Error in shortcuts on Outlook 2003 startup - HELP!!

[Tom G.]

No solution in the base Outlook group so I'll try again...

I'm running MS Outlook 2003 in a SBS 2003 (Exchange) environment. This
is a client installation. All service packs and patches are installed.

Recently, everytime I start Outlook 2003 I started getting this message:

"An error occured in the folder shortcuts file (.fav). Outlook will
recreate the default folder shortcuts."

I don't recall doing anything to my system that would cause this.

I have searched for a solution to this in both the KB and on most of the
tech sites. The only references I could find are to start Windows in
safe mode, delete the .fav file then start Outlook. I've tried this. No
luck.

NOTE - There IS no .fav file in any folder anywhere on my system (yes,
I've looked in all the hidden/system folders). I even tried creating a
0-byte file with the name of my profile in:

C:\Documents and Settings\tom.geldner\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

No help!

I ran full repair on Office from Add/Remove Programs.

I removed the old profile and reinstalling Outlook.

I searched the registry for .fav. The only reference is to a
..fav icon and nothing that would point to an invalid path.

I'm beginning to think this is somehow related to Exchange and not
Outlook.

Any ideas?

Follow-ups set to outlook.general.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Outlook 2003 does not use a fav file, which are tied to a profile. Did you
ever have an older version of outlook installed? Did you install something
recently that might have messed up the installation and make outlook think
it was an older version?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]]

Probably the simplest option would be to try creating a new mail profile for
the user. Just go to CP -> Mail and add a profile. Set it to default and
see if it works. If so, you can delete the old profile and just have the
user customize the new one to his/her preferences.

Another option would be to go to Start -> Run and type "outlook.exe
/cleanprofile" without the quotes. That'll "clean up" registry entries and
restore defaults. You could get unintended results from this, possibly
requiring the user to recreate customizations, which is why IMO you might as
well go with the new profile option right from the start. But there's no
reason not to try this first if you wish.

Generally when you run a "repair" of Outlook, or even a full reinstall, you
don't get any help with your problem. That's because it reuses the old
registry entries, which means that the source of the problem often survives
the repair or reinstall process. This is true of the other Office apps as
well.

 

[Tom G.]

Probably the simplest option would be to try creating a new mail
profile for the user. Just go to CP -> Mail and add a profile. Set
it to default and see if it works. If so, you can delete the old
profile and just have the user customize the new one to his/her
preferences.

Tried this. No help. Same error.

Another option would be to go to Start -> Run and type "outlook.exe
/cleanprofile" without the quotes. That'll "clean up" registry
entries and restore defaults. You could get unintended results from
this, possibly requiring the user to recreate customizations, which
is why IMO you might as well go with the new profile option right
from the start. But there's no reason not to try this first if you
wish.

Tried this earlier. No help.

Generally when you run a "repair" of Outlook, or even a full
reinstall, you don't get any help with your problem. That's because
it reuses the old registry entries, which means that the source of
the problem often survives the repair or reinstall process. This is
true of the other Office apps as well.

As an act of desparation, I went into the registry and deleted all of
the keys under Windows Messaging and reinstalled Outlook. No help.

That's why I think it may have something to do with Exchange.

 

[Tom G.]

Outlook 2003 does not use a fav file, which are tied to a profile.
Did you ever have an older version of outlook installed?

No, this PC has always had Office 2003.

Did you
install something recently that might have messed up the installation
and make outlook think it was an older version?

Nothing new except Acrobat 7. I went ahead and removed all Outlook plug-
ins that I've been running and it has no effect.

 

[Mark Arnold [MVP]]

So if you didn't get a reply in the Outlook newsgroups, what makes you
think the Exchange group is going to give you an answer to a pure
Outlook question. Surely you realise that the Outlook folk work those
groups first before delving in here? And then why on earth set follow
up to the Outlook group?
I'm just confused as to your thought patterns.

 

[Tom G.]

So if you didn't get a reply in the Outlook newsgroups, what makes you
think the Exchange group is going to give you an answer to a pure
Outlook question. Surely you realise that the Outlook folk work those
groups first before delving in here? And then why on earth set follow
up to the Outlook group?

Since your tone is obviously snarky, I'll be snarky back. Who made you a
moderator?

