Outlook Rule Error

[Craig]

Hi all,
I have rules setup in my Outlook 2003 at work, which have stopped working
for no apparent reason.

Outlook is running off an exchange server.

Now the rules in question are simple, they move mail sent from a specified
address to a specified folder.

The rules are set to run automatically, but when they do, an error crops up
stating Outlook cannot find the specified folder.

I have triple checked the rules, re-created the rules, deleted and re-
created the folders in question, but this still doesn't make the rules
work.

However I can run these rules manually and they work!

So what is causing the problem when it comes to Outlook doing them
automatically?

Thanks in advance,
Craig

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Where is the target folder located?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[BeyondTheSilence]

Where is the target folder located?

Hi Sue

I've the same problem.
The target folder is locatet in my ExchangeProfile, so there is no
reason not to find it.

I tried to fix the problem with OWA, and it works, but unfortunately
OWA-rules don't contain a 'stop processing more rules' option.
So the OWA-Workaround is no real solution.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

What problem is that? Often I've found that when people say they have the same problem, there's some key difference that they forget to highlight. It's best if you describe the problem, your version of Outlook, etc. starting at the beginning.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[eczematous]

If I select my rules to run automatically, then every time I receive

any email, it stays at the top of my Inbox and I get the error message:

"The folder you are trying to move or copy the message to can't be

found. Make sure the rule refers to a valid folder."

And yet, if I go to Run Rules Now and apply all of the same rules

manually to what has just arrived, they work fine, as they always had
until yesterday.

I'm using Outlook 2003 (11.6568.6568) SP2.

All of the destination folders are located narrower to my Inbox.

The Windows version is XP Professional 5.1, build
2600.xpsp2_gdr.040517-1325, SP2.

 

[abr2000]

Same problem here.

Using Windows XP Professional 2002 SP2,
Outlook 2003 11.6359.6408 SP1

I have two rules that were working sweet for about 6 months. The rules
move incoming mail to two different folders.

Now when the mail arrives it goes to my inbox and I get the error
"cannot move or copy to the specified folder..." I run the rules
manually, and they work, the messages get moved to the folders. So the
folders exist, they are the right ones, and the rules work manually. So
why don't they work automatically?

 

[Guest]

I was able to solve this by Exporting the rules to a file, turning off Cached
Exchange mode on the client, restarting Outlook, deleting all rules,
importing the rules back in, then reenable Cached Exchange mode.

What I think is happening is when a rule is created or updated with Cached
Exchange mode on, Outlook saves a pointer to the cached folder, rather than
the server's folder when it saves the rule back up to the server. When you
take Outlook out of Cached Exchange mode, Outlook no longer has a pointer to
its local cached folder, so the rule is created with a pointer to the server.

This is why OWA works - it's pointing directly to the server's folder, not
to a client.

Kind of a pain in the neck, but it does the trick for us.

Hope this helps.

- Mike

 

[Guest]

I spotted this question and hoped for an applicable answer, since I am having
the same problem, although I am using a POP3 server, not a Exchange server.

My rules, all of which move messages to designated folders had been working
automatically until I moved my outlook.pst folder to a new location on my
computer. Now they only work manually.

I have tried exporting them, then deleting them, then restarting Outlook
2003, then re-importing them. But the problem remains.

If my folders were corrupted in the database, why would it be possible for
the rules to work in the manual mode? What is different--so far as rule
application is concerned--between manual mode and automatic mode?

Any and all suggestions would be welcomed!

Ben

 

[Brian Tillman]

My rules, all of which move messages to designated folders had been
working automatically until I moved my outlook.pst folder to a new
location on my computer. Now they only work manually.

State the method you used to move the PST.

If my folders were corrupted in the database, why would it be
possible for the rules to work in the manual mode? What is
different--so far as rule application is concerned--between manual
mode and automatic mode?

Have you tried changing each rule to point again to the correct folder?
Click the folder name and reselect the folder from the PST, saving the rule
when you finish.

 

[jscougall]

Hi All,

We have had this error occur on a few of our many machines, we run
Outlook 2003 off an exchange server. We are also using Cached mode.
In the end we deleted the rules and recreated the OST file in the users
profile, after recreating the rule, it worked perfectly. Next time the
problem crops up we would like to try just recreating the ost and
seeing if that is enough.

Hope this helps some of you out there, as I could find virtually
nothing out there in the great wide web that would lead to any
definitive answers.

Good luck! it's a very frustrating issue.

 

[Guest]

Can you tell me what/where the OST file is? What does it do?

I followed the earlier tip to re-point all my rules to the correct folders
to which messages were to be transferred, and it worked. However I have over
a hundred rules and thus it was a very laborious fix. Surely there must be
an easier solution.

And I still am puzzled about why this happened in the first place -- my
basic question, and that of earlier posters, is *why do the rules work
manually but not automatically* ?

Thanks!

Ben

 

[Brian Tillman]

Can you tell me what/where the OST file is? What does it do?

The OST normally resides in %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook, but Outlook itself can tell you exactly where it is
if you ask it. Tools>Email Accounts>Next. Select the Exchange account and
click Change, More Settings, Advanced>Offline Folder Settings and examine
the File field. Note, however, it doesn't apply to your case because you're
not using Exchange.

