Outlook 2000 'Advanced Find' fails after installation of SP3
Sam Dickinson
contained no mention of SP3 so I am asking the question again.
I have recently installed SP3 and since then I have been suffering an
intermittent problem where advanced find fails to produce any results.
The symptoms are that the find operation starts normally ("nice" waving
magnifying glass) however no results are found and the search never
completes (I've left them running for over 12 hours with still no
completion, the waving magnifying glass is still waving!). The problem is
intermittent and after a reboot the search sometimes works correctly.
Unfortunately, so far, it has started to fail again shortly after starting
to use Outlook again.
Please help. Do I need to de-install SP3?
Sam
Michael L. Metts
the MS knowledge base. the problem is extremely annoying.
does MS have a fix or work around?
thanks,
Mike
Sam Dickinson
it's a problem they might get around to solving it.
Sam
"Michael L. Metts" <mme...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:c7i3uuk81597ionih...@4ax.com...
Michael L. Metts
because i think Microsoft is totally talking out of their hat on this
one and don't believe at all in their "solution" or "explanantion" i
attach hereto, my dialog with their support guy Jeff Chen. i am going
to proceed with an Office uninstall/re-install.
Jeff,
hi! i think your theories on this are wrong. i just opened a 2 year
old .pst archive file which is surely not corrupted and Advanced Find
doesn't work. it's the SP-3 that's messed up. the fact that the new
.pst i created worked should be no surprise since the offending
version of Outlook (w/ SP-3) created it. where did they teach you how
to diagnose problems? if you look at the preponderance of complaints
out there, it's obvious that the problem rests with SP-3. are you
dreaming all this up on your own?
i'm going to rip out Office and start over. you can close this
incident. for the record, though i appreciate your help, i'm not
impressed with Microsoft's support.
thanks,
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Chen [mailto:jeff...@microsoft.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:14 AM
To: mme...@attbi.com
Subject: SRZ021125000966:Outlook 2000:Advanced Find doesn't work
Dear Michael,
Thank you for your prompt update.
According to the results, I suspect that your original PST file has
been corrupted. However, Office 2000 SP3 generally cannot corrupt a
PST file. To prove my conclusion, I have performed the following
tests:
Set up a whole fresh environment with Windows 2000 and Office 2000
SR1. After sending/receiving some emails, the PST file has included
some data. Then I start installing SP3 for Office 2000, but the
problem cannot be reproduced. The PST file is working properly on my
side, so the Advanced Search feature doesn't have problems. This
result proves that the problem shouldn't exist in the design or code
defect of our products.
However, it is possible that the PST file was corrupted during the
upgrade. Based on my experience, Service Pack will repair some
corrupted components of Outlook. If the original components are
corrupted, the Service Pack may load the original installation files,
and then they will be repaired and some default settings will be
loaded. You may experience the following situation:
After running Detect and Repair, you cannot find any data when you run
Outlook.
This is most likely caused because the repair process resets some
settings. In our specific issue, if the original PST has some
problems, you may not experience this issue before you install SP3.
However, if you keep using this file, some unexpected errors may
occur, even you cannot access your old data any more.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to repair a corrupted PST
completely. We can use the Inbox Repair Tool to try to access a
corrupted PST, but even though you can access them, the structure of
the PST has already been corrupted. As we discussed before, Outlook
has several components such as Index and data. Since it is corrupted,
there is no entire data, so the Advanced Search cannot work on this
file. Even tough you copy the data to another new PST file, it may not
work since the data is not entire.
As an end user too, I can understand how frustrating it is when we
cannot repair a PST file. To prevent the problem from happening again,
I suggest you back up your data more frequently. Personally, I will
back up my PST to a safe folder once each week. Especially when we
want to install Service Pack of Office, I will back up all data.
For your information, I have included the following resources:
Q196492 OL2000: (IMO) How to Back Up, Restore, or Move Outlook Data
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q196/4/92.asp
If you feel the method is not convenient, some third party software
also provides a backup feature. For your convenience, I have included
one below:
Note: Since it is manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we
make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding their products'
performance or reliability.
http://www.genie-soft.com/products/ob2000xp/obdownload.html
At this time, I suggest you keep using the new PST file. Regarding the
old PST file, we can open them directly. Due to the corrupted data, I
don't suggest you copy to the new PST file since it may corrupt the
current one.
In addition, regarding other issues that you have experienced, they
may also be related to the corrupted PST file. Therefore, please keep
using the empty and new PST file and monitor it.
Again, thank you for time and patience working with me. If you need
further assistance on this particular issue, please feel free to let
me know. I am looking forward to your reply.
Best regards,
Jeff Chen
Online Support Professional
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael L. Metts [mailto:mme...@attbi.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 11:17 PM
To: Jeff Chen
Subject: RE: SRZ021125000966:Outlook 2000:Advanced Find doesn't work
Jeff,
see results below...
based on these results, it looks as though the install of SP-3 has
somehow triggered corruption of my .pst file? i have a number of
.pst archives going back a long way. i would very much like to
fix the corruption in my .pst files and either blackout SP-3 all
together
or apply additional patches to fix this ASAP.
thanks,
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Chen [mailto:jeff...@microsoft.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 1:55 AM
To: mme...@attbi.com
Subject: SRZ021125000966:Outlook 2000:Advanced Find doesn't work
Dear Mike,
Thank you for your prompt update.
