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Auto Archive Crash

I am using Microsoft Outlook 98 with Windows 2000 SP2. When Auto Archiving my main .pst file Outlook causes error and the OS shuts Outlook down.
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starl

what's the error message?
I can't find any indications that Autoarchive causes any problems.  Do a Start-Find-Files and search for SCANPST.EXE.  Run that and see if there are any problems with your mailbox.  Be sure to back up your mailbox before running this since it could crash and burn and leave your mailbox unusable.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q181/0/14.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=back%20up%20mailbox&rnk=1&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=OUT98
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ASKER

Program Error window states:
"OUTLOOK.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program.

An error log is being created."

Upon restarting Outlook 98 and attemping to create a new mail message, the progam states "insufficient memory or disk space. Word can not display the requested font." I have Mail Format in Outlook 98 to be sent as Microsoft Word.


By the way - Where is this error log that Windows 2000 always mentions and how is it viewed?

This is also happen when Word 97 is opened
well, this is a can of worms...
first, reboot your pc then start outlook. Change your mail format so that you aren't using word as your editor. Hopefully, this will allow you to use outlook while we fix your other problems.

be back w/more.. or slink will :-)
ok, your problem is outlined in this article
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q163/2/55.ASP
but it doesn't solve it. How did you install your OS? over another OS? How was Office 97 and Outlook 98 installed?
slink's right with running a scanpst - let us know if it helps. you may also have a corrupt profile.

to find the error log, you can do a search for *.log for today on your hard drive.
I am not getting notifications regularly.  I had no idea there was any activity on this question.  Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just a bad past couple of days for me?
neither have I been - but I got this for your last comment on time - I think it's catching up.
EE has been having email probs - don't worry slinky - it's not just you :-P
<actually, it's my feeble attempt to take my rightful place once again on the top 15>
Try turning off Dr.Watson so you can get the actual Outlook error message by following these steps:

1.  open up the registry editor
2.  go to \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
3.  double click on the Auto key
4.  change the value data from 1 to 0
5.  exit the registry

(to turn it back on when done just change value back to 1)

Now try starting Outlook and beginning an archive and post the error you get.
>>>By the way - Where is this error log that Windows 2000 always mentions and how is it viewed?

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
This is going to sound silly, but I have some questions first that may lead you to the land of elightenment.

1) How big is your archive pst file? (Max size is 2GB)

2) If under 2GB, have you tried selecting File | Open | Personal Folders and verifing the following.

 - Is Large Tabe support enabled? (Right click on Archive Folders and select Properties.  Select Advanced button.  The reason I ask is that there are additional limitations that this setting changes.)

If the answer is No,

 - Each folder in the archive pst file can hold no more that 16,384 items.
 - Each folder can have no more than 16,384 sub folders


If the answer is Yes,

 - Each folder in the archive pst file can hold no more than 64,583 items.
 - Each folder can have no more than 65,583 sub folders.

Based on the above criteria and the use of the Auto-Archive feature, are you exceeding any of the limitations?

Cheers,
/Neo


neo - and that would cause probs w/starting word??? cause outlook is using word as the editor?
Yes.  More or less you would have to look at it this way.  User starts Outlook w/ Word enabled as email editor.  Outlook will start and cache an instance of Word in the background during startup.  A few minutes later Outlook upchucks and dies.

Since Outlook didn't go through a graceful shutdown, many things will be left hanging in the background and Word just happens to be one of them.  Only recourse is to reboot the machine and hope that bits of the registry pertaining to Word and Outlook didn't get fubared in the process.

If Word is crashing at launch, start it with the "/a" command line switch.  This shuts off a lot of startup stuff that goes on behind the scenes.
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ASKER

Statl - (Can of Worms) I can use Outlook 98 fully upon a rebot with Word as editor as long as I do not run a Auto Archive.

