Message: "Can't create file" while attempting to open attachment withspecific name

[mcbill20]

I have a user that is trying to open a PDF attachment in an email
message on Outlook 2003. The particular email has two attachments. One
he can open fine and the other gives the following message:

"Can't create file: dailynews.PDF. Right-click the folder you want to
create the file in, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu to
check your permissions for the folder." The behavior is the same
whether he tries to open the attachment or to do a "save as".

I have tried everything I can think of but I still can't figure this
one out. Here's what I have tried so far:

1. Forwarded the email to myself. I was able to read both attachments
on my computer.
2. I then saved the "problem" file (from my own email). I checked it's
properties and nothing seemed unusual. I then created a new e-mail
message in Outlook and included both files and sent them back to this
user. The problem was the same-- he could read one but not the
"dailynews.PDF" file.
3. I renamed the "dailynews.PDF" to "xyz.PDF" on my computer and
emailed it to him. At this point, he was able to both open the file
and do a "save as" in Outlook.
4. I did a complete system search for any document with "dailynews" in
the name. Nothing was found.
5. I deleted all the folders and documents in his "TEMP" folder.
6. I changed the environment variables in his profile to point to a
different drive for his "temp" files.

His machine is totally up to date with windowsupdate and officeupdate.
The attachment is a small (47kb) file. The reader is Adobe reader 8.0.
The OS is XP SP2.

I am at a loss as far as where to look next. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Something sounds funky with the Outlook's secure temp folder. Open regedit
on his machine and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

Value of interest is "OutlookSecureTempFolder". Now armed with the
drive/path info, I generally open a command prompt, go to said location, and
erase all files in said temp folder. Have user try the attachment again at
this point.

 

[mcbill20]

Something sounds funky with the Outlook's secure temp folder. Open regedit
on his machine and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

Value of interest is "OutlookSecureTempFolder". Now armed with the
drive/path info, I generally open a command prompt, go to said location, and
erase all files in said temp folder. Have user try the attachment again at
this point.

Thanks. I looked at this entry. It ended up being:
c:\documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet
files\OLK89

I browsed to this folder and noticed a few strange things. First, only
the "temporary internet files" folder seemed to exist. When I right-
clicked on the "temporary internet files folder", it said there were
425 files and 4 folders and the total was around 450 MB. However, when
I looked in the "temporary internet files" folder, there were only 50
or so files, all of them cookies. Also, when I right-clicked on the
"temoprary internet files" folder, only one tab appears. There is no
"security and sharing" tab, etc.

Any thoughts? Maybe disk corruption? There's nothing in the event
viewer.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

You can't use Windows Explorer to get to the location. This is why I say I
use a command prompt to clear the Outlook Secure Temp Folder. So your steps
should be...

* Start > Run > Type: CMD.EXE > OK button
* CD \documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet
files\OLK89
* Verify that you are in the folder above by looking at the dos prompt
* If you are the DIR *.* to see the files or erase *.* to erase them

I

 

[mcbill20]

Thanks. I didn't notice the "command prompt" in your post before. That
did the trick. I went to that directory and found a bunch of those
files. There was a "dailynews.pdf" and then a "dailynews (10).pdf"
through "dailynews(99).pdf". I am assuming that whatever is causing
the files to be written like this does not allow a version greater
than 99. I have no idea why it would not just replace the original
file weach time unless someone had messed with the permissions on this
folder so that deletes/changes are not allowed. Also, it's really
strange that I can't even see this directory. I am a domain
administrator and this computer has domain admins as members of the
administrator group. I am going to have to poke around on this machine
and see what happened. Possibly someone removed most of the
permissions.