According to your reply, I would like to provide you with the
following action plan:
1. First of all, it may be caused by the corrupted PST. Although you
mentioned there are only some problems on your PST file, it will also
affect the Advanced Search. A PST file has included a lot of
components such as Index and data. If the Index is corrupted, you may
still be able to access the PST file, but due to missing index, the
search feature may not work any more. Therefore, I suggest you refer
to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to create a new PST
file:
Q195723 OL2000: (IMO) Creating a New Personal Folder (.pst) File for
IMO
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q195/7/23.asp
Now you have an empty PST file. Please don't copy old messages to the
new one. As we discussed before, a corrupted PST has corrupted data.
If we copy them to a clean PST, it may corrupt the current PST so that
the testing results will be affected. Therefore, please send/receive
emails from via this new PST directly. Then, let's run Advanced
Search. Does it work?
[!] done as described in the article (Method 2). yes, now Advanced
Find seems to work fine with repeated use and i don't get CPU = 100%
either. i returned to my regular .pst file and the problems are as
before.
2. If the problem still occurs, please create a new Windows 2000
administrator account to perform a test since this issue may be caused
by a corrupted Windows account.
- Click Start->Settings->Control Panel.
- Double click Users.
- Create a new user account with the administrative privilege to log
on Windows 2000.
- In this new account, please configure your email account again.
Note: We still need to troubleshoot this issue in an empty PST, so
please don't copy old data to it. Does the problem occur?
Note: If you cannot find Users in Control Panel, please right click on
"My Computer" and click "Manage". You can create new users in "Local
Users and Groups".
[!] i'm skipping 2. because 1. was a success.
3. If the problem still occurs in the new account or a new PST, please
refer to the following method to run Outlook Safe Mode:
- Click Start, and click Run.
- In the Open box, type: "outlook /safe" (without the quotation marks)
There is a space character between Outlook and the forward slash (/).
- Click OK.
- Does the problem occur in Safe Mode?
If the problem does not occur at this time, then please select
Tools->Options->Other->Advanced Options->Add-In Manager and then clear
all the checkboxes, add one check back each time to the list of
Add-In, restart Outlook, and repeat the above procedure. Once the
issue reappears again, we can determine which add-in causes this
problem and then disable it.
[!] tried just the first part of 3. Advanced Find failed as before
and CPU went to 100%.
In addition, regarding the CPU issue, I would like to confirm with you
if you have used the method in the following KB article to modify
registries to unblock unsafe attachments:
OL2000: Cannot Access Attachments
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;318515
[!] i have not used this method for anything. should i?
Would you please try my suggestions and let me know the results? I am
looking forward to your reply.
Best regards,
Jeff Chen
Online Support Professional
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael L. Metts [mailto:mme...@attbi.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 1:31 PM
To: Jeff Chen
Subject: RE: SRZ021125000966:Outlook 2000:Advanced Find doesn't work
Jeff,
see answers below...
thanks for you help. please keep me posted on fixes and/or
let me know what else i can tell you to help move this along.
thanks,
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Chen [mailto:jeff...@microsoft.com]
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 8:56 PM
To: mme...@attbi.com
Subject: SRZ021125000966:Outlook 2000:Advanced Find doesn't work
Dear Michael,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Online Support Service. My
name is Jeff, and I will be helping you with this service request.
After reviewing the case log, I understand this issue is: after you
install SP3 for Office 2000, the Advanced Find feature does not work.
If I have misunderstood your concerns, please let me know.
Generally, Outlook SP3 cannot corrupt the program during the upgrade.
However, some unexpected errors may occur when you install the Service
Pack. Since this is not a known issue of Service Pack 3, could you
please help me collect the following information? I appreciate your
time.
1. Please let me know how you run Advanced Find? Please provide me
with the detailed reproduction steps so that I will build a clean
environment on my side and reproduce this issue. I appreciate your
time.
[!] i typically run Advanced Find on Inbox and Sent Items. earlier
today, i ran SCANPST on my outlook.pst to see if anything was
corrupted. it found only minor errors. i now note that Advanced Find
will work ONCE per startup of Outlook. on the 2nd use, it just
searches but doesn't find anything. BTW, i also just noticed that my
CPU is @ 100% ... another complaint re: Office SP-3.
2. Which email account do you use? Is it an Exchange Server account or
a POP3 account?
[!] i have 3 POP3 accounts
3. Which installation mode do you use?
- Open Outlook 2000.
- Click Help->About Microsoft Outlook.
- Check the second line in the Window. If it reads: Corporate or
Workgroup, the installation type is the C/W Mode. Otherwise, it is
Internet Mail Only (IMO) Mode.
