Basic Microsoft Outlook support issues
Outlook offers a
number of benefits, but it tends to throw the occasional obstacle in your path.
Armed with the right information and a few tricks, you can smooth the way for
your Outlook users and for yourself.
Whether you support only yourself or an enterprise full of users, you’ll
find Outlook challenging but worth it.
Most of the time, it’s enough to know
where Outlook stores its data. However, as you take advantage of Outlook’s
various features, you’ll run into a few peculiar behaviors. Knowing the origins of
these behaviors will make your job a lot easier. Here’s a look at some of the
common issues that Outlook users are likely to encounter. Note: Specific
instructions apply to Windows XP Professional machines in Classic view, using
Outlook 2003 on non-Exchange systems.
Work with your .pst
file
Outlook stores each
user’s folders, messages, forms, and files in a special file known as a
Personal Folder file. You can save, copy, and even move a Personal Folder
(.pst) file, although you shouldn't move it unless you have a specific reason
for doing so and know what you’re doing. Use Windows Search to find the file
quickly using the search string *.pst. Usually, this file is on the local
drive. However, if you’re on Microsoft Exchange Server, you might not have
access to it. In that case, you’ll need to talk with your administrator.
Backing up your .pst
file occasionally is a good idea. How often depends on you. But if you get a
lot of important mail, every day isn't too often. To back up your Personal
Folder file and all its sub-folders, simply export it, as follows:
1.
Choose Import and Export from the File menu to launch the
wizard.
2.
Choose Export To A File from the Choose An Action To Perform
list and click Next.
3.
Select Personal Folder File (.pst) from the Create a File of
Type list and click Next.
4.
Choose Personal Folders from the Select the Folder to Export from
list.
5.
Check the Include Sub-folders option and click Next.
6.
Specify a folder and file-name for the backup file.
7.
From Options, specify how to treat duplicate items.
8.
Click Finish.
Export Outlook folders
to another format
Although the right
code can help Office applications talk to one another, sometimes it’s quicker
to export data. An automated solution is definitely worth the effort if users
must frequently repeat the task. Knowing which format to export to is the real trick.
You can export Outlook data to another format as follows:
1.
Choose Import And Export from the File menu.
2.
In the resulting pane, select Export to a File and click Next.
3.
From the Create A File of Type list, choose the appropriate file
type and click Next. One of the seven types should be adequate for most
purposes.
4.
Choose the folder you want to export from and click Next.
5.
Enter the path and file-name for the exported file and click
Next. Or click Browse to locate the appropriate folder and then enter just a file-name.
6.
Click Finish. In this final window, Outlook may give you the
opportunity to map fields. Generally, you won’t need to change the wizard’s
settings unless you have very specific reasons for doing so.
Outlook exports
internal field names. You can change these names in the exported file, but you
can’t change them before the export. You can use an export to learn the
internal names if you decide to code the solution later. Knowing those internal
field names is essential.
Back up Outlook’s
stuff
Outlook’s views —
Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Tasks, and E-mail — aren't always part of the
Personal Folders file. You can backup these components separately, as follows:
1.
Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 from the previous tip.
2.
Choose the Outlook item folder you want to export from the
Select The Folder To Export From list and click Next.
3.
By entering or browsing, specify a folder and file-name for the
backup file.
4.
From Options, specify how to treat duplicate items.
5.
Click Finish.
6.
Repeat as necessary for each Outlook folder.
7.
If you’re on a corporate server, do the following:
8.
From the Tools menu, choose Services and then click the Delivery
tab.
9.
From Deliver New Mail To The Following Location, choose Remote
Mail and identify your Personal Folder file or choose your Microsoft Exchange
Server mailbox, if you want to use offline folders.
10.
Click OK.
11.
Exit and restart Outlook.
Delete folders
Adding folders is so
easy that you might add more folders than you actually need. It’s common to
create too many and then find you need to cut back a bit. Fortunately, deleting
folders is easy:
1.
Right-click the folder you want to delete.
2.
Choose Delete folder name.
