
situation than I originally described. Each file with the same name has the
name incremented with a counter except for the original file. For example,
bob.doc, bob (1).doc, bob (2).doc. When an e-mail is received with a
"bob.doc" attachment and I try to open the attachment, an error message is
displayed. The message says "Can't create file: bob.doc. Right-click on the
folder you want to create the file in, and then click Properties on the
shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder.". This is a
misleading message since there are no permission problems with the folder.

This error only seems to happen when there are already 99 numbered versions
of file in the olk2c directory, i.e. the original file and files (1) through
(99). It appears that when it tries to create the 100th copy it drops the
numbering and tries to replace the original version of the file (the one
without a number).

Now I have some questions:
1. Is it a permanent Outlook restriction or bug that a user cannot have more
than 100 versions of a file name in the olk2c directory??? If it's
restriction, is there a workaround to make it count higher??? If it's a bug,
will it ever be corrected and when???
2. Is it true that neither Windows nor Outlook will ever remove temporary
files from the olk2c directory automatically???

Thanks in advance for your continued help.

Bob Harris

It's a temp folder which you can clear if you want. For easy access to it
(and to clear it) you can use OutlookTools (free)
http://www.howto-outlook.com/products/outlooktools.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----

My company has a problem where attachments that have been viewed or opened
are not being deleted from the "\Documents and Settings\LOCALUSER\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK2C" folder. Each file in this folder
seems to be numbered, i.e. "xxxxxx yyyyyy zzzzzz (15).rtf" , (16), (17),
etc.
It appears that when the count of files with the "same name" reaches "99",
OutLook (I think 2003) will not allow another new attachment with that
name
to be received with a new e-mail! The e-mail is received fine, but no
attachment!

The "99" name limit is probably not the problem. The fact that the
directory
is not cleared out seems to be the "real" problem. There were 718 files in
the directory when we last looked. No more than 99 with the same name.
Deleting the 99 files with the same name allows attachments to be received
again with that name.

Any help that someone could provide to resolve this problem would be
appreciated.

Bob Harris

 

[Roady [MVP]]

1) It's a design limitation which I don't expect to be solved.
2) It's a Temp directory so treat it as such; don't put any (modified) stuff
in there you might need later.

If you can't use the tool you can create a logon or logoff script that looks
up the temp directory for the user and then clears it (or files older than x
days). This way you can prevent the folder from becoming "full".

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----

Robert, thanks for your reply. A few comments. The environment where we're
having this problem in is restricted. We cannot give the users the tool
you
suggest and have them clear the directory. So that is not an option.

I was able to reproduce the problem myself and saw a slightly different
situation than I originally described. Each file with the same name has
the
name incremented with a counter except for the original file. For example,
bob.doc, bob (1).doc, bob (2).doc. When an e-mail is received with a
"bob.doc" attachment and I try to open the attachment, an error message is
displayed. The message says "Can't create file: bob.doc. Right-click on
the
folder you want to create the file in, and then click Properties on the
shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder.". This is a
misleading message since there are no permission problems with the folder.

This error only seems to happen when there are already 99 numbered
versions
of file in the olk2c directory, i.e. the original file and files (1)
through
(99). It appears that when it tries to create the 100th copy it drops the
numbering and tries to replace the original version of the file (the one
without a number).

Now I have some questions:
1. Is it a permanent Outlook restriction or bug that a user cannot have
more
than 100 versions of a file name in the olk2c directory??? If it's
restriction, is there a workaround to make it count higher??? If it's a
bug,
will it ever be corrected and when???
2. Is it true that neither Windows nor Outlook will ever remove temporary
files from the olk2c directory automatically???

Thanks in advance for your continued help.

Bob Harris

It's a temp folder which you can clear if you want. For easy access to it
(and to clear it) you can use OutlookTools (free)
http://www.howto-outlook.com/products/outlooktools.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----

My company has a problem where attachments that have been viewed or
opened
are not being deleted from the "\Documents and Settings\LOCALUSER\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK2C" folder. Each file in this
folder
seems to be numbered, i.e. "xxxxxx yyyyyy zzzzzz (15).rtf" , (16),
(17),
etc.
It appears that when the count of files with the "same name" reaches
"99",
OutLook (I think 2003) will not allow another new attachment with that
name
to be received with a new e-mail! The e-mail is received fine, but no
attachment!

The "99" name limit is probably not the problem. The fact that the
directory
is not cleared out seems to be the "real" problem. There were 718 files
in
the directory when we last looked. No more than 99 with the same name.
Deleting the 99 files with the same name allows attachments to be
received
again with that name.

Any help that someone could provide to resolve this problem would be
appreciated.

Bob Harris