[!] it's IMO
4. Please click File -> New -> Personal Folders File (.pst) to create
a new Personal Folder. After adding some new data in this folder,
please run Advanced Find again. Does the problem occur?
[!] okay. i created a file called TEST.pst; created a mail folder
called Inbox; copied some of my email items to this new folder; tried
Advanced Find using some Subject line words which should give hits and
got nothing; stopped Outlook and tried Advanced Find again on Inbox of
TEST.pst -- it worked the first time and failed the 2nd + CPU when to
and stayed @ 100% until i stopped Outlook.
Since the information above is very important for our troubleshooting,
please provide me with the exact results. Thanks for your time and
cooperation, and if anything is unclear, feel free to let me know. I
am happy to be of assistance and look forward to hearing from you
soon.
Best regards,
Jeff Chen
Online Support Professional
Satisfied customers are my top priority. Please let my manager or me
know what you think of the level of service provided. You can send
feedback to Microsoft Management at
mailto:mana...@microsoft.com?body=Austin
Shen?subject=Office_Online_Feedback
Check out our bookstore <http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=7249>
which provides a wealth of information that you can use to
troubleshoot an issue or answer a question!
<< end >>
Sam Dickinson
getting deeply frustrated with the problem and the thought of deinstalling
and re-installing in the vague hope that it might fix the problem does not
fill me with enthusiasm.
Has anyone else experienced the same problems?
Sam
"Michael L. Metts" <mme...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:dds9uus4s8ik1qls3...@4ax.com...
Bosko Vukojevic
I am having excatly the same problem. Whatever this support guy from
Microsoft says is not correct. I am having two machines with Win2k and
Office 2k. One of them doesn't have SP3 the other does. Guess (hard)
which one of these is not working properly and have these 'Advanced
Finds' fail in a same way you described?
Mike,
did you do what you mentioned, an Office uninstall/re-install? When
you re-installed, I hope you did not install faulty SP3. Is your new
Office installation working now?
thanks,
Bosko
"Sam Dickinson" <samdickinson...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message news:<0UqF9.2834$wl2.26...@news-text.cableinet.net>...
Michael L. Metts
here's the text of an email i sent Sam on 11/28. everything is
working fine now. i think microsoft is playing a little game with
some of us re: not admitting that there are bugs in SP3 and also
no uninstall.
i imagine that since i did the free email support route, i only got
the attention of a "level 1" support guy and that the party line
is that my .pst files (all of them, and there's a bunch) are and were
corrupted all along before microsoft released SP3 -- the funny thing
about that story is that the only bit of software that's every
touched my .pst files (as far as i know) is Outlook, so if they're
"corrupted" what's up with that?
doesn't all this just make you want to rush out and buy
Office XP? :)
i saw somewhere a post suggesting a hack of SP3 involving
replacement of OUTLLIB.DLL and OUTLLIBR.DLL
with a previous versions. i decided not to go that route.
but, if you're just going to reinstall anyway, it might be
worth a shot. they are found in ..\Microsoft Office\Office
and ..\Microsoft Office\Office\1033 respectively. for
what it's worth, i'm attaching a .zip file containing these
2 DLLs of SP2 vintage.
Mike
>Sam,
>
>hi! i have been working with this guy @ microsoft who
>seems to have a microbrain -- but, perhaps his heart is
>in the right place. he is good naturedly insisting that
>my .pst file(s) are corrupted. he is saying this even
>to the extent that they may have been corrupted prior to
>installation of sp3 ... to me, this strikes at the heart
>of what it means to be "corrupted" in the first place.
>
>i have fixed my problem to my satisfaction as follows:
>
>1) uninstall Office 2000
>
>2) run erasecd2 (an MS ditty) to remove all leftovers
>
>3) install Office 2000 + sr1a + sp2
>
>voila, everything is fine and all my corrupted .pst
>file work just find with Advanced Find. i'm not gonna
>touch sp3 if and until MS admits that they fucked up and
>fixes it.
>
>somewhat similar to you, my Advanced Find would work
>once per execution of Outlook and then fail thereafter.
>
>i hope this helps,
>Mike
Michael L. Metts
here's the text of an email i sent Sam on 11/28. everything is
working fine now. i think microsoft is playing a little game with
some of us re: not admitting that there are bugs in SP3 and also
no uninstall.
i imagine that since i did the free email support route, i only got
the attention of a "level 1" support guy and that the party line
is that my .pst files (all of them, and there's a bunch) are and were
corrupted all along before microsoft released SP3 -- the funny thing
about that story is that the only bit of software that's every
touched my .pst files (as far as i know) is Outlook, so if they're
"corrupted" what's up with that?
doesn't all this just make you want to rush out and buy
Office XP? :)
i saw somewhere a post suggesting a hack of SP3 involving
replacement of OUTLLIB.DLL and OUTLLIBR.DLL
with previous versions. i decided not to go that route.
but, if you're just going to reinstall anyway, it might be
worth a shot. they are found in ..\Microsoft Office\Office
and ..\Microsoft Office\Office\1033 respectively. if anyone
is interested, i can email them my (apparent) SP2 vintage
files.