Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Outlook Client Preview Pane

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 users could potentially come across a problem with the Preview Pane if using the Microsoft Office Outlook Client and have corrupt/ incorrect values for registry keys on the client machine.

The situation would be that when in the Outlook client and for example on Activities view, the Preview Pane shows the default Outlook Contact form instead of the CRM Activity form. You could also notice the rows in the grid view show the incorrect icon.

This is shown in the below image:

The reason for this is the registry key DisableFormRegions on the client machine is set to 2 instead of 0. Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not alter this key, so if you come across this issue, it would have occurred due to a 3rd party program accessing the key, or possibly a Group Policy change on the key.

To resolve this issue, on the client machine go to the below locations in the registry (Start - Run - Regedit) and if the DisableFormRegions key is present, change the value to 0. This will then allow form regions for CRM extensions to work properly.

For Outlook 2007:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Addins

For Outlook 2010:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Addins

HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft
HKCU\Software\Office\Outlook\FormRegions

You can also search the registry hives from top down by pressing Ctrl + f on keyboard and searching for DisableFormRegions.

Best Regards

Dynamics CRM Team