Cannot access address book, forward email problems

[David]

I am using Outlook 2003 on Win XP system and my problem is that in the email
application of Outlook only, I cannot do do functions like copy/paste,etc.. I
am not able to forward the email, there is no cc available, and from within a
message it won't access the address book.

I can type in an address and it sends fine.

Upon attempting to do any of those functions I get - "The message interface
has returned an unknown error.

This is what I have done:
Emptied Deleted files folder
Used Inbox Repair Tool (found errors and said it repaired them but did
not fix this).
5. Used the Detect & Repair Office feature...no change, then couple of days
later ran it again. No fix.
6. Created a new profile and associated the pst with it. No difference.
Everything else in Outlook is functioning normally.
Anybody got a suggestion?
Dave
--

 

[K. Orland]

Close Outlook. Unhide all hidden folders and files. Do a search for
scanpst.exe and run it against your PST file. Open Outlook to see if that has
resolved any issues. If not, you can then try the following: rename the
following files: frmcache.dat, outcmd.dat and the .SRS file located in the
hidden Outlook folder. Let me know if that helps.

 

[David]

Kathleen,
Thank you for the suggestions, but I still have the same problem.
I remembered that I had previously run the scan.pst after reading your post,
but ran it again. Interestingly it reported there were errors when I had
just run it last week. It repaired the errors.
I then renamed the files you suggested. After renaming the outcmd.dat file
to outcmd1.dat and no result I went back in, as I did with the other files,
to set it back as it had been. However, it wouldn't let me - reporting there
was already an outcmd.dat file in existence. I scrolled down and sure enough
it was there.
That would have to mean that there were two outcmd.dat files but how could
that be? Could this have something to do with the problem?
Thanks for trying,
Dave

 

[K. Orland]

The files would recreate themselves as soon as you open Outlook.

 

[David]

ok...any other ideas or clues to follow?
Dave

The files would recreate themselves as soon as you open Outlook.

 

[K. Orland]

Does your application event viewer show any Office or Outlook-related errors?
If it does, what is the EventID and source?

 

[David]

Sorry Kathleen, but I don't think I have ever heard of an "appication event
viewer". Can you direct me to that?

The error message I am receiving when I click on contacts from within an
email is "the messaging interface has returned an unknown error". Is that the
event viewer?

Dave

 

[K. Orland]

The event viewer is located in Computer Management. There are a few ways to
get there, the easiest is to right click on My Computer, scroll to Manage.
You'll see an Event Viewer listed, there are 3 parts to it and you'll be
interested in the application one. Look for entries in red.
I would be particularly interested in anything Office-related, especially
the eventID number and source. However other errors may be pertinent as well.

 

[pcook]

I am having the same problem with one of my users. I moved his PST file off
onto another computer and everything worked fine. As far as I can tell there
is no problem with PST. I am going to attempt to reinstall office. I will let
you know my results.

This problem seemed to happen (although I have no proof) after I ran the DST
Update patch for Outlook. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Peter

 

[K. Orland]

No problems at home nor at work with servers, Exchange, and a mixed O/S and
Office version network.

 

[pcook]

ok, well it must be something else then.

 

[K. Orland]

What order did you install the DST updates in?

 

[pcook]

the windows one first... then the office one.

What order did you install the DST updates in?

 

[K. Orland]

That's the way to do it. It should have no effect on Contacts. So you have a
DL ownership/permissions problem as well?

 

[pcook]

Well i was just speculating about the Daylight savings time patch might have
been the cause since that was the only thing that both the user or I could
think of that was seriously changed.

Anyways... I'm going to go run look at his event viewer when I get a chance.

 

[pcook]

There is no relevant data in the event log and I've tried reinstalling. I
also renamed all the files (that I could find) that you recommended above and
still no result. Do you have anymore suggestions?

 

[David]

Hi Kathleen...been travelling. Found the event viewer and there are tons of
red error messages. I opened a lot of them around the early march tiime
frame but none related to Outlook or seemed pertinent...most are about
applications like Explorer hanging or some fax service which is weird but may
just be incorrect selection of the fax printer when she is looking for a
different printer.

I then opened Outlook and tried to create an event by attempting to access
the address book from within a message and recieved the same, "the messaging
interface has returned an unknown error" msg. When I went to the event
viewer, that action had not caused an event.

Still lost in lala land on this one.

Dave