Windows Desktop Search 4.0 email and document preview is not working with Office 2007
I have WDS 4.0 installed on my Office 2007 SP2 computer (IE8, Windows XP SP2). When I try to view an email in WDS the following message is displayed: “Full preview of this item is not available unless Microsoft Outlook is running.” The preview of the message is in plain, unformatted text with no paragraphs breaks at all. However Outlook 2007 IS open and running. If I double-click the email to open it in its own window the formatting is correct. When I do the same search on an Office 2003 machine (also IE8, Windows XP SP2) the preview within WDS works correctly.
In the same vein - when I try to view a document saved on my hard drive of the Office 2007 machine I get the message “Unable to display preview” in the WDS preview pane. Again, when I do the same search on an Office 2003 machine the preview works correctly.
The exact same results happen on 3 Office 2007 computers on which I am testing Windows Desktop Search 4.0. So, it has something to do with our environment or corporate build. Any suggestions?
In the same vein - when I try to view a document saved on my hard drive of the Office 2007 machine I get the message “Unable to display preview” in the WDS preview pane. Again, when I do the same search on an Office 2003 machine the preview works correctly.
The exact same results happen on 3 Office 2007 computers on which I am testing Windows Desktop Search 4.0. So, it has something to do with our environment or corporate build. Any suggestions?
Your config is compatible according to MS.
I would follow the suggestions above as well as perhaps repairing office and general maintenance.
I also agree that moving to sp3 is a plus.
As an aside, be sure to uninstall IE8 before sp3 so you don't get into a pickle.
The filter pack for sp3 and off2k7 may work better for you.
Cheers
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/choose/windowssearch4.mspx
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Filter-Pack-for-Windows-Search-4-0-in-XP-SP3-and-Vista-SP1-95521.shtml
I would follow the suggestions above as well as perhaps repairing office and general maintenance.
I also agree that moving to sp3 is a plus.
As an aside, be sure to uninstall IE8 before sp3 so you don't get into a pickle.
The filter pack for sp3 and off2k7 may work better for you.
Cheers
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/choose/windowssearch4.mspx
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Filter-Pack-for-Windows-Search-4-0-in-XP-SP3-and-Vista-SP1-95521.shtml
ASKER
Thank you for your responses. However, still no solution.
1) First, a correction on my part - we are definitely on XP SP3. Apologies for that mistake. (And yes, SP3 is installed before IE8)
2) I have rebuilt my index with no change in behavior.
3) The same behavior occurs on three different machines that are all brand new fresh builds. So there is no need for repairing Office or other general maintenance at this time.
4) We are in a corporate environment and upgrading to Windows 7 (or Vista) is not an option right now. As centerv stated, my config meets all of the Microsoft requirements so it is really frustrating that this is not working. Whether or not Outlook 2007 and XP are a good fit is irrelevant.
5) I looked at the information for the MS Filter Pack and I don't think it will help us in this case. (We are still on Exchange 2003, moving to Exchange 2010 shortly. The Pack refers to Exchange 2007.)
Anyone else have any thoughts?
1) First, a correction on my part - we are definitely on XP SP3. Apologies for that mistake. (And yes, SP3 is installed before IE8)
2) I have rebuilt my index with no change in behavior.
3) The same behavior occurs on three different machines that are all brand new fresh builds. So there is no need for repairing Office or other general maintenance at this time.
4) We are in a corporate environment and upgrading to Windows 7 (or Vista) is not an option right now. As centerv stated, my config meets all of the Microsoft requirements so it is really frustrating that this is not working. Whether or not Outlook 2007 and XP are a good fit is irrelevant.
5) I looked at the information for the MS Filter Pack and I don't think it will help us in this case. (We are still on Exchange 2003, moving to Exchange 2010 shortly. The Pack refers to Exchange 2007.)
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Excerpts from below and look at the second link as another useful option.
For starters, we have extended Group Policy to control more aspects of search functionality and made this control more granular with per-user policies. You can use Group Policy Objects to control how desktop search accesses remote resources - such as Microsoft Exchange Server resources or file shares - to manage network utilization.
Speaking of accessing Microsoft Exchange Server - if your organization selects not to use Microsoft Office Outlook in cached mode, you can set a Group Policy to index Exchange in online mode. Windows Search 4.0 will then index with minimal impact to the server. Our internal testing of this configuration shows significant decrease in the load on the server and the network as compared to Windows Desktop Search 3.01
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2008/06/03/windows-search-4-0-released-to-web.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/serverproducts/searchserverexpress/try-1.aspx
For starters, we have extended Group Policy to control more aspects of search functionality and made this control more granular with per-user policies. You can use Group Policy Objects to control how desktop search accesses remote resources - such as Microsoft Exchange Server resources or file shares - to manage network utilization.
Speaking of accessing Microsoft Exchange Server - if your organization selects not to use Microsoft Office Outlook in cached mode, you can set a Group Policy to index Exchange in online mode. Windows Search 4.0 will then index with minimal impact to the server. Our internal testing of this configuration shows significant decrease in the load on the server and the network as compared to Windows Desktop Search 3.01
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2008/06/03/windows-search-4-0-released-to-web.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/serverproducts/searchserverexpress/try-1.aspx
ASKER
Unfortunately neither help. There is no Group Policy entry that refers to preview and we are not in a position to implement a Search Server at this time. I am also reciving assistance from another avenue and will update this post with the results.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Thanks for feedback.
1. XP should be at SP3 and all patched up. SP2 is pretty old now. I am saying this and writing this on my XP Pro SP3 machine.
2. Rebuild your index. First restart your machine, then start Outlook (Outlook must be running for indexing to include it - at least that is so for me). Then go to Control Panel -> Indexing Options. Make sure Outlook and everything else you want is include, click on Advanced and Rebuild the index. Do this overnight for your own sanity.
3. Unfortunately, I am using Outlook 2003 on this machine; however, I have Outlook 2007 on my Windows 7 Pro Thinkpad and Search there works perfectly including Outlook.
My personal view (not all that widely shared) is that Outlook 2007 is really not a great fit for XP, where it is a great fit for both Vista Business and Windows 7 Pro.
... Thinkpads_User