Sudden Outlook/Exchange Communication Problem

[Ben]

Hi,

We've been using Exchange 2003 & Outlook 2003 successfully for about 4
years now. We've never had any real issues, and it’s been working
well.

However, for some reason since Friday we've been getting communication
problems between Exchange & Outlook. Yesterday I had a user complain
that Outlook always opens in 'Work Offline' mode, no matter what mode
you set it to be before closing. If you click the connection status
menu bar in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you can untick 'Work
Offline' and Outlook connects, and sends/receives mail without any
problem. I thought it might be a corrupt profile, so I tried setting
up a new profile for the user, but found that I receive an error
message 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed.' Usually we
just enter exchange.domain.com & Joe Bloggs, and it resolves almost
instantly, so I tried entering the server name & user name in every
variation possible, just host name, full DNS name, i.e. exchange,
exchnage.domain.com, user display name & full user name with prefix,
i.e. Joe Bloggs, joe.bloggs, domain\joe.bloggs etc. Still nothing! In
the end I left the user with the old profile, and told them I'd look
into it.

However, now this morning I have come in, and found that my Outlook is
opening in offline mode by default as well, although as before, I can
untick 'work offline' and Outlook connects & sends/receives fine. Also
my 2nd mailbox (helpdesk) wasn't opening; I think the error message
was 'mailbox unavailable' or something. So I edited my Outlook
account, removed the mailbox from the 'advanced' > 'open additional
mailbox' tab, then tried to add it again. However, I now receive the
same 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed' error message as
our other user.

I've tried rebooting the exchange server, changing the default
language to UK English (which I read in MS KB 838800 could fix the
issue), but still the problem persists.

Could anyone shed any light on the issue, or provide a possible fix?

We're running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2, Exchange 2003
SP2 Standard Edition, clients are Windows XP SP3, Office/Outlook 2003
SP3 (v11.8169.8172).

Many thanks

Ben

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

what windows updates were installed right before the problem began on each
computer?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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




** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

 

[Ben]

Hi Diane,

Thanks for the reply.

On my laptop I had the following updates installed on the 10th July,
although Outlook was running without this issue yesterday, (14th
July):

Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)

On the users laptop they had the following installed on the 9th July:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Outlook 2003 (KB953432): OUTLOOK
Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB953465): OUTLFLTR

Although the user has just informed me that they have had the 'work
offline' issue since they received their new laptop, back in June, so
at least 6 weeks. They just never thought to mention it until
yesterday.

Many thanks

Ben

what windows updates were installed right before the problem began on each
computer?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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

Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com

** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi,

We've been using Exchange 2003 & Outlook 2003 successfully for about 4
years now. We've never had any real issues, and it’s been working
well.

However, for some reason since Friday we've been getting communication
problems between Exchange & Outlook. Yesterday I had a user complain
that Outlook always opens in 'Work Offline' mode, no matter what mode
you set it to be before closing. If you click the connection status
menu bar in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you can untick 'Work
Offline' and Outlook connects, and sends/receives mail without any
problem. I thought it might be a corrupt profile, so I tried setting
up a new profile for the user, but found that I receive an error
message 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed.' Usually we
just enter exchange.domain.com & Joe Bloggs, and it resolves almost
instantly, so I tried entering the server name & user name in every
variation possible, just host name, full DNS name, i.e. exchange,
exchnage.domain.com, user display name & full user name with prefix,
i.e. Joe Bloggs, joe.bloggs, domain\joe.bloggs etc. Still nothing! In
the end I left the user with the old profile, and told them I'd look
into it.

However, now this morning I have come in, and found that my Outlook is
opening in offline mode by default as well, although as before, I can
untick 'work offline' and Outlook connects & sends/receives fine. Also
my 2nd mailbox (helpdesk) wasn't opening; I think the error message
was 'mailbox unavailable' or something. So I edited my Outlook
account, removed the mailbox from the 'advanced' > 'open additional
mailbox' tab, then tried to add it again. However, I now receive the
same 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed' error message as
our other user.

I've tried rebooting the exchange server, changing the default
language to UK English (which I read in MS KB 838800 could fix the
issue), but still the problem persists.

Could anyone shed any light on the issue, or provide a possible fix?

We're running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2, Exchange 2003
SP2 Standard Edition, clients are Windows XP SP3, Office/Outlook 2003
SP3 (v11.8169.8172).

Many thanks

Ben- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

if they had the problem before the updates and yours didn't start until days
later (unless this was your first reboot or you didn't use it enough to
notice the problem) its likely not the updates.

what firewalls do you use?

it sticks in my mind that there is a KB article about a problem with but I
can't find it offhand.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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




** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi Diane,

Thanks for the reply.