Slink - I have not preformed a Scanpst.exe yet. What do you mean by "backup your mailbox". Do you mean make a copy of .pst (all .pst) files?

travel - current "Auto" key value is REG_SZ:1.

CrazyOne - I do not see the Error log within the events listed.

Neo - Archive File Size = 38.8 MB. No Large Table Support And I do not believe that any folder is over those limits (16384 items or folders) set.


All - is turning off Doctor Watson the answer.

That would be it.  If the scanpst finds a problem and cannot fix it (or corrupts the mailbox) then you have the backups which are flaky but operational.
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Slink9 - I have (2) SCANPST.EXE files on my harddrive. one is in the Microsoft Office\Office Folder (302Kb dated 3/26/1998). The Other is in the Windows Messaging folder (316Kb dated 6/1/1998)

Which one?
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ASKER

Slink9 - I have (2) SCANPST.EXE files on my harddrive. one is in the Microsoft Office\Office Folder (302Kb dated 3/26/1998). The Other is in the Windows Messaging folder (316Kb dated 6/1/1998)

Which one?
I would suggest the version in the Office folder since that should be the one that came with Outlook.  I may get overruled on that one since the other is larger and newer.  I only have one (Outlook2k) and it is quite smaller than either of the sizes you posted.
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ASKER

Scanpst.exe found Minor inconstancies. File was repaired. Still Crashes when Auto Archiving.

Jay
>>>CrazyOne - I do not see the Error log within the events listed.

Look under "Application Log" and or "System Log". If an error has been logged it will be listed as "Error" under the "Type" column with a red icon in the shape of a circle with a white "X" inside the circle. The name of the program will be listed under the "Source" column. When you double click on a listed item another Window will popup with an explanation of sorts to what has happened.
jgarb - can you autoarchive if you turn off the option to use word as your editor?
>>> All - is turning off Doctor Watson the answer.

Turning this off is not the answer to your problem, but will hopefully allow you to clearly define the actual problem.  Change the value from 1 to 0, then restart OL and try to archive.  This should allow you to get an actual error message like:

SOME FILE caused SOME ERROR in SOME MODULE

Again, if you like having DrWatson, just turn it back on after you get the error message by changing value back to 1.
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ASKER

starl - Crash during auto archive with Plain text as mail format.
Does it appear to crash when archiving the same folder?
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ASKER

Neo mvps,
It does seem to be happening at a consistent folder. I deleted the messafes in the folder were the crash was occuring (the information was not needed). Now the program is crashing at a new folder. What if I do not want to delete the information in this "new" folder.

Jay
Here are some things that I would try.

1) Can the folder be exported to a PST file via File | Import and Export | Export to a file | Personal Folders without incident?

2) Try setting up the folder/archive engine up with a new archive.pst file.

3) Run Scanpst.exe against your mailbox and archive.pst file.

4) Verify that you are not low on hard drive space.

5) Would start Outlook 1 time with the /cleanviews command line switch. (No beginning to wonder if there is a corrupted view and Outlook chokes when trying to work with a folder. [Views are hidden messages.  This switch will reset Outlook back to a first run condition in this area.])

jgarb, you have had some time to try the solutions posted. Did any of them solve your problem? If so, please accept that experts comment as the answer. If not, post more information and the experts will be notified and provide more assistance.

PandoraMod
Moderator @ Experts Exchange
e-mail: pandoramod@experts-exchange.com
Pandora
As with the other mods I respect your judgement on solving unanswered questions.  I am sure you will give consideration to my comments and those of the others when handling the unanswered questions.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, slink, but sometimes the question is a little over my head and I would very much appreciate input from the experts involved. Plus, I seem less of a tyrant this way :-)
But this call is for jgarb. I'm hoping he comes back and settles it himself. The bad thing about no longer having the auto systems is that the record no longer reflects if the question was resolved by EE.
btw, slink, if you ever need my intervention in a q, just drop me a line. I'm here not to just clean up qs but to make sure everyone is treated fairly!
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amp072397

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