Outlook Data Files Can't Access Advanced Tab

Hi Basem,

Thanks for raising a new question specific to this problem. I don't presently have an IMAP connection established on my own computer, however, I will create one temporarily so that I can go through the steps that I'll need you to test while providing screenshots and instructions of what I'd suggest you test. Once I've done that, I'll enter another comment with more details and suggestions for you soon.

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

Thank you for adjusting the topics. I will wait to hear from you.

Hi Andrew,

Here are the screen captures that you requested.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Andrew,
I got an error message after I clicked on settings of the Outlook Data Files.

Hi Basem,

Thanks for those screenshots - quite revealing and helpful as to what might be going on. I was expecting you to report an error on the next step, not that one, so getting the error you did at that point indicates a probable corruption with your .ost file and/or a possible Outlook profile corruption. This needs to be fixed or the problem will just get worse over time.

If you were running a POP configuration, the repair would be quite easy, but as you are configured for IMAP, Microsoft does not provide a repair tool like scanpst that they include to repair PST files. Though there are third-party tools available to try and repair this error, they're not cheap so we're going to have to try and make the repair manually.

Question: Before we go ahead with the needed steps, which can be fairly detailed, I'd like to know if you intend to follow my previous advice and downgrade your Office Suite from 64bit to 32bit, or if you have already done that? I'm happy to help step you through the downgrade if needed.

The reason I ask that is because if you decide to downgrade your suite first, doing the repair (which may be a take quite a few steps) doing the downgrade first could avoid having to do a lot of work unecessarily.

Let me know and I'll give you instructions based on your decision.

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

I trust you with my life my friend. You are the expert that I hold high regards to. That is fine. I will wait for your instructions. Just one question, will everything run the same in Outlook and I won't lose any emails? Nothing will be compromised.


Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

Hi Basem,

I appreciate and am flattered by your confidence in my abilities, but it's only with certain things. In this case, Outlook and the Microsoft Office suite, fortunately, happens to be amongst those established abilities as I've been working with them for decades now :)

will everything run the same in Outlook and I won't lose any emails? Nothing will be compromised. 

Absolutely. Everything will operate the same way it does now. Nothing will change from a user perspective and you will not lose anything apart from maybe a few customisations with regards to how you prefer Outlook to look that may need to be reconfigured to your liking again. Other than that, nothing will be lost or compromised.

Allow me some time to prepare some detailed instructions for you to follow. I'll try to be as thorough as possible to lessen the chances of things going wrong. Will post again soon.

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

I will wait for your instructions.

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

BTW, I should be around for a few hours yet, so if you're doing the process now, I should be able to reply fairly quickly to any additional questions you might have and/or explain what to do in the unlikely event that you strike any errors.

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

Please allow me sometime to work on this and I will get back to you.

Thank you Andrew,

Basem Khawaja

No worries Basem, feel free to take your time. 😊

Basem: What is the size of your old ost file.

Start button
type <  cmd   > and hit enter to get to a command prompt
type <   dir c:\*.ost  /s  > and hit enter to search for the executable. (It might run for a minute or two)

Also, had your IMAP connection been rock solid for the last few days?  What is the current value of your server timeout?

Andrew, I applaud you for your detailed response.  I have a few minor things to add.

If the Ost file is corrupt, can't he just close outlook, then delete the ost and reopen outlook? If the OST is small it should not take too long to rebuild.  

At that point he could try to revert the server timeout to 30 seconds.  If the connection remains rock solid we will have proven that the problem was a corrupt OST.  Conversly we would know that outlook profile and 64/32 bit were not the causes.

Plus it is a lot simpler.
rberke (aka UncleBob)

I just remembered some unlikely downsides of deleting the .OST file, but these are theoretically possible

 The .ost is NOT a mirror image of the emails that are on the ATT IMAP server.

This is because the .OST file may contain an archive of emails that have been deleted from the ATT site. So deleting it and rebuilding it might cause the loss of those very old emails.

That downside is unlikely to occur, but if you are worried, you can simply repair the OST file.
1. close outlook
2. locate your .ost file as follws
click Start
type cmd
type dir c:\*.ost  /s

3  Locate the scanpst utility:
Click start
type  cmd   then type enter
type   dir c:\scanpst /s
4  repair the file
click start
type cmd
using double quotes type  "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\scanpst.exe"
The repair tool will open. Click on "Browse" and navigate to your OST file you found in step 2

I looked up the 80040605 error code and found a lot of unrelated junk. But one site specifically said the problem could be fixed by running scanpst.  So try that first. (I can vouch for ScanPst and have used it dozens of times.)

Another site suggested
click start
type cmd    then open it as adminstrator
type  FIXMAPI   and enter.  

