OT email problems with outlook

Time to setup A Gmail account then you'll never loose your email again. Gmail can also access your POP server so you don't have to change your email address and you can store 7 gig up on Gmail.

Bungarra,

You're email is kept in a file called outlook.pst. Use the Search function to locate it ( I'm too lazy because it's generally a lonnnnnng pathname ).

Copy the pst file to a folder somewhere else as a backup.

Run the utility scanpst.exe to check and repair the original outlook.pst file ( you can use the Search function to find scanpst.exe as well ).

It'll fix up most problems but you could lose emails, such is life.

Bungarra,

Write down the exact wording of the error message, then access the Microsoft Knowledge Base and type the error message in the search area.

You should find a list of relevant technical documents will be given, which you can download and/or print to help with resolution.

People who chuck Windows for an alternative operating solution are not clever, they just can't cope!!!

Bill.

Bungarra,

I also had trouble with outlook mail, but more to do with attaching files to my E-mails. Contacted Microsoft by phone and was advised that for a small $80.00 fee I could be put onto a technician to find the problem. No thank you.

Very interested in the replies about problems with this service/program. Will try some of the suggestions outlined to see if they can fix or help with my problems.

Tks

If you are sick of Microsoft go to the Mozilla website and download their browser "Firefox" and their email "Thunderbird" - both easy to use and i have found them very stable.

Chawbie

my email folders are kept in "my docs"...makes it very easy to find and i also have scheduled back ups to 2nd hard disk twice a day

This is a bit techie, but that is what I do for a living

Few things that might help people. OUtlook stores the .pst file in the following folder (which is hidden on most machines)

C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Each user can have a different outlook file or you are able to point them at the same one by going to Control Panel > Mail >Data Files and finding the one central .pst file you want to use for your email on different accounts. This is useful if you all have one email address but like Windows setup in different ways when you login (for a family say).

Uninstalling MS Office programs does not get rid of any of your settings including the .pst files. As mentioned above sometimes you can uninstall and reinstall for some problems. But often the errors have the solution in them. If you read the error carefully it will often tell you what to do.

If it does not then the best way to search for a solution is using google, but go to advanced and select Microsoft.com as the domain and this will search and give you the KB articles related to the the problem. If the first search does not come up with a solution then just try rephrasing the issue.

The other tip I have is to keep the size of your email file low. Use the Archive feature in Outlook to transfer older emails to another .pst file as an archive. You can still access the emails but it keeps the main one trim and cust down on issues and improves speed.

And finally keep it up to date. Ensure that you are doing "Microsoft Updates" not just "Windows Updates". Click the Start > All Programs and at the top of the first column you will see Windows Update and possible Microsoft Update. Ensure that you have scheduled Microsoft Update to run and do its updates regularly. If you don't have it then goto Windows Update - when the pages opens goto the menu link on the page that says Microsoft update and then follow the instructions. The difference between the two is that Windows just updates Windows and Microsoft updates Windows and all the Microsoft programs (including outlook and office).

Hope that helps a few people.