"A Temporary File..." Error Occurs Opening Attachment (156047)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Client 4.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Client 5.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Windows NT client 4.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Windows NT client 5.0
This article was previously published under Q156047

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following error message when opening an attachment in a e-mail message: 

   A temporary file needed for this action could not be created.

CAUSE

This error may occur if the Temp directory specified by the SET TEMP= statement does not exist on the hard disk drive or is set to an incorrect directory.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, perform the following steps for Win9.x clients:

  1. Verify that the Autoexec.bat file contains the following line: SET TEMP=<tempdir> where <tempdir> is the name of a valid directory on your hard disk drive.
  2. Verify that the <tempdir> directory specified in Step 1 exists. If it does not exist, create the directory.
  3. Make sure there is enough disk space available on the hard disk to store the attachment.

To work around this problem for Windows NT clients, perform the following steps:
  1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
  2. Click the Environment tab.
  3. Check the Temp Variable in the User Variables section. If that directory does not exist, create the directory.
  4. Make sure there is enough disk space available on the hard disk to store the attachment.

MORE INFORMATION

When you open an attachment in Exchange Server, the file is stored in the directory specified by the SET TEMP= statement. If this directory does not exist, or there is not enough available disk space on the hard drive, Exchange Server may have problems opening the attachment.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/16/2005
Keywords:kbenv kbprb KB156047
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