That’s it! Outlook
will move the deleted folder to the Deleted Items folder, as a sub-folder If
you want to permanently delete the folder, right-click the deleted folder (in
the Deleted Items folder) and choose Delete. When Outlook prompts you to
permanently delete the folder, click Yes. Otherwise, the data in that folder is
still in the Delete Items folder, consuming resources. In addition, if a folder
contains sensitive or confidential data, it’s visible to anyone who accesses
your computer. If Delete isn't available with a right-click, call your
administrator.
Delete a .pst file
from a profile
When a user moves on,
you should delete his or her .pst file from the local system, as follows:
1.
Close Outlook if it’s open.
2.
From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel.
3.
Double-click Mail.
4.
Click Data Files.
5.
Select Personal Folders and click Remove.
6.
Click Close and close the Control Panel window.
Outlook needs a
personal folder, so after deleting the current .pst file, create a new one by
clicking Add. Be sure to set the new file as the default. Delete a user’s .pst
file only when you’re certain that no one will need to access its contents.
Archive to avoid
losing data
Outlook has a critical design flaw: If you don’t archive or
delete messages regularly, your file will grow too large for Outlook to handle.
Eventually, Outlook will choke. If this happens, you can download a crop tool that
will reduce the size of your Personal Folders file. Unfortunately, you’ll lose
data because this tool removes some to reduce the size of the file.
Avoiding the problem
is the best defense:
- Delete messages you don’t need to keep.
- Archive items regularly.
Prompt for profiles
Outlook can handle
more than one profile. An Outlook profile is similar to a Windows user account;
each profile contains settings specific to a single user. However, if you
define more than one profile, you must tell Outlook to prompt for a profile, as
follows:
1.
From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel.
2.
Double-click Mail.
3.
Click Show Profiles.
4.
Click the Prompt For A Profile To Be Used option and click OK.
Now, when you launch
Outlook, it will ask you to choose a profile.
Make contacts appear
in the Address Book
When addressing
e-mail, you can choose from Contacts items — usually. If contacts don’t appear,
right-click the Contacts folder, choose Properties, and then click the Outlook
Address Book tab. Make sure the Show This Folder as an Email Address Book is
checked. If that option is dimmed, choose E-mail Accounts from the Tools menu
and then choose View or Change Existing Directories or Address Book and do one
of the following:
- If Outlook Address Book isn't in the list, add it. Then, close Outlook and restart it.
- If Outlook Address Book is listed, delete it, close Outlook, restart, and then add it
Keep up with custom tool-bars
Outlook stores toolbar
information, including any custom tool-bars you create, in a file named
outcmd.dat. You’ll find this file in the following folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook
It’s a good idea to
back up this file after you customize the interface. If something goes wrong,
you can reclaim missing tool-bars by replacing the current copy of outcmd.dat
with the backup. You can also use this file to copy custom tool-bars to another
instance of Outlook.
Windows hides
outcmd.dat by default. To view it so you can copy or replace it, you must
enable Show Hidden Files And Folders in Windows Explorer by choosing Folder
Options from the Tools menu and then clicking the View tab.
Clear the search history
The Contact Quick Find
feature stores each search. If an item is already in the list, you can select
it quickly for a repeat search. But the list can rapidly grow too large to be
helpful. Outlook stores search items in the Registry. To clear the list, delete
the following Registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\version\Outlook\QuickFindMRU
Note: Editing the
Registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before saving any
changes.
Use Extended Reminders for multiple Task folders
You can have more than one Task folder, but Outlook recognizes reminders and follow-up flags only for the items in the default Task folder. That means if you set a reminder for an item in a non-default Task folder, Outlook will ignore it. If you must have this capability, consider using a third-party product, such as Extended Reminders.
Read messages archived to CD
You can back up a
Personal Folders file to CD, but the file is Read Only by default. To view the
file’s contents, you must restore it to your hard drive first. Unfortunately,
if the Read Only property is still set to True, you won’t be able to access
items in the file. You can easily reset this property by right-clicking the
file and selecting Properties. Uncheck the Read Only option and click OK. After
resetting the property, you should be able to access the file.
