Outlook 2003 unable to open digitally signed messages

[waters27863]

When one of my users attempts to open a digitally signed message with an
attachement, she gets an error that states: "Can't open this item. A required
action was not successful due to an unspecified error."

I have un-installed, and re-installed office. I have run the repair tool,
and all the updates are installed. Any suggestions would be welcome

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

When one of my users attempts to open a digitally signed message with an
attachement, she gets an error that states: "Can't open this item. A
required
action was not successful due to an unspecified error."

I have un-installed, and re-installed office. I have run the repair tool,
and all the updates are installed. Any suggestions would be welcome

Does the message appear to be OK? Can you see it in the Reading Pane? If so,
does Outlook present the red ribbon icon in the message header showing that
the sender's certificate is valid?

 

[waters27863]

The message is good, and the certificate is valid. I had the sender send me
and the original recipient another message. I was able to open the message
with no problems, but the original recipient was not able to open it, and
received the same error again.
She cannot view the e-mail in the reading pane. When she tries to view it,
she gets the following message: "This item cannot be viewed in the reading
pane. Please open the item to view the contents." I am able to view it in my
reading pane

 

[waters27863]

The message is good, and the certificate is valid. I had the sender send me
and the original recipient another message. I was able to open the message
with no problems, but the original recipient was not able to open it, and
received the same error again.

She is unable to view the message in the preview pane, though I am able to
view the same message in the preview pane, but on a different machine. The
error she receives is: “This item cannot be viewed in the reading pane.
Please open the item to view the contents.†When she tries to open the item,
she gets the error mentioned above.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

The message is good, and the certificate is valid. I had the sender send me
and the original recipient another message. I was able to open the message
with no problems, but the original recipient was not able to open it, and
received the same error again.
She cannot view the e-mail in the reading pane. When she tries to view it,
she gets the following message: "This item cannot be viewed in the reading
pane. Please open the item to view the contents." I am able to view it in my
reading pane

I suspect a problem with the Windows crypto store. Is it possible to create a
second Windows user for this person to test to see if another use on that same
PC accesing the same mailbox behaves differently, or if that same person can
log into another PC and access the mailbox successfully?

 

[waters27863]

The user is able to sign into another computer and open the messages with no
errors. We are unable to have her log on with another account and access that
e-mail due to security restrictions. Would deleting her user profile on that
machine and letting Windows recreate it work?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

The user is able to sign into another computer and open the messages with no
errors. We are unable to have her log on with another account and access
that
e-mail due to security restrictions. Would deleting her user profile on that
machine and letting Windows recreate it work?

Possibly. Make sure you back up her user-specific files first.

 

[waters27863]

I backed up her files, then deleted her profile. I rebooted the system, and
had her log in. I set her mail back up, and let it synch w/ the exchange
server. She still gets the same error when attempting to open e-mail signed
with a digital certificate. Since I have repaired, removed, and reloaded
Office 03, and nothing has changed, I'm about ready to rebuild the system. Do
you have any other suggestions Brian?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I backed up her files, then deleted her profile. I rebooted the system, and
had her log in. I set her mail back up, and let it synch w/ the exchange
server. She still gets the same error when attempting to open e-mail signed
with a digital certificate. Since I have repaired, removed, and reloaded
Office 03, and nothing has changed, I'm about ready to rebuild the system.
Do
you have any other suggestions Brian?

DO you use roaming profiles? If a new Windows user fails, then you may have
to reimage the PC. It still sounds to me like a WIndows issue but I don't
know enough of the cryptography handling in Windows to be able to say if
there's a way to fix it short of a new Windows image.

 

[waters27863]

We do not use roaming profiles. *sigh* I guess I will have to re-image it. I
was hoping to avoid that. Thank you for your help though!