Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Attachment.ashx Message when Opening Attachment in OWA Exchange 2007


Message window hangs when trying to open or save attachment using Outlook Web Access (OWA) with Exchange 2007 on a Vista computer with IE7 (Internet Explorer 7).


Attachment.ashx Error Message when Opening Attachment in OWA 


I recently ran into a situation where all of the users in an Exchange 2007 organization environement were able to open attachemnts using Outlook Web Access (OWA) against Microsoft Exchange 2007 server without a problem except for a few.

One of the users that wasn't able to open, run, or save an attachment using OWA was getting a message that said:
Geting file information: attachment.ashx from mail.{servername}.com
The message included the flying paper from left to right - the usual animation seen when transfering files in explorer or downloading files with Internet Explorer. This message would be displayed but would never go away and of course the user could open, save or viewer the attachment through Outlook Web Access.

Run Attachments from OWA Email

Well, if any of you encounter this problem and think there is something on the Exchange server that could fix the problem don't bother wasting your time or making any settings changes as the solution won't be found there. You've probably already drilled down and found some of the differences with the user's computer that isn't able to open attachments with Outlook Web Access and commonalities with those users that could view, save, or run attachments through OWA. If the trouble computer has another browser on it like FireFox, try that browser and you'll see that FF works and since it works, then the server or the users account in the domain has nothing to do with the problem.

Windows 7 with IE8 

If the problem user ... I mean the problem computer, is Vista with IE7 then the setting that is most likely causing the problem for you is the one located in the Security cetegory under the Advanced tab after clicking Tools > Internet Options from the Internet explorer menu bar.

Do not save encrypted files to disk 


Un-check the box next to the setting 'Do not save encrypted files to disk". Once un-checked and the option is saved, open a new browser window and then try to open or save the attachment in Outlook Web Access again, you'll probably have better results.



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If the information contained in this post helped solve your problem, please post a comment saying so or link to this post from your blog or site so more people can find the answer more quickly.





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41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice post. In IE7 running on XP, the message is different.

Unknown said...

This issue can also occur in Windows XP running IE6. Some anti-virus programs now recommend setting this security feature (I'm running Kaspersky, and that is what caused the trouble.)

2cents said...

Thanks Mike for pointing out an IE6 on XP deployment can also have this issue and an altermantive for solving it.
I have found that it's not very common. I had it happen on a Vista system with IE7 and this post solved it for me. Previous to this post I had disabled anti-virus software as a suspect cause for this problem.

Anonymous said...

Great solution. thanks.

Anonymous said...

thanks mate.. that worked!

Anonymous said...

I'm german. Thank you for this help.

I use it for Win 2008 ebs server in terminal sessions on OWA user had same error. Now it works fine ;-) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great FIX! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wow, it worked!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Very Much......I worked

Anonymous said...

Cheersssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Bill mate, worked for me on IE 7 (win xp)

Unknown said...

Worked for me - Windows 7 and IE8. Thanks for solving a very irritating problem

JAB_au said...

Thanks a lot.

I was wondering why some groups of users were getting this error and not others.

Anonymous said...

Bravo!!

Vince, from Italy

Anonymous said...

Thanks a million it worked. SALUD!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. I'm using windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9. This solved my problem.

MGB said...

Thank you Sir!

Mladen said...

Thank you. Perfect solution.

Anonymous said...

Thanx man!!! This resolve my problem!!

Langalf said...

I encountered this problem in IE 9 running under Windows 7 as well. Thank you for finding this fix.

Peter said...

The original post solves the problem regarding the attachment.ashx Unticking the box in Tools, internet otions,advanced etc.. worked first time when using outlook in microsoftonline when downloading an Excel workbook. Why Microsoft do not supply an answer to this on their website is beyond me. Anyway thanks to 2 cents

Chris D. Lowry said...

[BUMP]
Same kind of error with OWA on SLED 10.

"Microsoft Outlook Web Crap" is more like it... We never had any problems with Thunderbird (which in our organisation was replaced by MS OWA - big mistake, if you ask me)

Anonymous said...

This totally worked - Running Windows 7 and IE 9 - Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Really worked as a charm.
Keep up good work!

2cents said...

***********************************
*** YOU ARE ALL VERY WELCOME!!! ***
*********************************

Glad to hear this helped you guys out.

PLEASE link back to this post and blog so MORE PEOPLE CAN FIND IT!!

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. This worked for me!

2cents said...

Your very welcome. I'm happy to hear and see many people have been able to use this to help themselves out of a problem.

Anonymous said...

3 years later this post is still helping people out. Thank you!

2cents said...

***********************************
*** YOU ARE ALL VERY WELCOME!!! ***
***********************************

I glad 3 years later the post is still helping people out there solve this weird problem. PLEASE PLEASE LINK TO IT, BLOG IT, Favorite it, etc. That will help others find it faster. My post are found in search engines but it would be easier if they had more people like yourselves who have found this and other posts useful to point to it. I think many can agree that often the worse part of finding a solution is the time used up to weed through search results. I didn't even have that luxury, I just had to figure out the solution live!!
PS. doing an exchange 2003 to exchange 2010 migration soon (did already two to other installs but they were not migrations). I hope to get some good information for others who may be endeavoring to install or migrate their exchange email.

