Can't Open This Item. The Operation Failed

[memcom]

I am having a problem with some messages in our exchange 2003 server. In outlook if we try to open a few particular messages we get an error message that says "Can't Open This Item. The Operation Failed". If we right click on the message, nothing happens. If we try to forward or reply we get a message that says "The Operation Failed" If we try to use outlook web access and view that message we get a page that says "HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error"

It can't be the outlook client because we can't view the message in outlook web either. I have noticed this recently on a few different mailboxes. It seems like the emails that have problems have attachments included with them, but I can't find out anything about the attachments.

The email senders are names and email addresses that we have had contact with, but that doesn't neccessarily mean it is not a virus.

We have just upgraded to symantec 9.0 enterprise, so I don't know if that might be the problem.

This isn't a very widespread problem, but it has happened enough so that I need to come up with an answer. Does anyone know what might be the problem.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[kpegg]

I recently installed a new 2003 Small Business Server with Exchange 2003 and I am having the same problem (last three weeks). My main workstations that are having the problem have Outlook 2000 installed as their email application and are running Windows 2000. I have some new systems with Outlook 2003 and Windows XP installed that have not reported the same problem (but they don't get a lot of AOL emial like my problem systems). I am using Panda as my antivirus solution. Most of the problem emails come from AOL addresses that have attachments. Users can open some emails with attachments from a AOL users and not others. I am in the process of upgrading one of the Outlook 2000 users to Outlook 2003 to see if this might help the problem. Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kpegg]

Outlook 2003 fixed the problem on all new incoming emails so far. Still cannot go back and open old emails with the orginal problems. Problem seems to be emails with embedded html emails. That is an attachment, of an attachment, that is a HTML email.

 

[bcthomas]

We're having the same problem. Exchange 2003, Outlook 2000, XP Is it tied to AOL email format somehow? ANyone heard of a patch?