Forms with VBScript do not work with Terminal Services in Outlook 2002 and in Outlook 2003 (302003)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, when used with:
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
This article was previously published under Q302003

SYMPTOMS

If you are using Microsoft Outlook in a Terminal Services environment, you cannot use Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) in custom Outlook forms. This issue can occur when you are using Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server in Install mode or User mode. This issue also occurs with Windows 2000 Terminal Server in Application mode but not in Remote Administration mode.

CAUSE

By default, both Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 do not install the VBScript component in Windows Terminal Server environments.

WORKAROUND

Use one of the following methods to work around this problem.

Method 1: Copy the Outlvbs.dll file to existing installations

To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Copy the Outlvbs.dll file from a computer that is not running Microsoft Outlook 2002 on a Terminal Server.
  2. Copy the Outlvbs.dll file to the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 folder of the affected Terminal Server computer.

    Note If the Terminal Server is running Microsoft Office 2003, copy the Outlvbs.dll file to the \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11 folder.

Method 2: Use the Custom Installation Wizard to deploy Microsoft Office XP or Microsoft Office 2003 with an additional property to let the VBScript component to be installed

To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Open the Custom Installation Wizard, and then create a new transform (.MST) file for the Microsoft Office installation.
  2. Configure your installation requirement in the Custom Installation Wizard.
  3. On the last available page of the Custom Installation Wizard, click Modify Setup Properties, and then add the following property name and value:

    Property Name: WTSDISABLED
    Value: MsInfoFiles,PPTCastCoreFiles

    Note both the property name and the value are case sensitive.

For Office XP, Modify Setup Properties is on page 21 of 22 of the Custom Installation Wizard. For Office 2003, Modify Setup Properties is on page 23 of 24 of the Custom Installation Wizard.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Office and Outlook Setup detect when you are installing Outlook on a computer configured with Terminal Services. In these situations, the support files necessary to enable VBScript in Outlook custom forms are not installed. Therefore, if you try to start the Outlook Script Editor, you receive the following error message:
Unable to load this feature. Feature ID not registered.
If you try to use a custom Outlook form that contains VBScript, you do not receive an error message, but the VBScript code in the form does not run.

NOTE: Earlier versions of Outlook supported VBScript in a Terminal Services environment.

For more information about available resources and answers to commonly asked questions about Microsoft Outlook solutions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

287530 Frequently asked questions about custom forms and Outlook solutions

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:2/8/2006
Keywords:kbbug kbpending KB302003
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