Question

Cannot start Microsoft office outlook. Unable to open the outlook window.

Asked by: rhase

I have a reoccurring Outlook problem with a user that I would like to permanently resolve.  Every so often she cannot open Outlook and gets the following popup message:  "Cannot start Microsoft office outlook.  Unable to open the outlook window.  The set of folders could not be opened.  The server is not available. Contact your administrator if this condition persists."  Three months ago I upgraded her workstation and the problem had not occurred again until today.  So there seems to be a network component to this problem.

My solution has been to copy the existing PST, rename it and then make it the default data file.  Outlook then opens.  I had unsuccessfully tried repairing and reinstalling office.  The files are accessible over the network and all permissions are correct, the user owns the files.

Some network back ground.

Workstation:
XP Pro SP2 current patches
Office 2003 Small business current service packs and patches.
PST's live on shared drive on server.

Server:
Windows 2000 SP 4 Current patches

Any ideas what is causing this to reoccur?

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Asked On
2007-04-03 at 20:35:47ID22490938
Tags

outlook

,

start

,

cannot

,

microsoft

,

open

Topics

Windows NT Networking

,

Email Clients

,

Email Software

Participating Experts
3
Points
250
Comments
11

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Answers

 

by: psv1973Posted on 2007-04-04 at 00:37:39ID: 18848941

Could it be that there is an outlook instance still running when starting outlook. I've seen these type of things happen when applications that use part of outlook (as part of a system integration) don't clear things up properly and therefore outlooks stays alive, and you can not start a new outlook instance.

 

by: rindiPosted on 2007-04-04 at 01:36:25ID: 18849093

Why are you using pst's when there is a SBS server with exchange? On exchange you don't need pst's, specially not on the server. You should just have an exchange account and connect directly to that within outlook. If you enable cached mode, then a local ost file will be created that allows the user to work within Outlook even if the server isn't available.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-04 at 08:35:11ID: 18851365

I can't find any other application accesing the PST, which is on the server.   I don't find any clues in the logs of the workstation or server.  BTW,  The workstation is a new Dell box.  My explaination looked like a reinstall.

The server is 2k standad.  Not SBS.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-04 at 08:39:35ID: 18851408

OH, one more thing.  Rebooting the server does NOT resolve the issue.  One would think rebooting the server and workstation should break all connnections and close all files.  But in this case it does not resolve the problem.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-04 at 08:41:54ID: 18851432

And one other thing.  Exchange is not installed.  They are using POP3/SMTP to access an ISP hosted mail server.  That is why they are using PST's.

 

by: rindiPosted on 2007-04-04 at 10:19:44ID: 18852124

Sorry, I misread "Office 2003 Small Business" to be "Server 2003 Small Business".

I wouldn't put pst files on the server, except the archives. PST's on the server slows the network down, and as Outlook alone isn't multiuser capable you don't have many advantages from that. Maybe you should use a script when the PC shuts down to copy it's local pst to to the server so it can be backed up.

 

by: kadadi_vPosted on 2007-04-05 at 13:27:24ID: 18860753

search the scanpst.exe on your system and then scan your pst file ,if found the errors then repair that errors by clcik on repair button ...and also cehck any netowrk you have that pc is connected to the msexchange server.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156304



Regards,

V.K.

 

by: kadadi_vPosted on 2007-04-05 at 13:28:30ID: 18860759

and also check thsi :- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822503



Regards,

V.K.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-05 at 15:00:40ID: 18861369

KB822503 is close, except that office was not a custom install and the .PST location was configured by specifing the .pst file by using the Mail icon in Control Panel, and the file is located on the server.

KB156304 is not relevant as stated before, there is no exchange server involved.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-05 at 15:09:52ID: 18861407

This is a small 2 user office.  The impact of the .pst files being located on the server is negligible.  Having them there, and using roaming profiles keeps everything simple and safe.

 

by: rhasePosted on 2007-04-11 at 12:55:45ID: 18892760

I've awarded kadadi_v the points split between his two answers.  Scanpst.exe found errors in the PST, and the KB822503 is so close to the problem.  I changed the mapping because there was a share inside a share which could also cause problems.  The fix seems to be holding, but I'll see.  It pops up ever so often and I can't get it to repeat.  Thanks.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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