A customer of mine sometime gets the error message 'The operation failed'
when opening an attachment. This has been seen for .xls and .zip files from
a particular source. If outlook is closed then re-opened, the attachment
opens fine. Also, if the same file is sent again, the copy will open.

I posted this message once before and it was suggested to me that there may
be a problem with the secure outlook temp folder. I have followed the
instructions given to empty this folder, but this has not resolved the
problem. Even directly after emptying the folder, the customer experienced a
problem opening an xls file. I have since been told that the problem is more
extensive than first thought with other file types, notably jpg and pdf
files, also being affected.

Any further ideas?

"Paul Tugwell" wrote:

A customer of mine sometime gets the error message 'The operation failed'
when opening an attachment. This has been seen for .xls and .zip files from
a particular source. If outlook is closed then re-opened, the attachment
opens fine. Also, if the same file is sent again, the copy will open.

I posted this message once before and it was suggested to me that there may
be a problem with the secure outlook temp folder. I have followed the
instructions given to empty this folder, but this has not resolved the
problem. Even directly after emptying the folder, the customer experienced a
problem opening an xls file. I have since been told that the problem is more
extensive than first thought with other file types, notably jpg and pdf
files, also being affected.

Any further ideas?


Paul,

I'm working on the same issue, and from what I'm reading, it appears to be
an Exchange security setting. I've yet to be able to really explore it, but
what I'm thinking is this: If your users have their mailboxes located on the
Exchange Server, that is controlling the security problem. What I plan on
doing to get around this problem is having my users move the problem email to
their local desktop folders and seeing if they can then open the attachment.

Just a suggestion as to a direction. I'm waiting for someone to have this
problem again, so I can see if this solves the problem. However, I'm posting
this in the hopes that someone can confirm that I'm on the right track, or
tell me if I'm wasting my time.