Outlook 2003 sp3: Can't view email content, no new cal or contacts

D

daileyplanet

I've been trying to find a solution to this issue for days. I really hope I
can find solutions here. Apology in advance for the diatribe below, but I
know no other way of being specific enough to explain this bizarre behavior
so you will be able to diagnose it properly.

I installed updates for Office 2003 (specifically to troubleshoot Outlook
2003 not working with a Gmail account), along with some WinXP Pro updates to
get me up to XP v2002 sp3 and Office 2003 sp3. Since then, I can no longer
view inbound email content from the reading pane, nor when I open the emails.
Even emails that were sent months before the updates were installed have the
same behavior as described below.

Inbox:
The header info (To:, CC:, subject, date, etc.) show up fine as usual. But
the body of the emails do not load on the screen. It's as if the body is a
"hole" and I can see through it to the screen/app behind it (or any dialogs
that open in front of the email). But when I move the email around the
screen, the "image" of the screen/app does not change - almost like a screen
snapshot. This also happens with the reading pane. However, if I REPLY or
FORWARD the same emails, they open fine and then I can read the content by
looking at the original thread below in the reply or forward. (By the way,
the AutoPreview does work as usual in the Inbox.) NOTE: There are some
emails like out-of-office autoreplies when the reading pane goes/stays gray
and states, "This item cannot be displayed in the Reading Pane. Open the
item to read its contents." The screen "snapshot" effect does not happen in
these cases, and I get an error when I try to open saying "Can't open this
item." I do still have to reply or forward these in order to see their
content like all the other emails.

Calendar and Contacts:
For these, I cannot enter anything in the Notes section of existing appts or
contact records. (I won't even have a typing cursor when I mouse over that
area.) But when I change any OTHER field in the record, Outlook will allow
me to save the updated item. However, NEW appts or contacts will not save at
all, and any updates to existing records via sync with my mobile phone's
Contacts and Calendars do not get amended to the existing items. For
example, I have notes in a contact record on my phone. When I sync, those
updates do not come over to the Outlook contact record, where they have in
the past, before the update to 2003 sp3.

I have tried closing Outlook and turning off my McAfee Internet Security
email scanning protection, as well as another PC Tools Spyware Doctor app
just to be safe. Neither has any effect (and both were installed and active
and Outlook was working just fine before the sp3 updates were installed).

Finally, to make matters worse, since this is a machine from a previous job,
the IT folks there did not have the System Restore feature turned on (Lord
knows why - it seems like a great safety to have on at all times!) so simply
rolling back to before the updates were installed is not an option that I can
see since no restore points were established until after the updates.

Everything I can figure out is that this is something that has happened
based on these sp3 updates being installed, since it was all fine up until
they were installed. I will say though that Gmail is working now . . . but
at what price since I'm now having all these issues??

I do hope that this is making sense with someone out there that has a
solution. Thank you very, very much for sticking with this long post until
the end. I look forward to any and all insight you may have. Thank you
again!!
 
R

Roady [MVP]

It sounds like an add-in conflict to me.
Does it work correctly in Outlook Safe Mode?

Also, disconnect your mobile device and try it in Windows Safe Mode as well.
If it works then, I'd still suspect McAfee as being the cause since
disabling the message scanner will not disable its integration with Outlook.
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/20

Just to exclude Internet Explorer;
Does it work for Plain Text emails?



-----
 
D

daileyplanet

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely try all of them and let you know.

Unfortunately, I'm already at a question point. I'm trying to figure out
how to manually start Outlook in Safe Mode and my Outlook Help seems to be
having issues as well. I can't type in the search box (like my issues with
the Notes fields of appts and contacts). I did a search for "how to start
outlook 2003 in safe mode" and am not finding a quick explanation.

Any tips or articles that would help? Thanks again in advance.
--
daileyplanet


Roady said:
It sounds like an add-in conflict to me.
Does it work correctly in Outlook Safe Mode?

Also, disconnect your mobile device and try it in Windows Safe Mode as well.
If it works then, I'd still suspect McAfee as being the cause since
disabling the message scanner will not disable its integration with Outlook.
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/20

Just to exclude Internet Explorer;
Does it work for Plain Text emails?



