Emptying Those Pesky OLK Folders (Outlook design flaw)

Hello All,

This came up on the New York Exchange Server User Group (aka NYExUG) Google Group mailing list. See below to download the script to empty those pesky Outlook 2003 OLK folders.

Down Here: Magical Script to Purge the Outlook OLK Folder

Background on the issue. When an Outlook 2003 (not sure if Outlook 2007 has the same problem) user opens an attachment, Outlook creates a cached copy (with a similar name and a few digits) in a hidden OLK folder (random folder name) in the user's profile. Now, the issue is, if the user opens up the same file name (e.g. scanner creates PDF files named Scanned.pdf", eventually the random digits run out and user will not be able to open the new file due to a same file name error. Of course the error message isn't so clear cut. The reason I call this a design flaw, there isn't a way to clear the Outlook "cache" without manually doing this. I've looked for Group Policy adm add-ons, and a number of other solutions, but in the end, a co-worker of mine at REEF Solutions found and configured a script to empty all OLK folders on Startup. Now, we simply place that script in the startup folder, and "BANG!" every login solves the problem. I'm sure there's a better way to deploy it, but this was a quick and easy solution. If you know how to handle this via GP, post it in the comments.

Until next time.
-Ben