Unable to update/change/delete server side rules on Exchange 2003 for a single user.

I ran across this issue a couple times.  What I did is killed all the rules on my outlook client then logged into OWA and create the rule there.  When you create a rule there it is creating the rule right on the server(assuming its a server side rule)

The problem is, I can't kill the rules on the client or server.  It's like an endless loop. Doesn't matter what machine, which tells me its getting all the rules from the server in the first place.  If I log her on to a virgin machine, and open outlook, the same screwed up client and server side rules are right there.  So the problem is how to blow out the rules on the server directly.

ummm looks liek simple .. access teh rules at your server and delete all her's !!!!


i dunno if i am way far .. but it looks simple to me...
waiting for your reply

Way off.. Where on the server do I 'access rules'.

You log into OWA then there is a rules ribbon on the bottom left.
You click this and thne the rules will show up there.  Delete them here and they will not show up on the client machine anymore.  The outlook client looks here for the rules (if they are server based)

If you read my orginal request, I already attempted that and no luck.

>Using OWA to access and delete rules (denied)

have you checked the link ?

have you accessed using administrative account ?
tried to delete client side rules ?

waiting for your reply

The free OutlookSpy application did the trick (Thanks Smartman), I had already located that link before, but Since there is no real documentation on how to do this, I wasn't able to repair it.  

After you resent the same page I had located before, I figured it had to be solvable with that app, so I just sat down and figured out how it worked and was able to get it repaired sans directions.  So in the interest of our IT community, I will create those directions now.

If you have an exchange users who has rules are 'stuck' server side, follow these directions to fully delete the rules.

1) Download the free OutlookSpy application here -> http://www.dimastr.com/outspy/

2) Install outlook spy on the user in questions desktop.

NOTE: I recommend making sure you have a backup of the users inbox before proceeding.  These steps will remove all rules permanently from the users account.  You will need to manually recreate each rule when complete.

3) When the install of OutlookSpy is complete, open Outlook.

4) You will see a new outlookspy tool bar at the top.

5) Make sure INBOX is highlighted (this is because Rules are actually hidden messages residing in the inbox)

6) Click on the IMAPIFolder button in the OutlookSpy toolbar.

7) Click the associated contents tab

8) Next, on the left side (under 'Set Columns button') you will see a list of rules.  Each rule is considered a Row.

NOTE: You should see some of the rules listed by their their true label name, while others are listed as IPM.RULE.MESSAGE.  What is interesting is after you delete just one RULE, all the true rules will rename themselves 'IPM.RULE.MESSAGE' so you can easily highlight and delete each one.

9) Click on each IPM.RULE.MESSAGE and use the button above to DELETE the entry. Some rules might be listed by the true named label <viagraad@spammer.org> instead of the IPM.RULE.MESSAGE, but only until you delete your first one, then they all change to the IPM.RULE.MESSAGE label.  After you are finished you shouldn't have any IPM.RULE.MESSAGE entries remaining.

When complete all that should remain are the following entry types:  Outlook Rules Organizer, Junk E-mail rule, Outlook Message Manager (Outlook), Messages, IPM.Configuration.RssRule (if running Outlook 2007.)  You may need to also delete Junk E-mail rule, but only as a las resort.

10) Finally, close outlook completely.

11) Re-launch outlook using the /cleanserverrules switch.  From a dos shell lanuch C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe /cleanserverrules.

Then inspect the Rules and Alerts menu from Tools and all rules should be gone! You will need to add/remove programs and remove outlookspy from the users computer when complete. Otherwise they might accidently use it and screw up their exchange account, so make sure you remove or at least hide the toolbar when complete.

Additional OutlookSpy help here ->

http://www.dimastr.com/outspy/howto.htm

I hope this helps, it sure did the trick for me!!

glad it helped .. thanks for the useful documentation .. although i think it is sorta obvious for an IT administrator working with exchange ... ummm .. dunoo .. but i feel i have not got the justifying rate at this topic ..

thanks for the rate anyways :)

Thanks for pointing the link out again.  

I just think including some actually documentation to resolve the problem, and not directing someone towards a link offsite ,would get you the full rate, but since I still had to create my own true resolution, I have reduced the rate.  

I could point peole towards tools all day, explaining how to use the tool to solve the problem is the hard part.   Thanks again Smart Man!

I am having this same problem and I'm using Outlook 2007 with Exchange Server 2003.  I would like to thanks Mountain Tech Guy for providing us with the detailed step-by-step instructions for fixing this.  This SAVED my day!!  

There is one thing I would like to add.  If you want to view the name of the rule that you are deleting, you can do this by selecting the IPM.Rule.Message (rule) on the left-hand side under the "SetColumns" section then going to the right-hand side of the explorer window and scroll down in the "Property Tag" column until you find the tag called "PR_RuleMsgName."   To the right of that under the "Value" column you should see the name of your rule.  At this point, you can choose which rules to delete and which rules to keep.

Again, many thanks to all who helped contribute to this solution.  :)