Outlook 2007 outbox problem (big post)

[Chris]

Hi,



Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I'm not sure whether it is a
client problem or a server problem.



We've been having a problem with Outlook 2007 for over a year now. I have
done numerous searches on the internet for solutions, however, there are so
many people have similar problems (but completely different!) it's hard to
find exact solutions. I will try and explain the situation as best I can..



Our setup:

Single domain network

Exchange Server 2007

30x Office 2003 clients and 30x Office 2007 clients - all using cached
exchange mode

Symantec Anti-Virus 10.2

ISA Server 2006



The problem:

A small number of clients who are using Office 2007 have messages remain in
their Outbox.



More info:

All messages send successfully and the users don't see anything in their
outbox. I only noticed this when I added someone's mailbox in to my Outlook
profile and saw they had like 50 messages in their outbox. I then started
adding other people's mailboxes and saw a few of other users were having the
same problem. All of these are 2007 clients.



Even more info:

I've managed to re-create this problem. If a 2007 user sends an email then
deletes it from their Sent Items within about 10 seconds after hitting the
Send button (even after it disappears from their Outbox folder) the message
remains in their Outbox when viewed from my machine.



Most people aren't so efficient as to delete their Sent Items so quickly so
it's only happening on a small number of users, but if all 2007 clients were
to delete their emails from the Sent Items straight away then this would
happen to them all.



Solutions / Theories:

I have heard people suggest it's to do with upgraded mailboxes (from 2003 to
2007) but I've had this happen with new mailboxes using 2007.



I have heard it could be caused by calendar corruption!? I've recreated
calendar items and the problem remains.



I've heard it could be to do with Symantec scanning our emails. I've set up
a test machine without the anti-virus and ISA client installed and the
problem remains.



Someone suggested turning off Cached Exchange Mode. Yes, this does stop the
problem but it doesn't fix it. I have some users who need cached exchange
mode.



Final notes:

It actually isn't such a big deal as I can just delete everyone's Outbox
items once a week. Everything is working and the users themselves don't
notice anything is wrong. It just really annoys me that I can't fix it.

Maybe this is just how Exchange and Office 2007 work? Maybe everyone has
this problem but as most people don't delete emails so quickly it's hard to
spot? Unlikely I know..



Help..



Chris

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

If the users don't want to save sent items, they need to turn the option
off - either globally (and turn it on per message or use rules if they
always need to save items sent to certain people) or per message. The
problem occurs because its being deleted while outlook is updating the sever
and the item in the outbox is orphaned because they delete it too quickly.

They could also wait a little longer to delete the sent message (or not save
them at all).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

 

[Chris]

Hi Dianne,

Thanks for the reply.

So this isn't a bug or a setting which is wrong on our network, but just the
way Outlook 2007 on exchange 2007 works? We didn't have this issue with
Outlook 2003.

We can't turn off saving Sent Items as they like to keep just as many as
they delete. If this is just how exchange works then I can ask the users to
delay a while before deleting I guess.

Regards,

Chris

If the users don't want to save sent items, they need to turn the option
off - either globally (and turn it on per message or use rules if they
always need to save items sent to certain people) or per message. The
problem occurs because its being deleted while outlook is updating the
sever and the item in the outbox is orphaned because they delete it too
quickly.

They could also wait a little longer to delete the sent message (or not
save them at all).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

Hi,



Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I'm not sure whether it is
a client problem or a server problem.



We've been having a problem with Outlook 2007 for over a year now. I have
done numerous searches on the internet for solutions, however, there are
so many people have similar problems (but completely different!) it's
hard to find exact solutions. I will try and explain the situation as
best I can..



Our setup:

Single domain network

Exchange Server 2007

30x Office 2003 clients and 30x Office 2007 clients - all using cached
exchange mode

Symantec Anti-Virus 10.2

ISA Server 2006



The problem:

A small number of clients who are using Office 2007 have messages remain
in their Outbox.



More info:

All messages send successfully and the users don't see anything in their
outbox. I only noticed this when I added someone's mailbox in to my
Outlook profile and saw they had like 50 messages in their outbox. I then
started adding other people's mailboxes and saw a few of other users were
having the same problem. All of these are 2007 clients.



