"Unable to open your default e-mail folders..." error

[Paul]

I reinstalled Windows XP and then installed Office 2003 on my computer. Prior
to it I was using Office XP(2002). I used the Windows Settings Transfer
wizard to transfer the settings of my old installation to the new one. I set
up an Outlook profile and my Exchange server email account using the Control
Panel/Mail icon and could connect to the Exchange server because on clicking
Check Name in the final step, it underlined my username.

But when I launch Outlook 2003, I get the error message - "Unable to open
your default e-mail folders. You must connect to your Microsoft Exchange
Server computer with the current profile before you can synchronize your
folders with your offline folder file." I click on OK and Outlook 2003
closes. I removed the PST and OST files that I could find on my computer by
doing a search and moving them to a separate storage, and I reinstalled
Office 2003, but I still get the same error. I deleted the profile and
recreated it, but the error remains.

Can you please give me a step-by-step solution? Thanks a lot.

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

could connect to the Exchange server because on clicking Check Name in the
Would that be Exchange or Active Directory?

Can you ping the Exchange server by name?
Does the person logged on have sufficient priveleges on the mailbox in
question?

 

[Paul]

I am a user and not an IT staff. As per my company's help sheet for
configuring Outlook, it mentions Exchange server. I am aware that the company
has an Active Directory.

I successfully pinged the server. As for your last question, I guess that
because it is my email account, I have the privilege to set up Outlook to use
my own email account.

 

[Paul]

I went ahead and reinstalled Windows XP Home + SP2, and Office 2003 + SP1. I
still get the same error when launching Outlook 2003 after configuring to
connect with the Exchange server successfully through the Control Panel/Mail
icon. I also noticed that there is no file named Outlook.pst or any other
file with the extension *.pst on my computer. I saw on some web site that on
installing Outlook, it creates a 0 byte sized outlook.pst file in the
C:\Documents and Settings\Windows User\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. Could that be the problem? I do see a file
named outlook.ost, though, in the same folder.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I went ahead and reinstalled Windows XP Home + SP2, and Office 2003 +
SP1. I still get the same error when launching Outlook 2003 after
configuring to connect with the Exchange server successfully through
the Control Panel/Mail icon. I also noticed that there is no file
named Outlook.pst or any other file with the extension *.pst on my
computer. I saw on some web site that on installing Outlook, it
creates a 0 byte sized outlook.pst file in the C:\Documents and
Settings\Windows User\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. Could that be the problem? I do see a
file named outlook.ost, though, in the same folder.

If you don't have the Personal Folders service in the mail profile, you
won't have a PST. IN an Exchange environment, it's not unusual at all to
have no PSTs.

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

If after all that, you are still experiencing the same problem, then I would
look at connectivity to the Exchange Server and domain controllers. That is
probably somethign your systems admin should check.

As Brian said, if you are using an Exchange Server, then there likely is no
..pst file. Then your mailbox content should remain on the server. If you
have an .ost, that is a local copy of your mailbox and is synched with the
server.

 

[Paul]

I took my laptop to our company tech support and had to leave it with him to
take a look at it because I had to be somewhere else right away. He later
said that he just started up Outlook and it connected normally! I brought my
laptop back home and Outlook connects normally through my home network and
ISP and the company VPN. So, I am none the wiser though I spent many, many
hours trying to resolve the problem on my one :-\