Thanks again.
Bill

 

[mcbill20]

Thanks. I didn't notice the "command prompt" in your post before. That
did the trick. I went to that directory and found a bunch of those
files. There was a "dailynews.pdf" and then a "dailynews (10).pdf"
through "dailynews(99).pdf". I am assuming that whatever is causing
the files to be written like this does not allow a version greater
than 99. I have no idea why it would not just replace the original
file weach time unless someone had messed with the permissions on this
folder so that deletes/changes are not allowed. Also, it's really
strange that I can't even see this directory. I am a domain
administrator and this computer has domain admins as members of the
administrator group. I am going to have to poke around on this machine
and see what happened. Possibly someone removed most of the
permissions.

Thanks again.
Bill

You can't use Windows Explorer to get to the location. This is why I say I
use a command prompt to clear the Outlook Secure Temp Folder. So your steps
should be...

* Start > Run > Type: CMD.EXE > OK button
* CD \documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet
files\OLK89
* Verify that you are in the folder above by looking at the dos prompt
* If you are the DIR *.* to see the files or erase *.* to erase them

I

news:c9a0416d-b0bd-46b3-b62b-ea066f29fa29@s36g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

On Dec 5, 6:38 pm, "neo [mvp outlook]"
Something sounds funky with the Outlook's secure temp folder. Open
regedit
on his machine and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security
Value of interest is "OutlookSecureTempFolder". Now armed with the
drive/path info, I generally open a command prompt, go to said location,
and
erase all files in said temp folder. Have user try the attachment again
at
this point.

I have a user that is trying to open a PDF attachment in an email
message on Outlook 2003. The particular email has two attachments. One
he can open fine and the other gives the following message:
"Can't create file: dailynews.PDF. Right-click the folder you want to
create the file in, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu to
check your permissions for the folder." The behavior is the same
whether he tries to open the attachment or to do a "save as".
I have tried everything I can think of but I still can't figure this
one out. Here's what I have tried so far:
1. Forwarded the email to myself. I was able to read both attachments
on my computer.
2. I then saved the "problem" file (from my own email). I checked it's
properties and nothing seemed unusual. I then created a new e-mail
message in Outlook and included both files and sent them back to this
user. The problem was the same-- he could read one but not the
"dailynews.PDF" file.
3. I renamed the "dailynews.PDF" to "xyz.PDF" on my computer and
emailed it to him. At this point, he was able to both open the file
and do a "save as" in Outlook.
4. I did a complete system search for any document with "dailynews" in
the name. Nothing was found.
5. I deleted all the folders and documents in his "TEMP" folder.
6. I changed the environment variables in his profile to point to a
different drive for his "temp" files.
His machine is totally up to date with windowsupdate and officeupdate.
The attachment is a small (47kb) file. The reader is Adobe reader 8.0.
The OS is XP SP2.
I am at a loss as far as where to look next. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks. I looked at this entry. It ended up being:
c:\documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet
files\OLK89
I browsed to this folder and noticed a few strange things. First, only
the "temporary internet files" folder seemed to exist. When I right-
clicked on the "temporary internet files folder", it said there were
425 files and 4 folders and the total was around 450 MB. However, when
I looked in the "temporary internet files" folder, there were only 50
or so files, all of them cookies. Also, when I right-clicked on the
"temoprary internet files" folder, only one tab appears. There is no
"security and sharing" tab, etc.
Any thoughts? Maybe disk corruption? There's nothing in the event
viewer.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I still need additional assistance on this one. I looked back in that
user's directory and it's starting all over again-- there are now
eight of those files:
dailynews.PDF
dailynews (2).PDF
....
dailynews (7).PDF

So, obviously the problem is going to occur again when he hits 99.

Can anyone point me to any documentation that explains how MS Outlook
handles temporary files? Also, I would love to see some documentation
on the file system that explains how files can be totally invisible to
the windows interface. I have the "show hidden files" box checked in
folder options. As an experiment, I mapped his drive to my machine and
then used the command prompt to copy the directory sturcture to my
machine. I then removed all ACL's at the top level on the copied
structure and took ownership and added ACL's to access the tree. I
made sure to check the "Replace permission on all child objects" box.
Still, the only way to see the files is to use the command prompt to
navigate to them based on the directory information I got from
regedit.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Can anyone point me to any documentation that explains how MS Outlook
handles temporary files?