Even more info:

I've managed to re-create this problem. If a 2007 user sends an email
then deletes it from their Sent Items within about 10 seconds after
hitting the Send button (even after it disappears from their Outbox
folder) the message remains in their Outbox when viewed from my machine.



Most people aren't so efficient as to delete their Sent Items so quickly
so it's only happening on a small number of users, but if all 2007
clients were to delete their emails from the Sent Items straight away
then this would happen to them all.



Solutions / Theories:

I have heard people suggest it's to do with upgraded mailboxes (from 2003
to 2007) but I've had this happen with new mailboxes using 2007.



I have heard it could be caused by calendar corruption!? I've recreated
calendar items and the problem remains.



I've heard it could be to do with Symantec scanning our emails. I've set
up a test machine without the anti-virus and ISA client installed and the
problem remains.



Someone suggested turning off Cached Exchange Mode. Yes, this does stop
the problem but it doesn't fix it. I have some users who need cached
exchange mode.



Final notes:

It actually isn't such a big deal as I can just delete everyone's Outbox
items once a week. Everything is working and the users themselves don't
notice anything is wrong. It just really annoys me that I can't fix it.

Maybe this is just how Exchange and Office 2007 work? Maybe everyone has
this problem but as most people don't delete emails so quickly it's hard
to spot? Unlikely I know..



Help..



Chris

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Outlook 2007 just takes a bit longer to make the transfer. Asking them to
show a little patience would be the easiest fix. If there is a pattern to
what gets saved (ie, everything outside the network), they could use rules
to save them and disable saving in general.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

Hi Dianne,

Thanks for the reply.

So this isn't a bug or a setting which is wrong on our network, but just
the way Outlook 2007 on exchange 2007 works? We didn't have this issue
with Outlook 2003.

We can't turn off saving Sent Items as they like to keep just as many as
they delete. If this is just how exchange works then I can ask the users
to delay a while before deleting I guess.

Regards,

Chris

If the users don't want to save sent items, they need to turn the option
off - either globally (and turn it on per message or use rules if they
always need to save items sent to certain people) or per message. The
problem occurs because its being deleted while outlook is updating the
sever and the item in the outbox is orphaned because they delete it too
quickly.

They could also wait a little longer to delete the sent message (or not
save them at all).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

Hi,



Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I'm not sure whether it
is a client problem or a server problem.



We've been having a problem with Outlook 2007 for over a year now. I
have done numerous searches on the internet for solutions, however,
there are so many people have similar problems (but completely
different!) it's hard to find exact solutions. I will try and explain
the situation as best I can..



Our setup:

Single domain network

Exchange Server 2007

30x Office 2003 clients and 30x Office 2007 clients - all using cached
exchange mode

Symantec Anti-Virus 10.2

ISA Server 2006



The problem:

A small number of clients who are using Office 2007 have messages remain
in their Outbox.



More info:

All messages send successfully and the users don't see anything in their
outbox. I only noticed this when I added someone's mailbox in to my
Outlook profile and saw they had like 50 messages in their outbox. I
then started adding other people's mailboxes and saw a few of other
users were having the same problem. All of these are 2007 clients.



Even more info:

I've managed to re-create this problem. If a 2007 user sends an email
then deletes it from their Sent Items within about 10 seconds after
hitting the Send button (even after it disappears from their Outbox
folder) the message remains in their Outbox when viewed from my machine.



Most people aren't so efficient as to delete their Sent Items so quickly
so it's only happening on a small number of users, but if all 2007
clients were to delete their emails from the Sent Items straight away
then this would happen to them all.



Solutions / Theories:

I have heard people suggest it's to do with upgraded mailboxes (from
2003 to 2007) but I've had this happen with new mailboxes using 2007.



I have heard it could be caused by calendar corruption!? I've recreated
calendar items and the problem remains.



I've heard it could be to do with Symantec scanning our emails. I've set
up a test machine without the anti-virus and ISA client installed and
the problem remains.



Someone suggested turning off Cached Exchange Mode. Yes, this does stop
the problem but it doesn't fix it. I have some users who need cached
exchange mode.



Final notes:

It actually isn't such a big deal as I can just delete everyone's Outbox
items once a week. Everything is working and the users themselves don't
notice anything is wrong. It just really annoys me that I can't fix it.

