FreeDoc Feature Not Supported In Outlook Web Access

You can drag and drop a file from a folder directly into a public folder without attaching it to a post message through the Outlook client. This type of item is called a FreeDoc. When some types of these FreeDoc files are viewed through the Outlook Web Access client (OWA), the file may or may not open correctly.

The Microsoft Exchange Server Outlook Web Access component is not currently designed to support this type of FreeDoc file, so you may see mixed results depending on the type of FreeDoc you are trying to open. Some items such as Microsoft Word documents or Microsoft Excel worksheets may open correctly, but other attachments may not open successfully from the OWA client.

If you try to open an Adobe Acrobat PDF file or other FreeDocs, you may receive an error message and the file may not open successfully. This is currently a design limitation of the Outlook Web Access component.

To work around this problem, use an Exchange or Outlook client to view the file, or save it to disk before you attempt to open it.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

If you are using the OWA client and you cannot open the FreeDoc from the public folder directly, then try to save the file to your local computer and try to open the file from the disk. If you cannot save the file to disk, you can try a different browser or go to an Outlook client and save the file. Then you can open the file with the correct application.

For example, if an Adobe Acrobat PDF file is used in this manner and you double-click the file to open it, a new browser window will appear with a small red, blue, and yellow icon in the top left corner. If you move your mouse pointer over the top of this window, a pop-up Help message will appear prompting you to click for more information. When you click on the window, it will open an Error Locating Object Handler dialog box displaying the following message: You can then select one of two options; Yes or No.