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Outlook 2003 Mailbox Size Exceeded

An Outlook 2003 user received the message below:

You have exceeded the size limit on your mailbox. You can find types of items to delete or move, empty the deleted items folder, or you can have Outlook transfer items to an archive file.

I had to delete copies of messages he forwarded multiple times and archive some messages to bring the mailbox size below 2 GigaBytes (GB) [See Outlook 2003 Mailbox Size Exceeded].

I also checked the size of all other users' mailboxes on the Microsoft Exchange 6.5 server that processes his email. [See Determining Mailbox Size for All Exchange Users]

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Outlook 2002 Email Messages Not Opening

I found that when I double-clicked on email messages in Outlook 2002 on a user's system, they would not open. I couldn't open a message by right-clicking on the message and choosing Open either. I was able to eliminate the problem by turning off the Google Desktop add-in within Outlook, which can be done by the following steps:

1. Click on Tools.
2. Select Options.
3. Click on the Other tab.
4. Click on the Advanced Options button.
5. Click on the Add-in Manager button.
6. Uncheck "Google Desktop Search Outlook Addin".
7. Click on OK.
8. Click on Com Add-ins.
9. Uncheck "Google Desktop Outlook Toolbar.
10. Click on OK.
11. Click on OK again.
12. Click on OK to close the Options window.

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Folders Could Not Be Opened

On a Windows XP system that was in a domain using a Microsoft Exchange server, whenever a user attempted to use Outlook 2003, Outlook would start to open then crash. The error message displayed was "the set of folders could not be opened." I confirmed that the user's Outlook .ost file still existed and that the user had appropriate access permissions. I also ran the scanost utility that Microsoft provides with Office to verify the integrity of the user's OST file. It did not find any problems with the file. I found the problem was on the Exchange server. The mail store was not loaded due to inconsistencies in it after a system crash. When I repaired the mail store and the Exchange server was running properly again, the user was able to open Outlook normally.

I don't know why this problem only occurred on this user's system. Outlook 2003 opened normally on other users' systems. They were not able to access email on the Exchange server and Outlook indicated they were disconnected from the Exchange server, but they were at least able to access email, contacts, etc. that were stored in their OST offline storage files.

References:

1. Repair an .ost or .pst file in Outlook
   Office Online Home Page
2. Repairing Outlook PST File Corruption at 2 GB Limit
   MoonPoint Support
3. Using ScanOST to Repair OST Files
   MoonPoint Support

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Configuring Outlook Express 6 For TLS

Outlook Express can be configured to use TLS to authenticate with an email server and to transmit messages securely, i.e. in encrypted form between Outlook Express and the server set to be its SMTP server. Note: TLS doesn't gurantee end-to-end encryption of the message, just the encrypted transmission of the message from the client email program, such as Outlook Express, to the SMTP server to which it hands off the message. That server may in turn transmit the message to other servers in unencrypted form.

[ More Info ]

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Copying Signatures from one PC to Another

Outlook signatures are stored at C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures. For each signature there will be an RTF, HTM, and .TXT file. To copy signatures from one PC to another, simply copy the 3 files to the appropriate directory on the second system.

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Creating a Personal Distribution List in Outlook 2003

I created instructions for someone to use to build a mailing list from a subset of the individual's in her contact list, but I haven't yet figured out how she can add addresses from the contact lists of others in her office, which have been shared and so can be accessed by selecting them from under "Other Contacts" or by "Open Shared Contacts", but which don't seem to be accessible when adding members to the personal distribution list.

[ More Info ]

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Using ScanOST to Repair OST Files

Sometimes an Outlook Offline Folder file, i.e. an outlook.ost file, will become corrupted. In such cases you can use Microsoft's OST Integrity Check Took, scanost.exe, to analyze and, hopefully, repair any corruption in the file.

[ More Info ]

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Outlook Error 0x800CCC0D

If you receive an error similar to the following when sending and receiving email with Outlook, check that the domain name for the email server is valid.

Task 'ninasmith@example.com - Sending and Receiving' reported error (0x800CCC0D) : 'Unable to find the e-mail server. Please verify the server information in your account properties.'

A user reported that she could no longer send and receive email. I had her attempt to connect to port 25 on her email server from a command prompt with telnet, e.g. telnet 192.168.2.10 25. She was able to connect and received the SMTP server's prompt. I then had her try to connect to the POP3 port, port 110, with telnet 192.168.2.10.com 110. Again, she was successful, and was able to enter the user and pass commands to access her email on the server. But when I tried to lookup the IP address of the mail server, e.g. with nslookup example.com, I received the response "*** ns2.diginetusa.net can't find example.com: Server failed". I then discovered that the DNS service for the user's domain name had expired and needed to be renewed.

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Outlook Address Book Could Not Be Displayed

A user reported that his address book could not be displayed in Outlook 2003. I composed a new message and tried to bring up the address book to put an address in the "To" field of the message. When I did so, I saw the message below:

The address list could not be displayed. The Contacts folder associated with this address list could not be opened; it may have been moved or deleted, or you do not have permissions. For information on how to remove this folder from the Outlook Address Book, see Microsoft Office Outlook Help.

But under "Show names from the", I could see his contact folders and even select "Contacts" and see all of the addresses in his main contacts folder. Microsoft has steps to correct the problem at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q319901 in Article ID 319901 titled "The address list could not be displayed" error message when you use your Contacts to address a new message in Outlook. The article indicates the problem can be caused by a corrupted address book. The steps suggested in the article corrected the problem. I've listed the steps below:

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, remove and reinstall the Outlook Address Book. To do this:

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
3. Click View or change existing directories or address books, and then click Next.
4. Click Outlook Address Book, and then click Remove.
5. Click Yes when you receive the prompt to confirm the removal.
6. Click Add.
7. Click Additional Address Books, and then click Next.
8. Click Outlook Address Book, and then click Next.
9. Click OK when you receive the message to restart Outlook.
10. Click Finish.
11. Click Exit on the File menu to quit Outlook.
12. Restart Outlook.
13. In the Folder list, right-click the folder that you want to use with the Address Book (for example, right-click Contacts), and then click Properties.
14. Click the Outlook Address Book tab.
15. Click to select the Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book check box (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.

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Importing An Outlook Express Address Book into Outlook Express

If you need to import an Outlook Express address book into Outlook Express on another system or into the address book of another account on the same system, take the steps listed below.

Locating an Address Book

Locate the previous Outlook Express address book. It will be a .wab file (presumably this stands for "Windows Address Book"). You won't be able to locate it if the Windows Explorer is using the default folder settings, which don't allow you to view hidden and system files. You need to change those settings first, if you haven't previously done so, to display hidden and system files (instructions for viewing hidden and system files).

The address book, which will have a "wab" extension, will likely be under C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book, where "username" is the relevant user's userid, e.g. "JSmith".

If you are importing the address book into an account on the same system, you can proceed to the step of importing it into Outlook Express. Otherwise copy it to the other system. There may also be a file with an extension "wab~". That is a backup file, which you can ignore. If you want to view the entries in the address book, you can double-click on the file and look under "Main Identity's Contacts" for the list of addresses in the address book

Importing the Address Book

1. Click on "Addresses" to open the address book.
2. Click on "File" and select "Import" followed by "Address Book (WAB)".
3. Browse to where the address book is stored, click on it to select it and then click on the "Open" button, which will import the addresses from that file. You should see "The import process completed successfully" when the operation is complete.

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