On my laptop I had the following updates installed on the 10th July,
although Outlook was running without this issue yesterday, (14th
July):

Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)

On the users laptop they had the following installed on the 9th July:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Outlook 2003 (KB953432): OUTLOOK
Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB953465): OUTLFLTR

Although the user has just informed me that they have had the 'work
offline' issue since they received their new laptop, back in June, so
at least 6 weeks. They just never thought to mention it until
yesterday.

Many thanks

Ben

what windows updates were installed right before the problem began on
each
computer?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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

Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com

** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi,

We've been using Exchange 2003 & Outlook 2003 successfully for about 4
years now. We've never had any real issues, and it’s been working
well.

However, for some reason since Friday we've been getting communication
problems between Exchange & Outlook. Yesterday I had a user complain
that Outlook always opens in 'Work Offline' mode, no matter what mode
you set it to be before closing. If you click the connection status
menu bar in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you can untick 'Work
Offline' and Outlook connects, and sends/receives mail without any
problem. I thought it might be a corrupt profile, so I tried setting
up a new profile for the user, but found that I receive an error
message 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed.' Usually we
just enter exchange.domain.com & Joe Bloggs, and it resolves almost
instantly, so I tried entering the server name & user name in every
variation possible, just host name, full DNS name, i.e. exchange,
exchnage.domain.com, user display name & full user name with prefix,
i.e. Joe Bloggs, joe.bloggs, domain\joe.bloggs etc. Still nothing! In
the end I left the user with the old profile, and told them I'd look
into it.

However, now this morning I have come in, and found that my Outlook is
opening in offline mode by default as well, although as before, I can
untick 'work offline' and Outlook connects & sends/receives fine. Also
my 2nd mailbox (helpdesk) wasn't opening; I think the error message
was 'mailbox unavailable' or something. So I edited my Outlook
account, removed the mailbox from the 'advanced' > 'open additional
mailbox' tab, then tried to add it again. However, I now receive the
same 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed' error message as
our other user.

I've tried rebooting the exchange server, changing the default
language to UK English (which I read in MS KB 838800 could fix the
issue), but still the problem persists.

Could anyone shed any light on the issue, or provide a possible fix?

We're running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2, Exchange 2003
SP2 Standard Edition, clients are Windows XP SP3, Office/Outlook 2003
SP3 (v11.8169.8172).

Many thanks

Ben- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[Ben]

We have Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) v11 (Maintenance release 2)
on everyones laptops, which has a domain wide policy configured from
the SEP Management console. This is installed on everyone's laptops,
and has been since January, so I can't see this causing an issue.

The only KB I could find was http://support.microsoft.com/kb/838800 -
"The name could not be resolved" error message when you try to verify
the mailbox name during MAPI profile creation on Exchange 2000 Server
or on Exchange Server 2003.

FAKE EDIT: Just closed Outlook and re-opened it on my laptop, and it
now seems to open in online mode perfectly everytime. I haven't made
ANY changes to the system since this morning, in fact I've barely been
near my laptop today, as I've been testing some desktops for a client.
I'll need to check the situation on the users laptop, and see what's
happening there - VERY strange!!

Ben

if they had the problem before the updates and yours didn't start until days
later (unless this was your first reboot or you didn't use it enough to
notice the problem) its likely not the updates.

what firewalls do you use?

it sticks in my mind that there is a KB article about a problem with but I
can't find it offhand.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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

Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com

** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi Diane,

Thanks for the reply.

On my laptop I had the following updates installed on the 10th July,
although Outlook was running without this issue yesterday, (14th
July):

Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)

On the users laptop they had the following installed on the 9th July:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Outlook 2003 (KB953432): OUTLOOK
Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB953465): OUTLFLTR

Although the user has just informed me that they have had the 'work
offline' issue since they received their new laptop, back in June, so
at least 6 weeks. They just never thought to mention it until
yesterday.

Many thanks

Ben

what windows updates were installed right before the problem began on
each
computer?
--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/
Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)
Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)
Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com
** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi,
We've been using Exchange 2003 & Outlook 2003 successfully for about4
years now. We've never had any real issues, and it’s been working
well.
However, for some reason since Friday we've been getting communication
problems between Exchange & Outlook. Yesterday I had a user complain
that Outlook always opens in 'Work Offline' mode, no matter what mode
you set it to be before closing. If you click the connection status
menu bar in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you can untick 'Work
Offline' and Outlook connects, and sends/receives mail without any
problem. I thought it might be a corrupt profile, so I tried setting
up a new profile for the user, but found that I receive an error
message 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed.' Usually we
just enter exchange.domain.com & Joe Bloggs, and it resolves almost
instantly, so I tried entering the server name & user name in every
variation possible, just host name, full DNS name, i.e. exchange,
exchnage.domain.com, user display name & full user name with prefix,
i.e. Joe Bloggs, joe.bloggs, domain\joe.bloggs etc. Still nothing! In
the end I left the user with the old profile, and told them I'd look
into it.
However, now this morning I have come in, and found that my Outlook is
opening in offline mode by default as well, although as before, I can
untick 'work offline' and Outlook connects & sends/receives fine. Also
my 2nd mailbox (helpdesk) wasn't opening; I think the error message
was 'mailbox unavailable' or something. So I edited my Outlook
account, removed the mailbox from the 'advanced' > 'open additional
mailbox' tab, then tried to add it again. However, I now receive the
same 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed' error message as
our other user.
I've tried rebooting the exchange server, changing the default
language to UK English (which I read in MS KB 838800 could fix the
issue), but still the problem persists.
Could anyone shed any light on the issue, or provide a possible fix?
We're running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2, Exchange 2003
SP2 Standard Edition, clients are Windows XP SP3, Office/Outlook 2003
SP3 (v11.8169.8172).
Many thanks
Ben- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[Nikki Peterson]