Anonymous said...

If you facing attachment download problem with IE 8.0, then do the below specified settings Tools-> Internet Options-> Advanced-> Security -> Check for signatures on downloaded programs(un check the box)and save the settings.IT solved my problme.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the help! I think Kaspersky caused my challenge (with my help of course), but this worked.

emorillo2 said...

Thank you. Worked for me.
Windows Server 2008 R2.
IE8.

Anonymous said...

Great Thanks!

Michiel said...

I recently have this problem on Ubuntu 11.10 with Chrome as well as Firefox! All attachments are named bttachment.ashx when downloaded. It used to work fine! Perhaps they did some upgrade or patch on the OWA server....

Anonymous said...

Thank you. This solved my problem!!

I am running Windows 7 and IE9. My OWA attachments would always show as long links starting with the filename attachment.ashx

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, it worked. I was desperately looking for a solution and your way solved my issue in 2 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Until a couple of days ago I was happily opening attachments to emails received in my MS Outlook Web App. Then for what would appear to be no reason no such luck and just kept getting messages that my pc was trying to open or save attached files with an _ashx string. I run on Vista SP2 with an up-to-date Windows IE and after following the guide above all was sorted without any further ado. Thanks

2cents said...

Your welcome anonymous!
I'm glad to see that this post is still useful and helps solve this problem when encountered.

Microsoft Support MVP said...

I have recently been working a bit with Microsoft Exchange 2013. As far as what the new Exchange server does , well that is obvious, it is an email server. Microsoft in this iteration of their Email server and the most widely used email server and service in the world is a dramatic change. The drama of change comes very much from the management console of the server. After becoming very familiar and comfortable with the Management Console of Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007, management for Exchange 2013 is a break away from those console. It is web based management. The scripting or shell support is the same however and that is a very system to have left the way it was developing because many including me have become used to the command line and scripting capabilities of the command shell for exchange. Supporting Exchange server 2013 is going to be interesting and I am looking forward to it. Supporting it directly at the console level is of course and option with remote support software. Remote support software will still allow access to the desktop for remote control land access of the server. Remote support software on This version of Exchange or prior version remains the same. If web based access accounts for anything, I think that feature of enabling administration and support of exchange through a web based configuration makes lots of sense. No longer do administrators have to log on to the console of the server to perform many tasks. Although the exchange server and service could be managed and configured remotely prior to this version of the server, to do so still required installing Management tools. With web based enabled support, administration can be performed from any computer that can connect via a web browser to the server. Support in this manner adds more flexibility and options for remote support. No longer Administrators have to be locked into a management console. A web browser provides access for remote support. Remote support software as mentioned can still be used to remotely access and remote control the console with screen-sharing capabilities. Microsoft has added the feature of web based support through a web browser. With this in mind, more options are available for supporting the system.

Microsoft Support MVP said...

I just recently came across a very strange problem with Internet explorer. The user had checked the delete browser history on exit check box. This in itself is not bad and makes sense for some users . The option is readily available and is intended to provide some security and privacy with browsing. The problem occur ed when the user also tried adding web sites to the the compatibility mode list in Internet explorer, the compatibility view settings would be removed when the browser was closed. Because the selection to clear browser history n exit was enabled, the compatibility view settings sites would also be removed as part of the browser's history. perhaps a bug but this situation occurred in IE 10. And it occurred every time and for all sites that were n the compatibility view list. A site would be added for example a Citrix Access Gateway or Netscaler login form page for Citrix. The site would be added to the compatibility view list and work, then after the browser was closed and re-opened, the same problem would exist and the site had to be added to the compatibility view list again. The Citrix access gateway web front end server would hsow just a black screen. This is a common problem in IE but no big deal. The black Citrix logon screen would immediately refresh and display the normal logon screen one the site was added to the compatibility view in IE. The problem occurred when the browser was closed and re-opened, the site was not longer in the compatibility view list.

gtek99 said...

We use remote support for remote desktop control and remote access of client computers over the Internet. We used web based remote support almost constantly through the day. The most useful aspect of remote support software is to take care of problem like the one posted by Microsoft Support MVP. These problem do not need an On-site or a walk to a user desk or workstation. It is certainly an example of software issues that are most advantageously resolved without having to be present at the computer's console. While connected with remote support software, the user is still able to view the screen while their computer is being worked on. This type of remote support software is screen-sharing remote control . Screen-sharing alone can be a valuable tool in provide not only remote assistance but also for access a users computer to show them how to use an application or to add printers, access sharing or trouble-shoot browser issues. Some applications for remote support require the browser one hundred percent for remote support software to work. These applications for remote control access to provide support through the web could be a problem in situations where the user's browser is actually the problem. If the web browser is not working properly, the remote technician or support agent cannot connect to the computer to use their screen-sharing remote support software to provide remote assistance. In such cases the user will benefit from remote support software that does not depend intrinsically on the web based access and web browser in general for access to the remote control of the computer for remote desktop screen sharing and remote control. Stand-alone executable, portable application, for remote control or even the type that is installed using the Windows installer can be used to gain remote access. In this case the initial setup can be downloaded even from an ftp site or from and network UNC share. The connection can be made once the installation of the remote support software is complete or the portable stand-alone application for remote control is executed by the remote client.