If you had read my replies to the other MVPs before posting, you'd
realize that I was thinking that there could be something involving
Exchange that's causing the problem.

I'm just confused as to your thought patterns.

Likewise, I'm confused as to your motives. I posted a question and set
what I thought was the best follow-up group. Seems like you're making
something out of nothing. FWIW, I also ONLY posted the original request
in one Outlook ng (ms.p.outlook), not multiple ones.

Thanks for the help anyway.

 

[Noel All]

If I remember correctly the *.fav file was replaced with *.xml in Outlook
2003, with Outlook closed rename the *.xml file that is usually located
\Documents and Settings\profile name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

 

[Tom G.]

If I remember correctly the *.fav file was replaced with *.xml in
Outlook 2003, with Outlook closed rename the *.xml file that is
usually located \Documents and Settings\profile name\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook

There's no XML file in there either. Outlook has also lost its ability to
save the the shortcuts. If I add a shortcut while Outlook is open, close
Outlook and re-open, the shortcut I created is gone and I still get the
error message. Frustrating. The permissions are all good too.

I tried logging in under another machine and didn't get the error so it
appears to be a problem unique to my personal PC. That reduces the
possibility of it being Exchange related. Argggh!

 

[Noel All]

You're not having much luck with this, couple of other things to try start
outlook from the run command with this switch "outlook /resetnavpane"
without the quotes and if that doesnt work do you get the error if you start
outlook with this switch "outlook /safe:4" once again without the quotes.

 

[Tom G.]

You're not having much luck with this, couple of other things to try
start outlook from the run command with this switch "outlook
/resetnavpane" without the quotes and if that doesnt work do you get
the error if you start outlook with this switch "outlook /safe:4"
once again without the quotes.

I've tried the first one without success. Did it again now to confirm.

However, I tried the safe:4 switch and it WILL launch Outlook without the
error. However, creating the shortcut, closing and re-opening Outlook
normally still generates the error.

 

[Tom G.]

the error if you start outlook with this switch "outlook /safe:4"
once again without the quotes.

Oooh, weirder yet. Starting with safe:4, the shortcuts are there. Starting
up using the standard Outlook launch icon (outlook /recycle), gives the
error and the shortcuts aren't there.

The outlook.xml file has also appeared in %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

Now what? Does this mean there is something getting in the way of Outlook
launching correctly? If so, what? I tried disabling all plug-ins earlier
and that had no effect.

 

[Noel All]

I would start with a new profile or log on as another user and test, to me
its either profile or workstation specific.

 

[Tom G.]

I would start with a new profile or log on as another user and test,
to me its either profile or workstation specific.

Tried the new profile. No luck. Logged on from another workstation to my
account, problem goes away. Not sure where to look on my workstation.

 

[Noel All]

What happens if you log on as another user to your workstation though.

 

[Tom G.]

What happens if you log on as another user to your workstation though.

Just tried it and I don't get the error. It appears to be tied to my PC
User Profile -- not mail profile. Oy.

 

[Noel All]

Longshot but you might want to try a clean-up of the workstation, disk clean
and defrag etc, also I have never tried it so dont know if it will do any
damage but there is this switch outlook /cleanprofile which starts Outlook
and removes invalid and recreates default registry keys where applicable.

 

[Tom G.]

Longshot but you might want to try a clean-up of the workstation,
disk clean and defrag etc, also I have never tried it so dont know if
it will do any damage but there is this switch outlook /cleanprofile
which starts Outlook and removes invalid and recreates default
registry keys where applicable.

Yeah, I tried /cleanprofile too. Nada.

Very frustrating. I'll give the cleanup / defrag a shot too.

 

[Tom G.]

Longshot but you might want to try a clean-up of the workstation,
disk clean and defrag etc, also I have never tried it so dont know if

Well it's fixed now but I don't know exactly WHAT fixed it. I ran a full
clean & defrag. Restarted Outlook. Still errored. Then I ran Norton
WinDoc. Restarted Outlook. Still errored. Then I ran MS Office Repair &
reset all Outlook stuff to default. Hallelujah!! Fixed.

I had already run MS Office Repair 2x before, reinstalled Outlook 1x and
had run through the other steps as well. Maybe it was just waiting for me
to do them in the right order. :-/