-----
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

at start menu, run, type
outlook.exe /safe

See http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/safemode.htm

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Let's Really Fix Outlook 2010
http://forums.slipstick.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

daileyplanet said:
Thanks for the tips, I will definitely try all of them and let you know.

Unfortunately, I'm already at a question point. I'm trying to figure out
how to manually start Outlook in Safe Mode and my Outlook Help seems to be
having issues as well. I can't type in the search box (like my issues
with
the Notes fields of appts and contacts). I did a search for "how to start
outlook 2003 in safe mode" and am not finding a quick explanation.

Any tips or articles that would help? Thanks again in advance.
 
B

Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]

Unfortunately, I'm already at a question point. I'm trying to figure out
how to manually start Outlook in Safe Mode

Start>Run>outlook.exe /safe

or hold down Ctrl while starting Outlook from an icon.
 
D

daileyplanet

Thanks to Diane and Brian for the tips for launching OL in Safe Mode.

1] Actually when I launch in safe mode, then the issues are more pronounced.
For example, when I reply to an email in order to see its original content,
the REPLY even works like the original email (not showing the content, only
the "screenshot" from the app behind or in front of it). I replied to the
same email in regular mode and I could see the content, so nothing has
changed either way.

2] Plain text emails actually seem to be the only ones that respond with
"This item cannot be displayed in the Reading Pane . . . " and when you try
to open, it throws the "Can't open this item" dialog. I can still reply to
them to see the thread though.

So to confirm, are you saying I should just uninstall McAfee completely in
order to see if that is causing the problem? If so, do you recommend making
a restore point before doing so? Thanks again (to everyone) for your
assistance thus far.

--
daileyplanet


Roady said:
It sounds like an add-in conflict to me.
Does it work correctly in Outlook Safe Mode?

Also, disconnect your mobile device and try it in Windows Safe Mode as well.
If it works then, I'd still suspect McAfee as being the cause since
disabling the message scanner will not disable its integration with Outlook.
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/20

Just to exclude Internet Explorer;
Does it work for Plain Text emails?



-----
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Always make a restore point - I think the system might do it automatically.

Have you tried office diagnostics (detect and repair)?

Uninstall the AV, reboot and reinstall it without email integration.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Let's Really Fix Outlook 2010
http://forums.slipstick.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

daileyplanet said:
Thanks to Diane and Brian for the tips for launching OL in Safe Mode.

1] Actually when I launch in safe mode, then the issues are more
pronounced.
For example, when I reply to an email in order to see its original
content,
the REPLY even works like the original email (not showing the content,
only
the "screenshot" from the app behind or in front of it). I replied to the
same email in regular mode and I could see the content, so nothing has
changed either way.

2] Plain text emails actually seem to be the only ones that respond with
"This item cannot be displayed in the Reading Pane . . . " and when you
try
to open, it throws the "Can't open this item" dialog. I can still reply
to
them to see the thread though.

So to confirm, are you saying I should just uninstall McAfee completely in
order to see if that is causing the problem? If so, do you recommend
making
a restore point before doing so? Thanks again (to everyone) for your
assistance thus far.
 
D

daileyplanet

Well, you were right guys . . . it was McAfee in the end. Unfortunately, I
couldn't find a way to install without the email protection. When I
installed other components, Outlook had the same problems. So I completely
uninstalled it. I have SpywareGuard and SpywareBlaster on my machine, but
now that is it as far as any protection. I was going to download AVG's free
protection, unless anyone has any concerns about that, or tips as to an AV
app that won't cause problems with Outlook 2003 sp3.

I look forward to your AV suggestions. Otherwise, thanks again Diane and
everyone else that assisted. You really were of great help to someone that
was really at wit's end. Much appreciated . . .
--
daileyplanet


Diane Poremsky said:
Always make a restore point - I think the system might do it automatically.

Have you tried office diagnostics (detect and repair)?

Uninstall the AV, reboot and reinstall it without email integration.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Let's Really Fix Outlook 2010
http://forums.slipstick.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

daileyplanet said:
Thanks to Diane and Brian for the tips for launching OL in Safe Mode.

