Outlook Problems

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,


We recently transferred our domains to a new account within 1&1, and as a result of that I had to set up the email profiles again with Outlook 2010 on our two Windows 7 PCs. We kept the same email addresses and all other details are pretty much identical. The system was originally set up using POP3, which worked well but meant that emails couldn't be viewed when away from the PCs. Since I had to set it all up again I took the opportunity to use IMAP which enables us to still have email access using 1&1 Webmail.

I managed to get Outlook up and running on both PCs using IMAP and it continued to work for a couple of weeks but now one of the PCs is refusing to send emails - they remain in the outbox indefinitely and it says "Sending Reported error - 0x8004010F Outlook data file cannot be accessed"

Reading online for solutions I tried the SFC /scannow tool, hoping it would repair the corrupted system file causing the issue, but unfortunately it came up negative.

My first question is: how can this be fixed? I'd prefer not having to set up the email profile again from scratch if it's in any way avoidable.

I also have a problem with the Outlook profiles themselves. I backed up the emails on the systems before setting up the new profiles, and then imported the Outlook Data Files back in. For some reason the IMAP emails and the old POP3 emails have gone into separate profiles but the folders have become linked - the IMAP profile contains the new (since the changeover) Inbox, Deleted and Junk; while the old POP3 profile contains the old email folders, plus the new Outbox and Sent Items. It's not easy to use anymore!

My second question is: Can this be sorted out, i.e consolidate the old POP3 and the new IMAP emails together into one set of folders for both?


Cheers,
Mark

 

[Limey Lurker]

My second question is: Can this be sorted out?

Easily! Bin the PCs and buy an iMac!

 

[Mark A]

Easily! Bin the PCs and buy an iMac!

Alas, the PCs aren't mine but belong to my father and I'd have about as much success explaining the benefits of a Mac to him as I would teaching a fish finger to walk, meaning I'm stuck with Windows and its issues with Outlook...

 

[AndyT]

It's years since I needed to know any of this stuff but I think it's worth having a look at slipstick.com. It's a site aimed at Exchange and Outlook admins and has good coverage of problems and specialist utilities to fix them.

 

[Malc]

Hi Mark

Have you got the latest office service pack installed. Sometimes this is a problem on exchange accounts

 

[Mark A]

It's years since I needed to know any of this stuff but I think it's worth having a look at slipstick.com. It's a site aimed at Exchange and Outlook admins and has good coverage of problems and specialist utilities to fix them.

Thanks Andy. I'm away from the PCs 'til late this evening so I'll check out the website then.

 

[Mark A]

Hi Mark

Have you got the latest office service pack installed. Sometimes this is a problem on exchange accounts

I'll also look into this at the same time.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Nelsun]

I'd be inclined to just start from scratch again and avoid trying to figure out what's trying to do what. You'll have more hair left and lower blood pressure come the end of it

Before doing anything, I'd export all the data to a file saved somewhere you can find it again. That way you can always get stuff back should anything hit the fan. So do that first and try opening the exported file in Outlook to have a rummage around in to make sure you've got your important data backed up. Close the export file once you're happy it has all you want in it. It'd probably be an idea to export the POP3 data to a separate file as the IMAP data *should* live on the server but the POP3 data may not (although it might). Simple really! Anyroad, export your data and check it's all safe 'n' sound.

There's a Microsoft support page (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2659085) that should step you through sorting the problem by building a new profile.

As for consolidating your current IMAP and old POP3 data - once you have a new working IMAP setup, you should be able to open the POP3 data export file from above and drag and drop what you want out of it and into the IMAP folders. Verify that what you've dragged and dropped has gone up to the server by logging in to the webmail interface (assuming it has one) and looking for it. Once done, close the POP3 export file.

But don't take my word for it. Backup your data and don't delete any Outlook profiles until you are 100% certain you have a working profile in hand.

 

[Mark A]

Thanks for the post Nelsun.

I think you'r right - starting again will be the easiest way forward; however I'll have to do it remotely through Teamviewer (I'm currently 170 miles away from the PCs) and it takes literally hours to import...

Reading more into it I reckon the problem stems from me importing the backup emails over incorrectly so there are effectively two profiles on each PC with the same email address in conflict with one another.

Looks like this is going to be another all-nighter.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[RogerS]

My second question is: Can this be sorted out?

Easily! Bin the PCs and buy an iMac!

iMac's are not immune to IMAP issues either. I recently got an automated email from the hosting company for my website telling me that my bandwidth was 80% used. The next day another one telling me it was all used up, website blocked, cpanel blocked. Long story short...the IMAP client in Apple mail had decided to continuously poll the IMAP server and try to sync. Every second, every minute, every hour. I had 200 pages of system log telling me this! It used 200MB of IMAP bandwidth the first day it kicked off and 300MB the next day. The other IMAP account was fine..just this one decided to go loopy.

Interesting learning exercise though looking at the system logs. For example, did you know that sneaky Google has installed a 'secret' phone home app on your iMac called keystone agent that will merrily phone home and update any Google s/w on your Mac without so much as a by-your-leave? Bit of Terminal work and keystone agent nuked !

 

[LancsRick]

On the first issue, there's every chance the content of the data file is ok, it's just that something else ancillary is screwed up. In Outlook, change the location of your data file to somewhere (anywhere), check it works by browsing to the Inbox folder, then repeat the process but now point Outlook back at where your original file was. With a bit of luck that should sort things out.

Your second question should be easy to resolve - when you have Outlook working on a machine that has the old POP3 emails and the IMAP connection established, you can just drag the old email items into a server-side IMAP folder like you would with any other organising.