I would check the health of the network. Outlook will go into offline
mode when it detects that there is no network connection. This is
a feature that is intended to allow your clients to work seemlessly.

Check the Event logs and see what is going on in the background
just before you lost connection.

Nikki Peterson

We have Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) v11 (Maintenance release 2)
on everyones laptops, which has a domain wide policy configured from
the SEP Management console. This is installed on everyone's laptops,
and has been since January, so I can't see this causing an issue.

The only KB I could find was http://support.microsoft.com/kb/838800 -
"The name could not be resolved" error message when you try to verify
the mailbox name during MAPI profile creation on Exchange 2000 Server
or on Exchange Server 2003.

FAKE EDIT: Just closed Outlook and re-opened it on my laptop, and it
now seems to open in online mode perfectly everytime. I haven't made
ANY changes to the system since this morning, in fact I've barely been
near my laptop today, as I've been testing some desktops for a client.
I'll need to check the situation on the users laptop, and see what's
happening there - VERY strange!!

Ben

if they had the problem before the updates and yours didn't start until
days
later (unless this was your first reboot or you didn't use it enough to
notice the problem) its likely not the updates.

what firewalls do you use?

it sticks in my mind that there is a KB article about a problem with but I
can't find it offhand.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

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

Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com

** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi Diane,

Thanks for the reply.

On my laptop I had the following updates installed on the 10th July,
although Outlook was running without this issue yesterday, (14th
July):

Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)

On the users laptop they had the following installed on the 9th July:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Outlook 2003 (KB953432): OUTLOOK
Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB953465): OUTLFLTR

Although the user has just informed me that they have had the 'work
offline' issue since they received their new laptop, back in June, so
at least 6 weeks. They just never thought to mention it until
yesterday.

Many thanks

Ben

what windows updates were installed right before the problem began on
each
computer?
--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks?http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007:http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/
Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)
Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)
Outlook Tips:http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:http://www.slipstick.com
** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows
Version
when requesting assistance **

Hi,
We've been using Exchange 2003 & Outlook 2003 successfully for about
4
years now. We've never had any real issues, and it’s been working
well.
However, for some reason since Friday we've been getting
communication
problems between Exchange & Outlook. Yesterday I had a user complain
that Outlook always opens in 'Work Offline' mode, no matter what mode
you set it to be before closing. If you click the connection status
menu bar in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you can untick 'Work
Offline' and Outlook connects, and sends/receives mail without any
problem. I thought it might be a corrupt profile, so I tried setting
up a new profile for the user, but found that I receive an error
message 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed.' Usually we
just enter exchange.domain.com & Joe Bloggs, and it resolves almost
instantly, so I tried entering the server name & user name in every
variation possible, just host name, full DNS name, i.e. exchange,
exchnage.domain.com, user display name & full user name with prefix,
i.e. Joe Bloggs, joe.bloggs, domain\joe.bloggs etc. Still nothing! In
the end I left the user with the old profile, and told them I'd look
into it.
However, now this morning I have come in, and found that my Outlook
is
opening in offline mode by default as well, although as before, I can
untick 'work offline' and Outlook connects & sends/receives fine.
Also
my 2nd mailbox (helpdesk) wasn't opening; I think the error message
was 'mailbox unavailable' or something. So I edited my Outlook
account, removed the mailbox from the 'advanced' > 'open additional
mailbox' tab, then tried to add it again. However, I now receive the
same 'Name could not be resolved. Operation failed' error message as
our other user.
I've tried rebooting the exchange server, changing the default
language to UK English (which I read in MS KB 838800 could fix the
issue), but still the problem persists.
Could anyone shed any light on the issue, or provide a possible fix?
We're running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2, Exchange 2003
SP2 Standard Edition, clients are Windows XP SP3, Office/Outlook 2003
SP3 (v11.8169.8172).
Many thanks
Ben- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -