OL97: Restoring an Outlook Form from a Cached Copy

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Outlook gives users an option to make a composed message an Outlook form. Outlook forms are often published to a Forms Registry or a Public folder, to allow access to the form by other users. In rare cases, if the form is lost and there is no backup of the form, the only course of action is to recreate the form manually and re-publish it.

If the Outlook Form was accessed by users, there is a chance that a cached copy of the form is still on a user's computer. With a cached copy of the form, you can retrieve the form and re-publish it to the Forms Registry or the Public Folder.

Copy a Cached TMP File

In this example the form to be recovered will be a message form titled "Test Form"

1. On another user's computer, open the folder <WinDir>\Forms\Testform.000 <WinDir> represents the folder where Windows was installed. and copy the file, there should only be one, to your desktop.

Create a Temporary Form of the Same Type

1. Start Outlook.
2. Compose a new item of the same type that is missing. For our example we will use a Mail Message.
3. On the Tools menu, click Design Outlook Form.
4. On the File menu, click Publish Form As.
5. In the Form Name, type the name of the form to be recovered. In our example you would type "Test Form".
6. Click Publish In and then click to select the folder where the form is to be published, such as the Inbox folder. Click OK.
7. Click Publish to publish the form to the selected folder. Close the form we just created. When prompted to save the form, click No.
8. On the View menu, click Folder list.
9. In the Folder list, click to select the folder we published the form to.
10. On the Compose menu, click New Test Form. Close the form and then on the File menu, click Exit and Log Off.

Rename the Copied Form to the Same Name as the New Form

1. Click Start, point to Programs and click Windows Explorer.
2. Double-click to open your Windows folder. If you installed Windows to another folder, open that folder.
3. Double-click the Forms folder then the Testform.000 folder. Note the name of the file in this folder then delete the file. NOTE: The folder may have a name of TestForm.001.
4. Right-click the file that you copied to your desktop and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type the name you noted in step 3 then press ENTER.
5. Drag the newly renamed file into the Testform.000 folder.
6. Close all open windows.

Open the Form and Publish to the Correct Location

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the View menu, click Folder list.
3. Click to select the folder that you published the form to.
4. On the Compose menu, click New Test Form. The form will open and will be cached on your computer. You should now see the lost Outlook form.
5. On the File menu, click Publish Form As.
6. Click Publish In, and then click to select the Public Folder where you will published the form. Click OK.
7. Click Publish to publish the form to the selected folder. Close the untitled form we just created. When prompted to save the form click No.

Note: These steps only work with forms created with Outlook. These steps will not work with forms created with Microsoft Exchange EFD, or other E- Forms development methods.

Outlook forms are cached as TMP files found in the \Windows\Forms folder. The form is located in a subfolder with a name similar to the forms name. Typically the folder is the form name abbreviated to 8 characters and normally ending in .000.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Start Outlook and compose a new message.
2. On the Tools menu, click Design Outlook Form.
3. Click the P.2 tab and add controls from the control toolbox to give your message an e-form look.
4. On the File menu, click Publish Form As, and then click Publish In. Click to select a public folder then click OK. Type a name then click Publish.
5. Close the message without saving it.
6. In the folder list click to select the folder that you published the form to.
7. On the Compose menu, click to select <name of your form>.
8. Close the form after it opened without saving it.
9. Delete the folder the form was published to.

RESULT: The only copy of the form is the one cashed to your hard drive.