XCLN: Outlook .xnk Shortcuts Not Working When Dragged into Outlook 2000 Folder

ID: Q249733

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 2000

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

Under Microsoft Windows 2000, Outlook 2000 may not correctly run Outlook Folder Shortcut files (*.xnk) that have been dragged into an Outlook Folder in the left side tree-view control.

In this situation, when you double-click on the .xnk shortcut, you receive two error messages: one stating that Outlook was unable to track the process, another stating that because of a modal dialog box, Outlook cannot continue.

CAUSE

Each error message comes from a separate instance of Outlook. Simply put, the calling process can't track the spawned process, goes modal to report the error, and in the process of doing so, blocks the other process that was actually successfully created.

This error is caused by the way that Outlook attempts to track the process, and also by the manner in which Windows 2000 handles a ShellExecute call on these shortcuts. Because of the implementation used, Windows 2000 does not fill in the hProcess member of the SHELLEXECUTEINFO structure returning from ShellExecuteEx. This is normal behavior for Windows 2000, because the call gets transferred internally through Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). Outlook expects the hProcess member to be filled in, and when it is not, Outlook reports that it was unable to track the process. When the modal error report dialog box opens, Outlook enters a modal state, and the newly spawned Outlook instance is unable to continue because it must communicate with the parent instance upon startup.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
You must create a new registry value of the REG_EXPAND_SZ type underneath the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook

Name the registry value NonTrackableFileTypes, and change the value to ".lnk;.exe;.url;.xnk;". Outlook uses a default value that is similar to this value, but which does not include the .xnk file type. This new registry key prevents Outlook from trying to track the created process of .xnk shortcut files.

Additional query words: OL2K

Keywords : OUTLOOK
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb