"Out of office assistant" missing in Outlook 2007

[DougV]

I am running a new installation of Microsoft Outlook 2007 on Windows XP
(recently received a new laptop, my old one ran Outlook 2003) and I noticed
that I am missing the Out of Office Assistant option on the Tools menu.

I have done as much online research as I can and I know that you have to
have an Exchange Server account to see this option. I have such an account,
so that is not the issue.

From what I can gather through my research, I am missing the add-in file for
Out of Office Assistant.

On the Tools menu, I clicked Trust Center > Add-ins. On the Manage
drop-down, I clicked Disabled Items and then clicked the Go button. There is
nothing in the disabled items list.

On the Manage drop-down, I then clicked Exchange Client Extensions and then
clicked the Go button. I saw the following available options in the Add-In
Manager dialog box:
- Symantec AntiVirus Outlook Protection
- Redemption Helper Outlook Protection

I then clicked the Install button. By default, it opened to the c:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\Office 12\ADDINS folder and I see one file:
redemption.ecf.

The closest thread I could find to my issue is this one:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?&query=out+of+office+assistant+missing&lang=en&cr=US&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.general&p=1&tid=dd038ab4-0eec-4bb6-bad3-2897bb4d60ce

At the bottom of the thread, the original requester states, "While the
selections were not there that I needed, from your message I could finally
see where the files should be. Then a quick check of a working machine showed
the files I needed to copy and then add to my active Addins."

I believe that I am in this same situation. I presume I am missing the "ECF"
file for the Out of Office Assistant add-in.

Is there somewhere I can download this file from so I don't have to
uninstall and reinstall the entire Office suite just to solve this minor
problem?

Thanks in advance for you help.

DougV.

[DougV]

After further research, I have discovered that the file I'm missing is
outex2.ecf. Can anyone tell me where I can get this file for Outlook 2007?

[Nikki Peterson]

What is your ISP? Do you use an Exchange Server?

Nikki

"DougV" <Do...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8AAC293B-098D-4B45...@microsoft.com...

[DougV]

Hi,

This is my company computer and yes we use Exchange Server. This is a new
computer I am using. My last computer ran Outlook 2003 and had Out of Office
Assistant and it worked. For some reason, the installation of Office 2007 on
my new computer is missing the outex2.ecf file. If I could just find that
find somewhere, I'm sure that would be the solution to my problem.

Can you tell me where I can get it? I couldn't find it on the Microsoft
download center.

Thanks,

DougV.

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Are you using a .pst file or the Exchange mailbox for your default delivery
location?

You can try a Detect and Repair to see if that helps after verifying that
you are using Exchange as the default delivery locaiton.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

After furious head scratching, DougV asked:

[DougV]

Yes, I am using an Exchange mailbox.

I ran "Office Diagnostics" and this did the trick it added the missing
outex2.ecf file and I can now see the Out of Office Assistant option on the
Tools menu after restarting Outlook.

Thanks.