The site said there will be no response, but the problem will be fixed.
I cannot vouch for it, but it is worth a try.

Andrew, All good points,  but we still do not know really know the OST size.

He previously reported folder size, not file size, and it seemed suspiciously low to me. It only takes two minutes to find the actual file, so I hope  Basem, will humor me and report the true file size.

ScanPST was frequently needed in conjunction with x1.com search.  Its version 6 was very sensitive to corrupted PST files, which would cause cpu to be stuck at 100% for hours a time. ScanPst was frequently used to fix the problems.
Like I say, I can vouch for it.

i COMPLETELY AGREE that  an .ost should be just a mirror, and have never believed in using it otherwise.  But theoretially it might be used differently by Basem so I thought I should point it out to him.

I also like to do one thing at a time when trouble shooting. Simply rebuilding the .ost file would be one thing.  Whereas building new profile, and switching from 64 bit to 32 bit and rebuilding the .ost is 3 things.  If he ends up with a stable system we will never know which change was responsible.

But, I am on record in agreeing that a new profile might be helpful when corruption occurs.  The only downside is the amount of work Basem must do, and that some old customization will be lost. (font sizes, field chooser settings, etc).


My record on 64 vs 32 is more subtle.  I personally always use 32 bit myself because about 2% of my home grown programs don't work properly under 62 bit, and I am too lazy to fix them. And, if I ever install Office for a customer, I use 32 bit mainly because I might want to give my customers some of those programs.

Nonetheless, I am agnostic about changing Basem from 64 bit to 32 bit.

64 bit off was introduced in 2010 and is slowly coming of age. In 2019 Microsoft changed it to be the installation default for office 365.  And for the 90% of outlook users who do not use addins or VBA I think 64 bit is perfectly fine. And most of the folks who do use addins can also use 64 bit. In the last 12 years many of important addins have been upgraded to run on both platforms. So I don't agree with switching from 64 to 32 or vica versa unless there is a specific reason.

Finally, long ago I always posted links to other sites.  Then about 6 or 7 years ago EE changed their policies. They were discouraging the practice of pointing to other sites supposedly for legal reasons.  They asked me specifically (and all other experts in general posts) to try to only reference solutions that were on EE.  I was annoyed at the time, but have been trying to follow the policy anyhow.  Has that policy changed? I would love to return to pointing to other sites if I am allowed.  I may bring this up in the moderators forum when I have a chance.

rberke (aka unclebob)






 

So I here is the link about the error.
https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/how-to-fix-an-unknown-error-has-occurred-0x80040600-in-ms-outlook/

Andrew,

*** Urgent ***
I did all the steps as outlined and I was unable to open Outlook after installation of the 32 bit.exe. I got this error message. Please help me fix this.

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

I finished up to the following step. That's when I got this error when I clicked on the Outlook icon from recently added programs.

• Once you see the above window, click the Close button, then click your Windows Start button and click on the Outlook icon to fire it up. You will also need to recreate any shortcuts you may have made to opening Outlook (and the other Office 365 apps) that you may have had before, such as on your Desktop, Taskbar etc.

Andrew,

Thank God you are here. Please help me . I want to fix this problem so that I can get some sleep.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

You are an angel!
I restored the ost files from the recycle bin. Why did i get the error?

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Hi Basem,

You are an angel!

Haha.. Thank you, but you're too kind :)

I restored the ost files from the recycle bin. Why did i get the error?

Good stuff. It's why I made a point to send it to recycle bin rather than just permanently deleting it. Unkown why you got the error. As I said, it shouldn't have happened and Outlook should have simply recreated a new OST file on it's own. I'll do some research on that as it could indicate another problem existing.

I'd now like to do some further testing, but as you mentioned you wanted to go to bed, do that for now and I'll prepare some more troubleshooting instructions for you a little later that will be waiting for you once you've had some rest. How's that sound?

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

Thank you for your understanding mate. I will check tomorrow on what pearls of wisdom that you will share with me so I can learn from you. Watch out one day the pupil "me" might outsmart the teacher "you".

Thank you Andrew,

Basem Khawaja

No worries Basem, I should have something prepared for you in the next few hours.

As to this comment...

Watch out one day the pupil "me" might outsmart the teacher "you".

Nothing would make me happier than for that to happen. :)

I enjoy working with askers that want and like to learn and you're a person that is naturally curious and clearly does want to learn. I congratulate you for having that type of attitude and drive.

Have a peaceful rest.

Best, Andrew

Andrew:

We can simply agree to disagree about 32 bit vs 64 bit for the 90% of folks that don't use addins.

