Can’t Create File – Outlook Error, and a the Fix

I have been seeing this message on and off with attachments for some time now in outlook:

Can’t Create file: VoiceMessage.wav. 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

In this case it was a voicemail. Sometimes it is a PDF file, other times it is a BMP. The only connection I started to notice was the name of the file.

After some research I discovered that Outlook saves every single attachment you download – in a temp folder. If the same file name exists, it simply appends a number like this:

The only problem is that it gets stuck at 100. Once you have had 100 attachments with the same name you get the error message I described.

The trick is finding *where* outlook is storing all of this. Microsoft decided that they would create a random folder name to keep viruses and maleware from finding this folder and exploiting it to their advantage.

The folder path can be found under this key:

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

See the variable on the right named “OutlookSecureTempFolder” – That is your path

Now that you know where the files are you can simply clear them out from time to time, and the error will go away.

Still, I am a little irritated that this problem has not been fixed by know in a service pack, or a patch. Hopefully Outlook 2007 does not have the same issue.