Outlook 2003 has lost track of its .PST folders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nick Knisely
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Nick Knisely

Hi -

For some reason - my copy of Outlook 2003 has lost track of how many .PST
files are open. I've only got one .PST - but Outlook is showing 3 in its
folder list. They all appear to have the same identical information in
them.

It's not really a problem except that Outlook thinks there are 3 contacts
list - but only one (number 2 on this list) has any data in it when I try to
use the address book function.

Anyhow - how do I get Outlook to relearn which folders it is using. The
data management tool only shows one file active. There must be someway to
get Outlook to refresh it's view and relearn.

Thanks.

-Nick
 
Thanks for the reply -

This article most closely describes my situation:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=278940

But the registry keys that it refers to do not exist on my computer (Windows
XP Pro, Outlook 2003)

Given that this is a better description of the problem - is there some way
of fixing this on a 2003 installation computer?

-Nick
 
I'm going to see if I can find you an equivalent solution for Outlook
2003 -- I'll post back if I get one.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Replies sent to my e-mail address will probably not be answered --
please reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


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OK, the official word is: Even if your registry key structure is slightly
different, you still need to look for the "Windows Messenger Subsystem" key
and follow the directions in the Slipstick article I quoted. I also use
WinXP Pro and Outlook 2003, and I found this key at

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
Messaging Subsystem

If you don't have multiple Windows profiles, you'll just see "Outlook" as
the next subfolder under "Windows Messenger Subsystem". Otherwise, you'll
get a list of Windows profile names, and you need to choose the one you're
using when you have this problem in Outlook, and then choose the "Outlook"
subfolder under that profile name. Proceed as directed from there. If
there is more than one key whose data strings show the name(s) of your
excess .PST file(s), you'll need to take a guess which one is bad and delete
it, and leave the other one behind. The worst that can happen if you delete
the wrong one is that your Outlook profile will be damaged, but you can
easily create a new profile -- your data won't be affected. And if you
export the registry keys before you delete them, you should be able to
restore those keys later if you find you've deleted the wrong ones.

Try it and post back with your results.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Replies sent to my e-mail address will probably not be answered --
please reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In
 
Hi - Thanks so much for following up...

Having now dived deeply into my registry, I can report that I can find no
registry value: 001e6700 as referenced by the KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=278940

I do have the registry branch structure you describe however, but no value
like that - nor can I see anything that looks like a path to where Outlook
is keeping the information about the location of it's profiles. Are sure
that Outlook is keeping the path to the profiles in this registry branch?
If it is, then it's somehow encrypted...

-Nick
 
Okay -

I managed to solve the problem...

I created a new profile. In the profile I created a dummy account as the
default. Then I added the .PST file that had my data, changed the mail
delivery to point to it, and closed Outlook.

I restarted Outlook, imported the data into the dummy account - and VOILA!
everything is just as I wanted it to appear.

Finally I just deleted the old Profile - and now it all works.


Yay.



-Nick
 
As you've discovered, sometimes creating a new profile is the cure for many
ills :-) Glad you got it working.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Replies sent to my e-mail address will probably not be answered --
please reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


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