• But just to be clear I did not encourage Basem to use 64 bit. I just don't think it matters for him.
• And I still strongly encourage using 32 bit for anyone doing a brand new installation on a clean machine.  
• And I strongly discourage most customers from switching from 32 bit to 64 bit.  For 99% of customers that is pointless.
• And from 2010 to 2018  I was a true believer in 32 bit and previously encouraged almost anyone to switch from 64 bit to 32 bit without any reservations.

But after Microsoft defaulted to 64 in 2019  I changed and I am now agnostic about switching MS Office from 64 bit to 32 when the customer has been using 64 bit for long while.   I don't think it is important for the 90% folks.  

The definition of agnostic is that I await evidence that switching to 32 will help the non-addin folks. Andrew, can you convince me by giving a detailed example from your experience where 64 bit hurt one of those 90% folks? If you cannot think of such an example, Basem's question was the perfect opportunity to convert me.  Unfortunately for me, Basem is already well on his way to a complete rebuild and downgrade, so we are too late to do the following

If Basem only had done the following things, I might have become a true believer in 32 bit forever.  

Basem: To be clear I was not recommending that you to did those 2 things -- naturally it was entirely up to you. But if you had, I would  have been interested in the results.
 
1.  Uninstall Office and reinstall as 32 bit.
2.  Run the procedure that resulted in the 80040605  error.  If the error is gone I will be quite surprised.  But it will be incontrovertible evidence that 64 bit will not work..

Rberke (aka UncleBob)

P.S.  A few more points for Basem,

1. if you ever buy a new Windows computer it is almost certainly going to have 64 bit Windows 10. And it is likely to be preloaded with a 64 bit version of MS Office.  So do not lose Andrew's  great instructions  You might need to use portions of them.

2. If it is not too late, I am still hoping to se the file size of you old .ost. 

Rberke, 
Can you tell me how to find out that information? Ost file size that is. I honestly did not feel comfortable doing so the 2 things you asked for without having to follow the easy-to-use format that Andrew uses to teach and shows his askers.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja 

Basem,

Forgot one thing. Can you also confirm the Version and Build of Windows 10 that you are currently on? To find out, press your Windows Key and type System Information and then press your Enter key.

What does it say here?

Andrew,

I was quiet disappointed to get an error after clicking on the settings of the Data File. Here it is. Also, for whatever reason I never got the UAC when I was installing the 32-bit Office this morning nor now when I was doing what you asked me for to check on the settings. I am not sure why is that happening? Also, my Windows Build and Version are different than yours. Is that incorrect?

Thank you Andrew,
Basem Khawaja

Please do not worry about feeling uncomfortable. I am sorry I did not give more information earlier, but  you are now so far along in your work, that it is no longer appropriate to try my test.

But I still hope to see the size of .OST file.  Try looking in the recycle bin.  You might see something that looks like this.  If so, grab a screen shot and post it.

If the .ost is not in the recycle bin, try the following procedure. Start by clicking the Windows key on your keyboard. (It is similar to the start clicking on the windows start button.)
 

 
A screen will appear that  looks like this.
 

 
Or maybe it will have a search box like this.
 

 
 
In either case immediately start typing CMD then strike the Enter Key on your keyboard.  You should get a screen that looks like this.
 
               
 
Type     dir   c:\*.ost  /s       and strike the enter key on your keyboard.  You should get a screen that looks like this.
 
 

 
Take a screen shot and post it back to us.  
 

I will continue to monitor this question, but expect that further troubleshooting will come from Andrew.  He is far better at formatting responses with the detailed level you prefer.

Good luck.


 

rberke,

The .ost file was not in the recycle bin because I had to restore it per Andrew's advice.

The size is as follows of the .ost file based on the cmd prompt command you provided me. What does the size have to do with the error or not being able to click on the advanced tab in my previous question when you had asked me initially to do so?

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

File size is often larger than the folders it contains, and sometimes sometimes dramatically larger.  If that dramatic difference had occurred, I might have suggested other options, but I am happy to see that was not the case.  Your .ost file size is 650,616,000 bytes which is only slightly larger that the previously reported folder size of 569,499,000 bytes.  

Also, Andrew's procedure rebuilds the .ost by downloading the entire thing over the internet.  Often this is the most time consuming step in rebuilding an Outlook profile as the time is directly proportional to the size of the file size.  For instance, my biggest.ost is 6,730,000,000 bytes so it takes many hours to rebuild.   Your file size is 1 tenth the size, so it is not a worry.

Of course, I was hoping that your .... New.ost would have a slightly different name (something like .... May21.ost). But, it turns out that Andrew's highly detailed procedure did not instruct you to give your new .ost a different name.  This makes it impossible to know if the new.ost with 650,616,000 bytes is before rebuilding or after rebuilding. Do you happen to know?  In either case, this does not matter to you, but it is the kind of detail that I like to know.  (I can be overly picky sometimes. ),

So, thanks for spending the time to humor me.  I will leave Andrew the pleasure of continuing to pursue the 0x80040605.  It is most perplexing,  It must be very frustrating  but I suspect you might once again need to call ATT and/or Microsoft.

rberke

You did not answer my question?
 What does the size have to do with the error or not being able to click on the advanced tab in my previous question when you had asked me initially to do so?

