San Francisco (CA) – Microsoft has confirmed that the recently introduced Google Apps Sync plugin is responsbible for disabling Outlook search functions.
“When a Google Apps user installs the sync plugin for Outlook, the plugin modifies a registry key which disables Windows Desktop Search from indexing and providing search functionality for all Outlook data, not just the Outlook data being synchronized from GMail,” Microsoft explained in an official blog post. “Because Outlook search relies upon the indexing performed by Windows Desktop Search, Outlook search functions are broken as a result. It is also important to note that uninstalling the plugin may not fix the issue.”
According to Microsoft, the Google plugin also affects the Office Outlook Connector which syncs Windows Live Hotmail with Outlook.
“When a user has the Outlook Connector installed, then installs the Google Apps Sync plugin, the next time Outlook is started an error message comes up stating that ‘some functionality will be disabled,” stated Microsoft. “The Google Apps Sync plugin modifies a registry key that is used by the Outlook Connector, which results in users seeing this error message.”
Microsoft recommended that users click “yes” to enable functionality and reset the registry to its correct value. The company also provided detailed instructions to restore the Outlook search feature by manually editing the registry file:
- Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard, and type “REGEDIT”. This will open the Windows Registry Editor.
- Browse to the following: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Search”
- You will manually have to reset the value of “PreventIndexingOutlook” to “0” (without the quotes). To do this, right click on the “PreventIndexingOutlook” key, select “Modify,” then change the value data to “0.”
- Close the registry editor.
As TG Daily previously reported, the Google Apps Sync plugin allows users to access Gmail and calendar functions via the Microsoft Office interface. The new service, which was launched to lure loyal Microsoft fans away from Outlook, was originally designed to facilitate the efficient transfer of between Google Apps and Office.
