HELP!!! Outlook crisis

[clumber]

Was charging along just fine entering tasks ... came back to my desk this afternoon and tried to enter a task -- when I hit Save and Close I get the error message "could not complete the operation. One or more parameter values are not valid".

I am not using the Outlook Add-in, but i have customized my outlook according to DA's 'White Paper'.

Any ideas? I've already shut down and restarted the computer and outlook. This is a real problem..

Thanks,
Ann

 

[mochant]

Try repairing your .pst file

clumber:

Two suggestions (do in this order):

1. Run the scanpst.exe utility and see if your Outlook storage file has become corrupted (not uncommon). This utility will detect errors in the file, offer to make a backup (do it) and attempt to repair the file. You can find this file here:

Crogram FilesCommon FilesSystemMSMAPI1033

assuming you're using XP and Outlook 2003. The path may be different on an older OS and/or version of Outlook in which case try doing a search for files with the extension ".exe" and pick from the results. I suggest pinning this utility to your Start Menu for easy access in the future..

2. Run Detect and Repair from the Help menu in Outlook. You will most likely need your original Outlook CD to do this.

Hope that helps.

 

[clumber]

Thanks, but no luck

Tried both, but no luck with either. Thanks.

 

[mochant]

A more radical solution

Ann:

You don't say what sort of e-mail you use (POP3, IMAP, Exchange) but a more radical idea would be to create an entirely new profile and see if the new Outlook profile works for task and appointment creation. If it does, you can selectively import data from your old Outlook profile and possibly escape the corruption you've struggling with (and hopefully not lose any or too much info).

The Outlook help file has pretty good instructions. It's rather complicated to be posting here. If you need help and the help file doesn't do the job for you, PM me and I'll see if I can walk you through it.

Also, I strongly recommend anyone who uses Outlook get into the habit of regularly backing up their .pst files. This can be done in the file system itself or using a tool called Outback from TotalIdea. The free version is perfectly adequate - no need to buy a license unless you need the extra bells.

 

[clumber]

Thanks, Mochant

The outlook email is Exchange.

I was able to find instructions for creating a new profile, and everything worked fine. The trouble is, it is a company laptop and each machine is imaged the same way -- so I need to somehow figure out how to rename the new profile and .pst file so that it reflects the original. Can that be done?

Thanks!

 

[mochant]

No, I don't think so

Ann:

If I recall correctly, you can not rename a profile once it's been created.

At this point, I think you'll need to work with your Exchange administrator to have your profile recreated with the company-approved setup, then import the data from your old .ost file (assuming that's what you use if you're in an Exchange environment).

I don't use Exchange so I'm afraid we've reached the edge of my technical expertise here. Anyone else here have any solutions for Ann?

 

[mochant]

One more suggestion

Ann:

Now that I know you're suing Exchange, I remebered that there is a scanost.exe utility for Exchange storage files. It's in the same directory as the scanpst.exe utility. Did you try running that?

 

[clumber]

Thanks anyway...

Looks like I'll be calling our IT dept. in the morning. Thanks anyway...

Ann