# [SOLVED] &quot;System cannot find the File Specified&quot; when opening Doc attachment in OLK



## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*[SOLVED] &quot;System cannot find the File Specified&quot; when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

I've been looking at this one for about a week and cannot figure it out. When opening a Doc attachment from an email Word will load, but then Outlook will throw the message "The system cannot find the file specified" and the document does not open. If you leave Word running and then open the attachment, it works just fine. 

The problem is version independent, I have several dozen machines that are doing it, some running office xp and some running 2007. The OS is all the same though, Windows XP sp2. They aren't all the same model computer either and it's user independent. I have two computers on my 
desk, accessing the same exchange mailbox, one does it, one does not. 

The only thing that I have found that has had any effect has been to reimage the PC, but I'm not looking forward to reimaging that many PC's. Since a reimage fixes the problem (at least temporarily) there has to be some way to fix it without doing so, I just can't figure out where to find it.

Any suggestions where to look? Has anyone seen this before?

P.S. I have run both both a full Virus scan and Ad-aware since I was running out of ideas, neither had an effect.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Hi and welcome to TSF.
Check were Outlook is storing the attachment and if the user has access to that area.
This is stored in the User's Registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\X\Outlook\Security\OutlookSecureTempFolder, where X is the version of office you are running.


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*



JohnthePilot said:


> Hi and welcome to TSF.
> Check were Outlook is storing the attachment and if the user has access to that area.
> This is stored in the User's Registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\X\Outlook\Security\OutlookSecureTempFolder, where X is the version of office you are running.



Thank you for the reply. I checked the key and it is normal. It has them being stored in the user's temp internet files under an OLK folder. I changed it just for fun to see what would happen, it didn't change anything. It also seems to be independant of the user. If another user logs into one of the PC's having the problem, they will also have the problem. It does seem to be getting more wide spread though, more and more users are reporting the problem.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

I know you've scanned for viruses, but it might be worth trying an online scan with something like Pandascan as viruses can cause this problem. The other thing might be a problem with Microsoft Data Exchange although I'm a bit out of my depth there. 
You say this problem happens on one of the machines on your desk, but not the other. Are you logged on as Administrator on both machines?


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*



JohnthePilot said:


> I know you've scanned for viruses, but it might be worth trying an online scan with something like Pandascan as viruses can cause this problem. The other thing might be a problem with Microsoft Data Exchange although I'm a bit out of my depth there.
> You say this problem happens on one of the machines on your desk, but not the other. Are you logged on as Administrator on both machines?


I will try an online scan and see what comes up. Yes, I am logged in as an admin on both PCs. I can't really seem to find any sort of pattern for the problem except that more and more people are experiencing it. My microsoft account rep is supposed to be finding out for me, but it's been a few weeks and have heard nothing.

Thanks again for your input.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

OK. Sorry I can't be more help. Let me know how the virus scan goes.


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Ran the panadascan, it came up clean. My application engineer is on the phone with Microsoft. They haven't had any luck in the 4 hours yesterday and the 2 hours this morning. I'm glad we're not paying by the hour on this one. I will keep you up to date.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Yes, please let me know the outcome. I'd like to know what the answer is. At least it's got the Microsoft tech baffled as well so I don't feel so bad. :grin:


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

UPDATE: Microsoft punted and my application engineer fell for it. No resolution yet. He is going to have to get them back on the phone today.


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## NashvilleITGuy (Sep 11, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Go back to that temporary folder...and empty it. I've seen this error when that file reaches its maximum capacity. Each time you open an attachment, a temporary "image" of the attachment is stored in that folder, so it can fill up quickly.


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Turns out to be a DDE problem. If we change the DDE options in the registry it works fine. I delete the OLK folder everytime a user logs out.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

*Re: "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment in OLK*

Glad you got it sorted out. Thanks for letting us know.


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## emzpop (Dec 31, 2007)

*Re: [SOLVED] "System cannot find the File Specified" when opening Doc attachment*

Hey kellie00

Just curious, which DDE setting did you change to fix this? I'm experiencing this problem on several computers in our system after I install a meta-data scrubber. Thanks for any info.


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## kellie000 (Nov 5, 2007)

*Re: [SOLVED] &quot;System cannot find the File Specified&quot; when opening Doc attachment in O*

What we ended up doing was just setting up a registry patch that auto ran on all the PC's at startup one day, but what you want to do is go to the file type configuration, select doc's, then hit the advanced button to configure each action. Change the open action so that there are no switches after the program name except for the %1 business. That should set you up. The actual section for DDE settings should be left alone, it's just the switch that deals with the DDE in the application path that needs to be removed.


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