Also, I do not understand How I humored you? "So, thanks for spending the time to humor me." 

Andrew,

The UAC was set to default. I am not sure why it was not being triggered but when I clicked ok then it came up so I guess I had to wake the UAC up.
Thank you for your kind words about being observant.

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

@rberke

But, it turns out that Andrew's highly detailed procedure did not instruct you to give your new .ost a different name.  This makes it impossible to know if the new.ost with 650,616,000 bytes is before rebuilding or after rebuilding. Do you happen to know? 

There was no rename of the ost because there was no rebuild of the OST file done.

If you read the previous comments, you'll see that Outlook refused to open for the OP because it could not locate an OST file and returned an error instead. It also did not create a new OST file after Office was downgraded to 32-bit as it should have done, despite it automatically creating a new OST for me just fine when I tested the entire process I described to the OP in one of my Windows 10 VMs here with a 64-bit copy of Office that I downgraded to 32-bit and made notations and screenshots during the process.

At the time, Basem advised he was tired and wanted to get some sleep so he needed a fast resolution to Outlook refusing to open after he downgraded Office to 32-bit. The quickest resolution was to simply restore the deleted OST file from the recycle bin that I'd told him to delete it to so that Outlook could open and operate again. That worked and he was then able to go and get some needed rest.

Like Basem, and from another IT professional's perspective, I also fail to see the point in your insisting on knowing the size of the ost file Bob? What did you expect that to reveal to you?

Unless it was going to be over 40 or 50 gigabytes in size, what difference would the ost file's size make when related to the problem being troubleshot?

The folder sizes which you were already aware of indicated beyond a shadow of a doubt that Basem's ost file is relatively small (minuscule compared to the norm) so I'm curious why it was so important for you to know that information? How would that information have helped with the troubleshooting process for example? What have you learned now that you know its size and how does knowing its precise size help with this particular problem?

I only ask because perhaps I'm wondering if I'm missing something in my own knowledge that you may know and can share with me. I'm always willing and keen to learn from my peers because none of us can claim to know everything. :)

Cheers, Andrew 

Andrew,

I could not do the scanpst. Please see the screen capture. BTW, I copied and pasted the command.
Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

I was doing some researching on why no results!! I found out that Office 16 was located in Program Files!!!

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

I tried to open Outlook till I hear back from you and I clicked on the taskbar shortcut and it did not open and the grey icon returned( I never missed it when it was not in the taskbar:(. I am not sure what has happened? Everything was fine till now.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

I hope everything went well with the doctor's visit. Sorry I forgot to include the screen capture of the scanpst file in program files. Here it is.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Thanks Basem. Strange that uninstalling the Office 64-bit suite didn't remove all of those files when it uninstalled because I would have thought it should have.

Though there's no harm in leaving them there, I'll do some tests in my VM (Virtual Machine) by reinstalling Office 64-bit to it and then removing it again and replacing it with 32-bit per my instructions to see what I end up with. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a copy of the modified VM to double check, but I'm curious now so will definitely dig into this when I have a spare hour or so.

Best, Andrew

Andrew,

I am not losing my mind, I could have sworn that I installed the 32-bit version. What's on my PC is the 64-bit.

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

Andrew,
Do you think I should uninstall office using Revo Uninstaller. Then Re-install it?

What do you think. Also went to the installation file in my Downloads folder I wanted to see if it is the 32 bit I was not able to do so. However when I wanted to check and see if it is compatible with my PC I only saw Windows 8 in the scroll down options. I am not sure if that means anything.

Thank you,
Basem Khawaja

Andrew,
"Once it's uninstalled, follow the reinstallation instructions as detailed in my article under the heading: Step 2 - Reinstall Office 365 in the version that you prefer."


I am sorry but I am not sure I follow what you wrote here. I thought the whole purpose is download the 32 bit version. That was the version that you wanted me to install. I don't have much of a preference since you said this will be a lot less problematic for Outlook. Does that make sense?

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja

Andrew,

Hallelujah!! Thank God it finally worked. I do have a question though. Why is the DELETED email folder showing 6 emails inside the folder when infact prior to everything that I had done it was empty. Also, I was told I can't remember by who on EE that IMAP uses TRASH not DELETED folder as with POP. Also, The other folder that was added as NEW is SYNC Folder. Why did that not appear previously?

Thank you,

Basem Khawaja