The OST is similar in nature to a PST. It acts as an image of the contents
of the Exchange mailbox so that 1) you can use Outlook offline and have it
behave exactly as though it were online, with access to the same data
existing in the mailbox as the last time you were online and 2) to provide
faster user interface response when accessing data while online.

I followed the earlier tip to re-point all my rules to the correct
folders to which messages were to be transferred, and it worked.
However I have over a hundred rules and thus it was a very laborious
fix. Surely there must be an easier solution.

Alas, I don't think so. You never did explain how you moved your PST, so it
would be difficult to explain how it happened. A rule contains more
information than you see in the Rules Wizard. References to a folder can
include not only the folder name, but the path to the data store in which it
resides.

And I still am puzzled about why this happened in the first place --
my basic question, and that of earlier posters, is *why do the rules
work manually but not automatically* ?

I have no special internals knowledge, but from observation it appears that
manually running a rule requires less information about the data store
location than does automatic running of that rule. With Outlook using a PST
as the delivery location, the rules exist in the PST. Outlook has data
structures that are supposed to contain the path to that PST. When running
a rule manually, the rule engine itself has no trouble finding the folder
becuase the rule you feed it and the folder it references are in the same
data store. When the rule runs automatically, there appears to be an extra
step needed to locate the rule source so that the rules can be handled by
the rule engine and perhaps because of how you manipulated your PST, the
ability to locate the rule source is broken because the stored path no
longer matches the actual path to the PST.

 

[Guest]

SNIP SNIP....
Note, however, it doesn't apply to your case because you're
not using Exchange.

This brings up a painful irony. The main reason I switched to Outlook from
Outlook Express is that I have a 5 computer LAN in my home (I am the sole
user). I wanted to be able to access my POP-based email from any of these
computers (I currently do so through PC Anywhere). In an Outlook Express
users forum I was advised that to do this I would have to switch to Outlook.
I see now that the advisor assumed that I was a business and could afford to
install MS Exchange Server. I cannot. I have come to conclude that MS
Office is really NOT intended for home users, at least so far as its Outlook
mail function is concerned. It has a zillion bells and whistles, and for
each of them there is a complication. And as much as I really appreciate the
advice which you and others offer, so often it seems to be based, as you say,
not on a
...snip snip..

special internals knowledge, but from observation

....snip snip

It seems to me that what MS should be doing is providing that "internals
knowledge" to these generous volunteers (like yourself) who are kindly trying
to guide newbies like myself. I infer that all the MVP's who so frequently
respond to questions from new users like myself are not MS employees, but
rather are experienced and enthusiastic users. It is not clear at all
how--or even IF-- the MS development team in charge of improving future
versions of Outlook is making use of the problems reported here. As is so
often the case with "reports" sent to MS, the information flow is strictly
one-way.

So, with much thanks to you and the others who have helped me, I think I am
finally going to have to throw in the towel and migrate back to Outlook
Express. I have no more knowledge of the internals there than here, but at
least I have a greater empirical knowledge of how to get done the things I
want to get done.

Thanks again for your generous help!

Ben Feese

 

[Brian Tillman]

This brings up a painful irony. The main reason I switched to
Outlook from Outlook Express is that I have a 5 computer LAN in my
home (I am the sole user). I wanted to be able to access my
POP-based email from any of these computers (I currently do so
through PC Anywhere). In an Outlook Express users forum I was
advised that to do this I would have to switch to Outlook.

You were ill-advised. You could set up each machine to leave copies of the
messages on the server so that each machine would download the same
messages, with one machine (the one you use least) also being configured to
delete the messages from the server after a specified number of days.

I see now
that the advisor assumed that I was a business and could afford to
install MS Exchange Server. I cannot. I have come to conclude that
MS Office is really NOT intended for home users, at least so far as
its Outlook mail function is concerned.

A lot of home users use it, however.

It seems to me that what MS should be doing is providing that
"internals knowledge" to these generous volunteers (like yourself)
who are kindly trying to guide newbies like myself.

And, in fact, they do. MVPs have extra access into Microsoft.

I infer that all
the MVP's who so frequently respond to questions from new users like
myself are not MS employees, but rather are experienced and
enthusiastic users.

No inference needed. It's a fact.

It is not clear at all how--or even IF-- the MS
development team in charge of improving future versions of Outlook is
making use of the problems reported here. As is so often the case
with "reports" sent to MS, the information flow is strictly one-way.

Depends on how the messages are posted. Problems, in general, are not seen
by MS. Suggestions can be, if enough people rate them as good ideas via the
web interface to these newsgroups.

So, with much thanks to you and the others who have helped me, I
think I am finally going to have to throw in the towel and migrate
back to Outlook Express. I have no more knowledge of the internals
there than here, but at least I have a greater empirical knowledge of
how to get done the things I want to get done.

If all you need is email, Outlook, in fact, may not be the best tool. Even
at home, though, I find the calendaring functions of Outlook invaluable and
I like having it integrated with the mail. I use both Outlook Express and
Outlook at home and receive my email with both programs, even on the same
PC.

 

[ad5vj]

I have also moved my outlook pst by cut and paste from one drive to my external hard drive so I can move it to my laptop when necessary.

All works fine except most of my rules are now in error.

I noticed the change was made by Outlook in the location under properties, so I am not understanding why Outlook didnt update the rules based on this location information, or how to tell the rules myself where the new pst is.

tnx AD5VJ