Article ID: 927595 - Last Review: October 15, 2007 - Revision: 1.6

You cannot search RTF e-mail messages in Outlook 2007

When you perform a search in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, the search returns no e-mail messages that contain the search criteria.

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CAUSE

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

You upgraded to Windows Vista from Microsoft Windows XP.
Then, you upgraded to a 2007 Microsoft Office suite from an earlier version of Microsoft Office.
Outlook 2007 is configured to use the Rich Text Format (RTF) file type for e-mail messages. Alternatively, you received many RTF e-mail messages.

When these conditions are true, the RTF file type is no longer registered in Windows Vista. This behavior prevents Outlook 2007 from searching in any RTF e-mail message.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Click Start
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, and then click Control Panel.
In the view pane, click Classic View.
Double-click Indexing Options.
In the Indexing Options dialog box, click Advanced.

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If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
On the File Types tab, locate rtf in the Extensions list.
If the Filter Description for rtf is either Plain Text filter or Null filter, the RTF filter must be registered. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start
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  , click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
  
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  If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
2. Type regsvr32 rtffilt.dll, and then press ENTER.
3. When you receive the following message, click OK:
  DllRegisterServer in rtffilt.dll succeeded.