Maybe this is just how Exchange and Office 2007 work? Maybe everyone has
this problem but as most people don't delete emails so quickly it's hard
to spot? Unlikely I know..



Help..



Chris

 

[Chris]

Thanks again for the reply Dianne,

All of our users keep the majority of their Sent Items (or file them). We
try to encourage users to delete large emails (especially with attachments)
from Outlook, both from their Inbox and Sent Items. If they send emails with
large attachments they are more likely to delete them from the Sent Items
sooner rather than later which could get stuck in their Outbox, behind the
scenes.

Are you able to confirm just the way it works and I should stop looking for
a solution? I'm perfectly willing to except that, however, I can't help but
think this issue would be a massive problem for companies with thousands of
mailboxes, as over time this would take up a lot of disk space. It just
seems like a really bad design flaw.. surely emails should just stay in the
Outbox until they are actually sent.

Kind Regards,

Chris

Outlook 2007 just takes a bit longer to make the transfer. Asking them to
show a little patience would be the easiest fix. If there is a pattern to
what gets saved (ie, everything outside the network), they could use rules
to save them and disable saving in general.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

Hi Dianne,

Thanks for the reply.

So this isn't a bug or a setting which is wrong on our network, but just
the way Outlook 2007 on exchange 2007 works? We didn't have this issue
with Outlook 2003.

We can't turn off saving Sent Items as they like to keep just as many as
they delete. If this is just how exchange works then I can ask the users
to delay a while before deleting I guess.

Regards,

Chris

If the users don't want to save sent items, they need to turn the option
off - either globally (and turn it on per message or use rules if they
always need to save items sent to certain people) or per message. The
problem occurs because its being deleted while outlook is updating the
sever and the item in the outbox is orphaned because they delete it too
quickly.

They could also wait a little longer to delete the sent message (or not
save them at all).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

Do you keep Outlook open 24/7? Vote in our poll:
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=22205

Hi,



Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I'm not sure whether it
is a client problem or a server problem.



We've been having a problem with Outlook 2007 for over a year now. I
have done numerous searches on the internet for solutions, however,
there are so many people have similar problems (but completely
different!) it's hard to find exact solutions. I will try and explain
the situation as best I can..



Our setup:

Single domain network

Exchange Server 2007

30x Office 2003 clients and 30x Office 2007 clients - all using cached
exchange mode

Symantec Anti-Virus 10.2

ISA Server 2006



The problem:

A small number of clients who are using Office 2007 have messages
remain in their Outbox.



More info:

All messages send successfully and the users don't see anything in
their outbox. I only noticed this when I added someone's mailbox in to
my Outlook profile and saw they had like 50 messages in their outbox. I
then started adding other people's mailboxes and saw a few of other
users were having the same problem. All of these are 2007 clients.



Even more info:

I've managed to re-create this problem. If a 2007 user sends an email
then deletes it from their Sent Items within about 10 seconds after
hitting the Send button (even after it disappears from their Outbox
folder) the message remains in their Outbox when viewed from my
machine.



Most people aren't so efficient as to delete their Sent Items so
quickly so it's only happening on a small number of users, but if all
2007 clients were to delete their emails from the Sent Items straight
away then this would happen to them all.



Solutions / Theories:

I have heard people suggest it's to do with upgraded mailboxes (from
2003 to 2007) but I've had this happen with new mailboxes using 2007.



I have heard it could be caused by calendar corruption!? I've recreated
calendar items and the problem remains.



I've heard it could be to do with Symantec scanning our emails. I've
set up a test machine without the anti-virus and ISA client installed
and the problem remains.



Someone suggested turning off Cached Exchange Mode. Yes, this does stop
the problem but it doesn't fix it. I have some users who need cached
exchange mode.



Final notes:

It actually isn't such a big deal as I can just delete everyone's
Outbox items once a week. Everything is working and the users
themselves don't notice anything is wrong. It just really annoys me
that I can't fix it.

Maybe this is just how Exchange and Office 2007 work? Maybe everyone
has this problem but as most people don't delete emails so quickly it's
hard to spot? Unlikely I know..



Help..



Chris