1] Actually when I launch in safe mode, then the issues are more
pronounced.
For example, when I reply to an email in order to see its original
content,
the REPLY even works like the original email (not showing the content,
only
the "screenshot" from the app behind or in front of it). I replied to the
same email in regular mode and I could see the content, so nothing has
changed either way.

2] Plain text emails actually seem to be the only ones that respond with
"This item cannot be displayed in the Reading Pane . . . " and when you
try
to open, it throws the "Can't open this item" dialog. I can still reply
to
them to see the thread though.

So to confirm, are you saying I should just uninstall McAfee completely in
order to see if that is causing the problem? If so, do you recommend
making
a restore point before doing so? Thanks again (to everyone) for your
assistance thus far.

--
daileyplanet


Roady said:
It sounds like an add-in conflict to me.
Does it work correctly in Outlook Safe Mode?

Also, disconnect your mobile device and try it in Windows Safe Mode as
well.
If it works then, I'd still suspect McAfee as being the cause since
disabling the message scanner will not disable its integration with
Outlook.
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/20

Just to exclude Internet Explorer;
Does it work for Plain Text emails?



I've been trying to find a solution to this issue for days. I really
hope
I
can find solutions here. Apology in advance for the diatribe below,
but I
know no other way of being specific enough to explain this bizarre
behavior
so you will be able to diagnose it properly.

I installed updates for Office 2003 (specifically to troubleshoot
Outlook
2003 not working with a Gmail account), along with some WinXP Pro
updates
to
get me up to XP v2002 sp3 and Office 2003 sp3. Since then, I can no
longer
view inbound email content from the reading pane, nor when I open the
emails.
Even emails that were sent months before the updates were installed
have
the
same behavior as described below.

Inbox:
The header info (To:, CC:, subject, date, etc.) show up fine as usual.
But
the body of the emails do not load on the screen. It's as if the body
is
a
"hole" and I can see through it to the screen/app behind it (or any
dialogs
that open in front of the email). But when I move the email around the
screen, the "image" of the screen/app does not change - almost like a
screen
snapshot. This also happens with the reading pane. However, if I
REPLY
or
FORWARD the same emails, they open fine and then I can read the content
by
looking at the original thread below in the reply or forward. (By the
way,
the AutoPreview does work as usual in the Inbox.) NOTE: There are some
emails like out-of-office autoreplies when the reading pane goes/stays
gray
and states, "This item cannot be displayed in the Reading Pane. Open
the
item to read its contents." The screen "snapshot" effect does not
happen
in
these cases, and I get an error when I try to open saying "Can't open
this
item." I do still have to reply or forward these in order to see their
content like all the other emails.

Calendar and Contacts:
For these, I cannot enter anything in the Notes section of existing
appts
or
contact records. (I won't even have a typing cursor when I mouse over
that
area.) But when I change any OTHER field in the record, Outlook will
allow
me to save the updated item. However, NEW appts or contacts will not
save
at
all, and any updates to existing records via sync with my mobile
phone's
Contacts and Calendars do not get amended to the existing items. For
example, I have notes in a contact record on my phone. When I sync,
those
updates do not come over to the Outlook contact record, where they have
in
the past, before the update to 2003 sp3.

I have tried closing Outlook and turning off my McAfee Internet
Security
email scanning protection, as well as another PC Tools Spyware Doctor
app
just to be safe. Neither has any effect (and both were installed and
active
and Outlook was working just fine before the sp3 updates were
installed).

Finally, to make matters worse, since this is a machine from a previous
job,
the IT folks there did not have the System Restore feature turned on
(Lord
knows why - it seems like a great safety to have on at all times!) so
simply
rolling back to before the updates were installed is not an option that
I
can
see since no restore points were established until after the updates.

Everything I can figure out is that this is something that has happened
based on these sp3 updates being installed, since it was all fine up
until
they were installed. I will say though that Gmail is working now . . .
but
at what price since I'm now having all these issues??

I do hope that this is making sense with someone out there that has a
solution. Thank you very, very much for sticking with this long post
until
the end. I look forward to any and all insight you may have. Thank
you
again!!
 
B

Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]

Well, you were right guys . . . it was McAfee in the end. Unfortunately, I
couldn't find a way to install without the email protection.

You should be able to perform a custom install.
 

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