Cannot Add New Entries to .nk2 File

[shanediaz]

Good Afternoon,

A user is experiencing a strange issue and I thought I would look here for
help. It seems like a rather simple problem, but any suggestions or guidance
on the situation would be much appreciated. Here's the situation...

The user reported, and I have verified, that new email addresses he sends to
are not being stored in his .nk2 file, and thus are not auto-filling when he
goes to email these addresses again. The interesting part is that the .nk2
file is named appropriately (in that it's consistent with the name of the
mail profile), and Oulook is indeed seeing the .nk2 file, because it does
attempt to auto-fill past email addresses. So the link between Outlook and
the .nk2 file is there. But, if I look at the modified date on the .nk2
file, it has not been modified since 12/3/08. My first inclination was that
maybe he had reached his limit of 1,000 entries in the file, however I
downloaded a utility (http://www.nk2.info/) and analyzed his file, and it
shows as only having 904 entries.

I guess I have a few questions. First, is it possible that the .nk2 file
could not be accepting new addresses even though he's only got 904 entries in
it, rather than 1,000? Second, when the file does reach it's limit, are the
symptoms above consistent with what I would see? Finally, can you think of
any other reason why Outlook would see and utilize the file for past
addresses, but not record any new addresses to the file?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Shane Diaz

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

It has nothing to do with the number of entries. Once the NK2 file reaches
1000 it deletes entries in FIFO fashion, so the new ones would still appear.
This problem has been well documented here many times. Outlook stops writing
to its NK2 cache whenever something prevents it from exiting completely (so
check Task Manager the next time Outlook is closed) or when the Outlook
profile has become corrupt and lost its connection to the NK2 cache. In that
case, create a new profile.

 

[shanediaz]

Thanks Russ. It's good to know that when the file reaches it's limit of
1,000 entries it just overwrites the oldest ones. I know Outlook processes
have stopped totally because the user has logged off/rebooted many times
since 12/3. I could create a new mail profile but I'm a bit hesitant as this
user is very particular and a new mail profile is going to result in many
custom settings have to be re-set. The fact that it can read entries from
the .nk2 file would be evidence that the mail profile is connected to the
..nk2 cache correctly though, no?

Thanks again for the info.

-Shane

It has nothing to do with the number of entries. Once the NK2 file reaches
1000 it deletes entries in FIFO fashion, so the new ones would still appear.
This problem has been well documented here many times. Outlook stops writing
to its NK2 cache whenever something prevents it from exiting completely (so
check Task Manager the next time Outlook is closed) or when the Outlook
profile has become corrupt and lost its connection to the NK2 cache. In that
case, create a new profile.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Good Afternoon,

A user is experiencing a strange issue and I thought I would look here for
help. It seems like a rather simple problem, but any suggestions or
guidance
on the situation would be much appreciated. Here's the situation...

The user reported, and I have verified, that new email addresses he sends
to
are not being stored in his .nk2 file, and thus are not auto-filling when
he
goes to email these addresses again. The interesting part is that the
.nk2
file is named appropriately (in that it's consistent with the name of the
mail profile), and Oulook is indeed seeing the .nk2 file, because it does
attempt to auto-fill past email addresses. So the link between Outlook
and
the .nk2 file is there. But, if I look at the modified date on the .nk2
file, it has not been modified since 12/3/08. My first inclination was
that
maybe he had reached his limit of 1,000 entries in the file, however I
downloaded a utility (http://www.nk2.info/) and analyzed his file, and it
shows as only having 904 entries.

I guess I have a few questions. First, is it possible that the .nk2 file
could not be accepting new addresses even though he's only got 904 entries
in
it, rather than 1,000? Second, when the file does reach it's limit, are
the
symptoms above consistent with what I would see? Finally, can you think
of
any other reason why Outlook would see and utilize the file for past
addresses, but not record any new addresses to the file?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Shane Diaz

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No. Obviously it can only read from the file but not write to it. I would
still look to see if Outlook is exiting cleanly and immediately when closed.
If it is, then a new profile is the only option. There is also one third
party utility that I've used that can consistently restore the connection
without having to create a new profile, but it costs money:
http://www.ingressor.com/helpdesk_exchange.htm
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks Russ. It's good to know that when the file reaches it's limit of
1,000 entries it just overwrites the oldest ones. I know Outlook
processes
have stopped totally because the user has logged off/rebooted many times
since 12/3. I could create a new mail profile but I'm a bit hesitant as
this
user is very particular and a new mail profile is going to result in many
custom settings have to be re-set. The fact that it can read entries from
the .nk2 file would be evidence that the mail profile is connected to the
.nk2 cache correctly though, no?

