Out of office assistant problem

[Jeremiah]

I have noticed that if I configure Outlook to work in cached mode with an
Exchange server account I will receive an error message when trying to turn
on the Out of office assistant. The error message that I receive is "Your
AutoReply message could not be displayed. The client operation failed." and
then "Changes to the rule could not be saved." My current work around to get
Outlook working correctly is to disable cached Exchange mode, but this seems
to decrease the synchronization performance of Outlook.

 

[JSJ]

I have seen this same problem. Most of the time deleting the Outlook profile,
and the OST file will correct the problem. I do have a few that this process
has NOT corrected the problem.

 

[Jeremiah]

I have re-profiled Windows, Outlook, and deleted the OST file on two
different computers and they still have the same problem. Outlook will work
correctly at first but it seems that as soon as Outlook completely finishes
synchronizing with the Exchange server the problem comes right back. I've
been leaning towards the problem being with the mailboxes on the Exchange
server and not an actual Outlook client problem. So far this is still an
"unsolved mystery†for me!

 

[Jeremiah]

I just recently discovered that at least for the problem I was having with
Cached Exchange mode, the new SP2 for Office 2003 seems to correct the
problem. I had three computers that had this problem and all three were
corrected with the installation of SP2.

 

[goodnowvc]

I am having the same problem with the Out of Office Assistant that you have
all described in the prior messages, I am receiving "AutoReply cannot be
displayed." What I have found is that my OOOA works just fine if I have only
my mailbox in my profile but when I have an additional mailbox added I
receive the "AutoReply" error message. I have tested with several other
people at my organization and I can reproduce the exact problem on at least
10 other peoples machines but then there are also a few that I cannot
reproduce it on. Another thing that I have noticed is if I add a second
mailbox within Outlook and have not closed and reopened yet the OOOA still
works. Once I close and reopen with the new mailbox I get the error again.
I have already applied Office 2003 SP2 to all machines and this has not had
an effect on the error.

I am really stumped so if anyone has any ideas or information they could
share that would be wonderful!

Thanks so much!!

 

[Jeremiah]

Service pack 2 for Office 2003 seemed to fix all the problems I had, but if
nothing else you should be able to disable the Cached Exchange mode on your
troubled Outlook 2003 clients as a work around to this problem.

 

[Iffin]

We have this same problem, reapplied Office SP2 which cured the problem, and
then once any new security patches are applied the problem reappears.

We have disabled cached mode for the affected users, but, as they are using
laptops the functionality of cached mode is very useful.

 

[Jeremiah]

I'm hoping that Microsoft will notice this problem and find / distribute a
cure for it since this has been an ongoing problem for quite a while now.
Thanks for your feedback on the topic Iffin.

 

[Diamonds_Mine]

I just ran into the same issue with the Out of Office Assistant and also
noticed a warning message was displayed when also attempting to use "Rules
and Alerts". I used the /cleanrules switch to launch Outlook and the issue
was resolved with both the Out of Office Assistant and Rules and Alerts.
Fortunately, this person only had one rule which was not being used;
launching Outlook with this switch deletes all rules. So you might want to
backup the *.rwz file first and re-import rules if needed.

 

[Iffin]

All,

Microsoft have taken notice and issued the following link with details and a
work around:-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909802/EN-US/

 

[Brian Tillman]

I just ran into the same issue with the Out of Office Assistant and
also noticed a warning message was displayed when also attempting to
use "Rules and Alerts". I used the /cleanrules switch to launch
Outlook and the issue was resolved with both the Out of Office
Assistant and Rules and Alerts. Fortunately, this person only had one
rule which was not being used; launching Outlook with this switch
deletes all rules. So you might want to backup the *.rwz file first
and re-import rules if needed.

First you'd have to create the RWZ file with a rules export. Outlook
doesn't keep rules in an RWZ file and using /cleanrules doesn't affect the
contents of any existing RWZ file.

 

[Lorenzo]

I eventually found the solution to this very very annoying problem:

Solution:

- Remove the additional mailboxes and/or PST files
- Export possible rules
- Start Outlook with the /cleanrules switch
- Import back rules
- Test the Out-of-the-office Assistant inserting a text and enabling it
- Re-add the additional mailboxes and/or the PST files
- Test again the Out-of-the-office Assistant

Lorenzo

 

[ladewig]

The problem is, it isn't a permanent fix. For us, the problem comes back.

 

[Lorenzo]

Hi Ladewig,
I tested this solution many times in different situation and it has always
proved successful. Are you following exactly all the steps? What's the error?

 

[ladewig]

I think you misunderstood what I said. The fix DOES work. But it isn't a
permanent fix. Eventually, the problem comes back, with the same message
before that it coudln't save the rule.

 

[grantfinlayson]

With regards to the MS Hotfix as posted by Iffin.

Has anyone tried this? If so, has the fix worked

 

[LadewigWUSTL]

I installed it and it seems to have fixed the problem.

 

[atmospherian]

I installed it and it seems to have fixed the problem.

The hotfix is for Exchange Server not Outlook, correct?

 

[ladewig]

Yes.

The hotfix is for Exchange Server not Outlook, correct?

 

[grantfinlayson]

Thanks for the responses. We have since applied the patch and it ha
resolved our issues too