XWEB: Troubleshooting Blank Message Bodies in Outlook Web Access

This article describes how to troubleshoot Exchange Server if an Exchange Server user can successfully use Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) to open the Inbox, but cannot see the body of a message.

First Issue

To function correctly, OWA requires read, write, and delete access to the WebTemp and System Temp folders. If a user sees blank bodies in messages, the user's Microsoft Windows NT account might not have read, write, and delete access to the system Temp folder on the server.

Change the Location of Your Server's Temp Folder

The Temp folder on your server might be in a location that you do not want to grant the Everyone group read, write, and delete access to (for example, C:\Winnt\Temp). To move your server's Temp folder to a more secure location, use the procedure that is appropriate to your server's operating system:

Note The following changes must be system environment variables.

• For Windows NT 4.0:
  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Environment tab.
  3. If your server has the TMP value, select the value for TMP in the System pane. If your server does not have the TMP value, select any other variable in the System pane, and then type TMP in the Variable Name box at the bottom of the dialog box.
  4. Type the location of your Temp folder in the Variable Value box, and then click Set.
  5. Verify that the TMP value now appears in the System pane. If the TMP value does not appear in the System pane, repeat steps 3 and 4. Make sure that you click an existing System environment variable, and then replace it with the TMP value.
  6. Click Apply, and then click OK to close the dialog box.
  7. You must restart your server for the changes to take effect.
• For Microsoft Windows 2000:
  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
  3. Under System variables section, select the value for TMP and then click Edit. If your server does not have a value for TMP, click New, and then type TMP in the Variable Name box in the dialog that is displayed.
  4. Type the location of your Temp folder in the Variable Value box, and then click Set.
  5. Click OK, and then click OK in the System Properties dialog box to close it.
  6. You must restart your server for the changes to take effect.

Grant the Everyone Group Read, Write, and Delete Access to the Temp Folder

To grant the Everyone group read, write, and delete access to the Temp folder, use the procedure that is appropriate to your server's operating system:

• For Windows NT 4.0:
  1. Use Microsoft Windows Explorer to find your server's system Temp folder.
  2. Right-click the Temp folder, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Security tab, and then click Permissions.
  4. Select Everyone, and then click Remove.
  5. Click Add, and then double-click the Everyone group so that it is displayed in the lower pane. Grant the Everyone group Full Control access, and then click OK.
  6. In the main Permissions dialog box, select the Everyone group again, and then click Special Directory Access in the Select box in the lower portion of the dialog box.
  7. Click Other, and then click to select the Read, Write, and Delete check boxes. Make sure that all the rest of the check boxes are clear. Click OK to close the Permissions dialog box.
  8. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
• For Windows 2000:
  1. Use Windows Explorer to find your server's system Temp folder.
  2. Right-click the Temp folder, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Security tab.
  4. If the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object check box is selected, click to clear it. In the dialog box that is displayed, click Copy.
  5. Select the Everyone group, and then click Remove.
  6. Click Advanced, click Add, and then click the Everyone group. Click OK.
  7. In the Allow column, click to select the following check boxes:
     • List folder/read data
     • Read attributes
     • Read extended attributes
     • Create files/write data
     • Create folders/append data
     • Write attributes
     • Write extended attributes
     • Delete subfolders and files
     Make sure that all the rest of the check boxes are clear.
  8. Click OK to close the Permission Entry dialog box, click OK to close the Advanced dialog box, and then click OK to close the Properties dialog box.

Second Issue

Users might also see blank message bodies in OWA if the Exchange Server 5.5. post-Service Pack 4 (SP4) OWA fixes that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article are installed on a server where the minimum required version of Microsoft Internet Explorer is not installed: To resolve this issue, install the minimum required version of Internet Explorer on the server, and then restart the World Wide Web Publishing service. The minimum required version of Internet Explorer is Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0, but Microsoft recommends that all OWA servers be upgraded to Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.

Third Issue

Virus-scanning software that runs on the server might deny access to a message with attachments until the attachments are correctly scanned. If a server is under heavy stress, users might not see the bodies of such messages until the attachments pass through the virus-scanning queue. The user will be able to open the message after the virus scan for the attachment is complete. If this is the cause of the issue, the user also cannot see the attachment by using other means, such as Microsoft Outlook.