Thanks again for the info.

-Shane

It has nothing to do with the number of entries. Once the NK2 file
reaches
1000 it deletes entries in FIFO fashion, so the new ones would still
appear.
This problem has been well documented here many times. Outlook stops
writing
to its NK2 cache whenever something prevents it from exiting completely
(so
check Task Manager the next time Outlook is closed) or when the Outlook
profile has become corrupt and lost its connection to the NK2 cache. In
that
case, create a new profile.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Good Afternoon,

A user is experiencing a strange issue and I thought I would look here
for
help. It seems like a rather simple problem, but any suggestions or
guidance
on the situation would be much appreciated. Here's the situation...

The user reported, and I have verified, that new email addresses he
sends
to
are not being stored in his .nk2 file, and thus are not auto-filling
when
he
goes to email these addresses again. The interesting part is that the
.nk2
file is named appropriately (in that it's consistent with the name of
the
mail profile), and Oulook is indeed seeing the .nk2 file, because it
does
attempt to auto-fill past email addresses. So the link between Outlook
and
the .nk2 file is there. But, if I look at the modified date on the
.nk2
file, it has not been modified since 12/3/08. My first inclination was
that
maybe he had reached his limit of 1,000 entries in the file, however I
downloaded a utility (http://www.nk2.info/) and analyzed his file, and
it
shows as only having 904 entries.

I guess I have a few questions. First, is it possible that the .nk2
file
could not be accepting new addresses even though he's only got 904
entries
in
it, rather than 1,000? Second, when the file does reach it's limit,
are
the
symptoms above consistent with what I would see? Finally, can you
think
of
any other reason why Outlook would see and utilize the file for past
addresses, but not record any new addresses to the file?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Shane Diaz

 

[Dale Gibble]

Is it possible to rebuild a contact file from the NK2 file?

Dale Gibble

It has nothing to do with the number of entries. Once the NK2 file reaches
1000 it deletes entries in FIFO fashion, so the new ones would still
appear.
This problem has been well documented here many times. Outlook stops
writing to its NK2 cache whenever something prevents it from exiting
completely (so check Task Manager the next time Outlook is closed) or when
the Outlook profile has become corrupt and lost its connection to the NK2
cache. In that case, create a new profile.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Good Afternoon,

A user is experiencing a strange issue and I thought I would look here
for
help. It seems like a rather simple problem, but any suggestions or
guidance
on the situation would be much appreciated. Here's the situation...

The user reported, and I have verified, that new email addresses he sends
to
are not being stored in his .nk2 file, and thus are not auto-filling when
he
goes to email these addresses again. The interesting part is that the
.nk2
file is named appropriately (in that it's consistent with the name of the
mail profile), and Oulook is indeed seeing the .nk2 file, because it does
attempt to auto-fill past email addresses. So the link between Outlook
and
the .nk2 file is there. But, if I look at the modified date on the .nk2
file, it has not been modified since 12/3/08. My first inclination was
that
maybe he had reached his limit of 1,000 entries in the file, however I
downloaded a utility (http://www.nk2.info/) and analyzed his file, and it
shows as only having 904 entries.

I guess I have a few questions. First, is it possible that the .nk2 file
could not be accepting new addresses even though he's only got 904
entries in
it, rather than 1,000? Second, when the file does reach it's limit, are
the
symptoms above consistent with what I would see? Finally, can you think
of
any other reason why Outlook would see and utilize the file for past
addresses, but not record any new addresses to the file?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Shane Diaz

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Is it possible to rebuild a contact file from the NK2 file?

With a third party tool, yes.
http://www.nk2.info/
http://www.ingressor.com/desktop.htm