Unread emails automatically change to read after a few minutes

[Plasticgeek]

I have a weird problem that just started today with my email. All new emails
(and even the emails I change back to Unread) automatically change to read
after about 4 minutes. Now before anyone jumps to conclusion on the cause -
The Reading Pane is turned OFF, Auto preview is turned off, I don't have
options checked in the Reading Pane window of Tools>Option>Other>Outlook
Panes, and I have NO rules whatsoever. I haven't changed anything or updated
anything but it started sometime after shutting down the email client the day
before and starting it this morning. I've been trying to figure this out for
over 4 hours now and it's got me baffled. Any help?
Running Windows 7 Enterprise and Office 2007.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

I have a weird problem that just started today with my email. All new emails
(and even the emails I change back to Unread) automatically change to read
after about 4 minutes. Now before anyone jumps to conclusion on the
cause -
The Reading Pane is turned OFF, Auto preview is turned off, I don't have
options checked in the Reading Pane window of Tools>Option>Other>Outlook
Panes, and I have NO rules whatsoever. I haven't changed anything or
updated
anything but it started sometime after shutting down the email client the
day
before and starting it this morning. I've been trying to figure this out
for
over 4 hours now and it's got me baffled. Any help?
Running Windows 7 Enterprise and Office 2007.

Are you using any handheld devices?

 

[Plasticgeek]

Hi Brian, Yes I have an iPhone that I get my email on also. I did power off
the phone for over an hour and still got the same results on my desktop
client.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

Hi Brian, Yes I have an iPhone that I get my email on also. I did power
off
the phone for over an hour and still got the same results on my desktop
client.

Does it happen if you start Outlook in safe mode (hold Ctrl when starting
Outlook)?

 

[Plasticgeek]

Just tried it and yes the same thing.

Does it happen if you start Outlook in safe mode (hold Ctrl when starting
Outlook)?

 

[Shannon]

Just tried it and yes the same thing.

 

[Shannon]

this is a long shot, but look under Tools - Trust Center - Add-ins and look
for an add-in called Auto read.

http://download.cnet.com/AutoRead-for-Microsoft-Outlook/3000-2369_4-10263092.html

 

[Plasticgeek]

Thanks Shannon but no luck. I haven't installed any Outlook add-ons in the
past 2 months. However I am going to disable ALL the add-ons just to
eliminate them.
Thanks....Russell

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

Thanks Shannon but no luck. I haven't installed any Outlook add-ons in the
past 2 months. However I am going to disable ALL the add-ons just to
eliminate them.

By starting Outlook in safe mode, you did eliminate them. Safe mode prevents
add-ins from being loaded.

 

[Plasticgeek]

Disabled all Add-ons and client extensions and still emails mark themselves
as read after 4 minutes.

 

[Plasticgeek]

Update on testing - The problem seems to be associated with the Exchange
server and not the Outlook client. I tested by shutting down the Outlook
client on my pc at the end of the work day and sending myself emails from 2
different personal email accounts last evening. This morning I logged onto a
completly different PC and open my email from that pc's Outlook client and
ALL the emails were already marked as read. My mobile device that I also get
email on was powered completly off for this test.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

Disabled all Add-ons and client extensions and still emails mark themselves
as read after 4 minutes.

What type of account?

 

[Plasticgeek]

What are you referring to on the account type? We run Exchange 2007 and my
email is a standard user account.
Thanks.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

What are you referring to on the account type? We run Exchange 2007 and my
email is a standard user account.

I saw that in a message you posted in reply to someone else but that I hadn't
read when I asked. I also see from that same message that you think it's
external to your Outlook (which sounds true to me as well).

 

[Plasticgeek]

After two days of this strange email bug and looking at all options and
settings the issue went away sometime yesterday evening. Me and the only
other exchange admin made no changes to anything other than what I first
tried with removing my profile & client from my pc (which didn't work). This
morning I started the Outlook client and there were old (more than 1 hour)
Unread emails listed. I did not touch anything else for 30 minutes and they
stayed in the unread state. ???????
The only other possible cause would be our Cisco Unity Messaging Store
Service that allows email/phone messages to be read when checking voicemail.
The system may have malfunctioned but it's strange that it only affected one
user out of 375 or some genius was "testing" something or me. I really don't
know but it's working correctly now though I will continue to probe the
genius to see if he cracks. Thanks for the input.