Reading Pane Does Not Display Emails

[Jim Hammond]

Hi. The reading pane in my Outlook 2007 remails blue and does not display the
selected message. When I select an email to read I get the following message:
"Cannot open this item. The text formatting command is not available. It may
not be installed correctly. Install Microsoft Office Outlook again."
I can 'repair' Outlook from the CD but the problem returns when the program
is closed and opened again. I uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook but the
problem remains. Please help.

 

[K. Orland]

Close Outlook. Open it using the /resetnavpane switch:

Start > Run > outlook.exe /resetnavpane

Let me know if that works or not.

 

[Jim Hammond]

Hi Kathleen,
Outlook restarted but problem remains. Where to next?

 

[K. Orland]

Another thing you can try is opening Outlook using the /cleanviews switch:

Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanviews <enter>

 

[K. Orland]

Close Outlook. Locate the following files and rename them:

outcmd.dat
frmcache.dat
..srs
extend.dat

These files are likely hidden so use the Advanced options in file/folder
search or use Windows Explorer to unhid hidden files and folders before you
start the search. Make sure you also enable the view of known file extensions
as well.

If you're wondering what to rename the file to, try outcmd.dat_old for
example.

Then open Outlook again. Let me know if that works or not. There are still
other options available.

 

[Jim Hammond]

Hi Kathleen,

Would you believe I cannot find any of those files. Search included hidden
files. What am I doing wrong!!!!

The second option-- Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanviews <enter>, worked
but problem recurred after restarting computer. (I had to delete <enter> for
it to accept the string)

Thank you for your continued help. Do I have any other options?
Thank you,
Jim

 

[K. Orland]

Do you view hidden files and folders anyway? Use Windows Explorer to do this:

Tools > Folder Options > View

Check the radio button Show hidden files and folders
Uncheck the box Hide file extensions for known file types

Click Apply. Click Like Current Folder. Click OK.

Then click on Start > Search (how it's listed or what it's called depends on
your O/S). Enter outcmd.dat, extend.dat, *.srs, frmcache.dat. See if those
files come up now.

 

[Jim Hammond]

Hi Kathleen

Fixed. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[TravisT83]

I am having the same issue on a vista machine... and i tried everything that
you suggested in the previous posts do you have anything else i can try K.
Orland...


thanks so much hope you see this

 

[jcsammy]

Before anyone attempts the solutions above, try rebooting your PC first. That
worked for us.

JCHenry Technologies
http://jchenry.net

 

[RockToonz]

I had a user having this exact issue. I tried all of the above fixes as well
to no avail. Finally, I created a new Outlook Profile for him and that fixed
it. Much faster fix if you try that first.

 

[wonderer]

I had a user having this exact issue. I tried all of the above fixes as well
to no avail. Finally, I created a new Outlook Profile for him and that fixed
it. Much faster fix if you try that first.

 

[wonderer]

Using Vista and 2007 and several months ago my general account showed the
message but my admin account kept working so I just switched to using the
admin account. Today I tried again, have rebooted nothing. How do I creat a
new profile for my self on my general account?

 

[wonderer]

sorry, I looked it up and help has the profile answer (I hope)

 

[Friis-Kiwi]

Close Outlook. Locate the following files and rename them:

outcmd.dat
frmcache.dat
.srs
extend.dat

These files are likely hidden so use the Advanced options in file/folder
search or use Windows Explorer to unhid hidden files and folders before you
start the search. Make sure you also enable the view of known file extensions
as well.

If you're wondering what to rename the file to, try outcmd.dat_old for
example.

Then open Outlook again. Let me know if that works or not. There are still
other options available.

thanks I just needed to rename the OUTCMD.DAT

 

[Bulent Balci]

Thank you K.Orland,

This file renaming operation has solved my problem too.

Thanks in advance