Because hotfixes are not given the full testing (regression testing, etc.) at the time they are offered and could hose your system if you downloaded it and installed and it was not meant to fix YOUR problem.
Microsoft does its best to ensure that only fixes that address your specific problem are available for download. That is why when you call to ask for a specific Hotfix, the PSS person will ask what the exact error message is that you encountered to ensure that the fix is for YOUR problem.
--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.
After furious head scratching, Don Holmes asked:
| Hmmm, I'll certainly do that. In this day and age when these kinds of
| downloads are readily available via direct download (from MS or
| anyone else) without requiring a costly interaction with a human
| being I'm still confused as to why it is necessary to go through a
| human-in-the-loop process to download a free "fix".
|
|| Don
||
|| To get a Hotfix from MS does not mean you will need to pay for it.
|| Call the number that is shown for you and be sure to mention that
|| you are calling to get a Hotfix and you should be able to get it
|| without any costs incurred to you.
||
|| Again make sure you mention that it is for a Hotfix
||
|| --
|| Peter
||
|| Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
|| Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
|| acknowledged.
||
||
||| Thanks but I'm afraid the instructions:
||| "To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product
||| Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of
||| Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and
||| information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web
||| site:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support" isn't
||| particularly useful. Does this mean that I can't just download it
||| anywhere? This is clearly a defect in the product yet it appears
||| the instructions (and assoicated "support costs") indicate the
||| hotfix is a feature I have to pay more for. That doesn't make
||| sense. Am I missing something? --
||| Thanks,
|||
||| Don
|||
|||
||| "garfield-n-odie [MVP]" wrote:
|||
||||
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916516/en-us
||||
|||| Don Holmes wrote:
||||
||||| I understand there is a hotfix "out there" that addresses my
||||| problem however I can't find it anywhere. Does someone know
||||| where I can download the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix
||||| package: March 22, 2006?
|||||
||||| Sure appreciate the help.
