global address list doesnt work

I have a global address list. When i click on address book go to tools-->options--> when sending email check email addresses in the following order.
The options are
1) start with global address list
2) start with contact folders
3) custom

when opening the address book, show the following list first - choose automatically is selected

The problem is that "start with global address list" doesn't work. I have to make it work. is there anything i can do via power shell that can solve this. Currently the users have custom and global address list is the first with suggested contacts in second and the rest follow. this works. We using exchange 2010 with outlook 2010. What can i do at server level to fix this issue. We dont want to goto individual users. approx 2000 users