When a message with an attachment is received, the attachment is embedded in
the message body using a structure called MIME. The MIME headers allow a
mail client to be able to tell where the pieces of the message start and end
and to present to you a way to extract the attachment from within the
message. When you extract simply by couble-clicking the attachment, Outlook
must first put it on disk somewhere in order to then open it in the
application associated with its file type. Now, Microsoft could have chosen
the folder defined by the %TEMP% environment variable, but instead chose to
add a registry setting that controls the location of where Outlook will
place the temporary copy of the file. They elected to make this folder a
subfolder of the Temporary Internet Files folder.

Also, I would love to see some documentation
on the file system that explains how files can be totally invisible to
the windows interface. I have the "show hidden files" box checked in
folder options.

Apparently, Windows Explorer is designed to treat Temporary Internet Files
in a way different from other folders, even the hidden folders like Local
Settings and Application Data. It simply won't show you the true structure
of that folder tree. Clearly, since Microsoft wrote Windows Explorer, they
can put in it any special handling they please without documenting it.

As an experiment, I mapped his drive to my machine and
then used the command prompt to copy the directory sturcture to my
machine. I then removed all ACL's at the top level on the copied
structure and took ownership and added ACL's to access the tree. I
made sure to check the "Replace permission on all child objects" box.
Still, the only way to see the files is to use the command prompt to
navigate to them based on the directory information I got from
regedit.

At one point in time (prior to XP SP2, I believe), you could click
Start>Run, enter "%temp%" on the Open field, click OK and get a Windows
Explorer window that _would_ allow you see the contents of Temporary
Internet Files, as can be seen from this:
http://www.poremsky.com/p/view_temp.htm .
Somewhere along the way, though, that behavior seemingly was removed.

 

[mcbill20]

When a message with an attachment is received, the attachment is embedded in
the message body using a structure called MIME. The MIME headers allow a
mail client to be able to tell where the pieces of the message start and end
and to present to you a way to extract the attachment from within the
message. When you extract simply by couble-clicking the attachment, Outlook
must first put it on disk somewhere in order to then open it in the
application associated with its file type. Now, Microsoft could have chosen
the folder defined by the %TEMP% environment variable, but instead chose to
add a registry setting that controls the location of where Outlook will
place the temporary copy of the file. They elected to make this folder a
subfolder of the Temporary Internet Files folder.

Uh, the above is pretty obvious. What I was referring to was the
strange behavior in the way it handles filenames. The correct way
would be to overwrite the older "dailynews.pdf" in the temporary
directory rather than do the "dailynews (10).pdf". I am looking for
info on this ridiculous naming convention and if there is a registry
setting to change it. I don't really care where Outlook decides to put
the temporary files as long as I don't have to periodically go in with
a command prompt and do file cleanup that Outlook should be doing.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Uh, the above is pretty obvious. What I was referring to was the
strange behavior in the way it handles filenames. The correct way
would be to overwrite the older "dailynews.pdf" in the temporary
directory rather than do the "dailynews (10).pdf". I am looking for
info on this ridiculous naming convention and if there is a registry
setting to change it.

Sorry. I misunderstood which feature you were calling "strange".
Versioning of the sort you describe has been part of Windows for some time
now (I don't recall when it was introduced) and it was added because people
were having so much trouble accidentally overwriting files they didn't
intend to overwrite. I think it's a good thing

I don't really care where Outlook decides to put
the temporary files as long as I don't have to periodically go in with
a command prompt and do file cleanup that Outlook should be doing.

Well, the tool mentioned at the bottom of
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/securetemp.htm
makes it easier, as does moving the location of the Secure Temp folder so
that it's not under Temporary Internet Folders and can be easily seen by
Windows Explorer.