"Another program accessing your address book" message -- SP3

[Guest]

OK, so I've been using Outlook XP with Windows XP Pro for over a year now. I installed SP3 today, and all of a sudden, I get a message about "A program is trying to access e-mail addresses you have stored in Outlook. Do you want to allow this?" It happens CONSTANTLY! After I've chosen 10 minutes, it will then go away--for 10 minutes. What is this stupid thing, and how do I get rid of it? Uninstalling Office is my next method of madness, short of throwing this thing out the window. Someone please help!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

See http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2002sp3.htm#problems for information
on the utilities likely to be causing this and what you can do about it.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

OK, so I've been using Outlook XP with Windows XP Pro for over a year now.

I installed SP3 today, and all of a sudden, I get a message about "A program
is trying to access e-mail addresses you have stored in Outlook. Do you want
to allow this?" It happens CONSTANTLY! After I've chosen 10 minutes, it will
then go away--for 10 minutes. What is this stupid thing, and how do I get
rid of it? Uninstalling Office is my next method of madness, short of
throwing this thing out the window. Someone please help!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

A Windows update itself would not change the Outlook security behavior.
Perhaps you also installed some new utility in the same time frame? Are you
using Outlook 2002 SP3?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

Sue Mosher or Someone who can help,
I installed critical updates yesterday (Windows 2000) and am having this

same result, everytime I attempt to create a new email in Outlook the
dialogue box saying "a program is trying to access email addresses you have
stored in Outlook..." It seems like it is considering me to be an outisde
program. I went to the link you provided to Aaron but don't understand
since it seems related only to Windows 2003. Please help, I am as
frustrated as he!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

The issue is probably not Word but the Acrobat plug in. See
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2002sp3.htm#problems for instructions on
how to disable just the Outlook portion of that plugin.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

I've noticed a few oddities with Office SP3, this being one of them.

Since Word is the program trying to access the email addresses, I disabled
Word as Outlook's email editor and that stopped the messages from appearing.
This is more of a work-around than a fix. I'm hoping that Microsoft will
address some of these SP3 problems.

 

[Guest]

Yes, Sue, I am using Outlook 2002 SP3. I will look at the site you mentioned to Patty. Word was already disabled as my Outlook editor. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Guest]

I have followed every single option available on this board--disabled Word as my editor, removed ALL COM add-ins, disabled antivirus software, updated everything I own, made all changes for Acrobat according to the slipstick.com instructions, disabled/uninstalled/removed SpamDeputy add-in--and I STILL get this stupid message!! Nothing is working, short of installing the ClickYes program; however, this keeps the monitor from 'going to sleep' after my pre-set time, as it fools the computer timer into thinking that the computer is still active. Can someone give some suggestion as to what to do next? Or is Micro$oft just going to hobble around until someone else figures out what this bug is? HELP ME

----- Aaron wrote: ----

OK, so I've been using Outlook XP with Windows XP Pro for over a year now. I installed SP3 today, and all of a sudden, I get a message about "A program is trying to access e-mail addresses you have stored in Outlook. Do you want to allow this?" It happens CONSTANTLY! After I've chosen 10 minutes, it will then go away--for 10 minutes. What is this stupid thing, and how do I get rid of it? Uninstalling Office is my next method of madness, short of throwing this thing out the window. Someone please help!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No bug is involved. There is definitely some program accessing Outlook.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to know exactly what program that might
be. Did you check the Windows registry for addins registered in
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\? If you find some there
besides VBA, make a registry backup, then change the LoadBehavior from 3 to
2, then restart Outlook.

You might also want to run msconfig and disable any applications that run at
startup to see if one of those might be involved.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

I have followed every single option available on this board--disabled Word

as my editor, removed ALL COM add-ins, disabled antivirus software, updated
everything I own, made all changes for Acrobat according to the
slipstick.com instructions, disabled/uninstalled/removed SpamDeputy
add-in--and I STILL get this stupid message!! Nothing is working, short of
installing the ClickYes program; however, this keeps the monitor from 'going
to sleep' after my pre-set time, as it fools the computer timer into
thinking that the computer is still active. Can someone give some suggestion
as to what to do next? Or is Micro$oft just going to hobble around until
someone else figures out what this bug is? HELP ME!

----- Aaron wrote: -----

OK, so I've been using Outlook XP with Windows XP Pro for over a year

now. I installed SP3 today, and all of a sudden, I get a message about "A
program is trying to access e-mail addresses you have stored in Outlook. Do
you want to allow this?" It happens CONSTANTLY! After I've chosen 10
minutes, it will then go away--for 10 minutes. What is this stupid thing,
and how do I get rid of it? Uninstalling Office is my next method of
madness, short of throwing this thing out the window. Someone please help!

 

[Guest]

OK, I've done all of the suggested actions, and I'm still getting the stupid popup. Why is it I spend $500 on this garbage and I can't even get it to work. Calling Micro$oft "tech support" requires a credit card, a note from my mom, my second cousin's best friend's dog's name, and a fluency in some foreign language that I can't cipher out. This is the biggest piece of garbage I've ever seen in my life. It's a shame I can't get my money back and I can't get anyone to help with this 2-bit software. I've seen better coding from 8 year olds.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

"All the suggested actions" doesn't give us much to go on to be able to
provide assistance. Basically, some program is trying to access Outlook
data, probably the body of messages. The list at
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2002sp3.htm#problems lists applications
known to have this issue and can also give you an idea of the general types
of applications where you might encounter this issue.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

OK, I've done all of the suggested actions, and I'm still getting the

stupid popup. Why is it I spend $500 on this garbage and I can't even get it
to work. Calling Micro$oft "tech support" requires a credit card, a note
from my mom, my second cousin's best friend's dog's name, and a fluency in
some foreign language that I can't cipher out. This is the biggest piece of
garbage I've ever seen in my life. It's a shame I can't get my money back
and I can't get anyone to help with this 2-bit software. I've seen better
coding from 8 year olds.

 

[Guest]

OK--I have removed ALL COM add-ins, checked every program according to the slipstick.com information, uninstalled/removed all antivirus programs, temporarily disabled all programs that start when the computer starts up, updated any and all software programs, shut down everything extraneous except the critical system programs, checked the registry for all possible programs and changed their load behavior from 3 to 2, and I have even gone so far as to shut down Outlook. The result? Even with outlook SHUT DOWN, I still get this stupid popup! There aren't any programs running in the system tray, in the background, or anywhere else on the computer. So what do I do now? Format and reload with Unix so I don't have such ignorant security "fixes"? It's a shame that I've now gotten so dependent on my Office products, or I'd go with anything else. I have a 3.5 Gb pst file, so I really don't have any option but to continue to use Outlook. Could someone please offer insight into this issue? It was working flawlessly until I installed SP3. Who can I submit this bug to--and it is a bug! "Security fix"? I think not.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Something is still accessing Outlook. If it's happening when Outlook appears
to be shut down (and it's probably not -- check Task Manager) and it's that
persistent, you have to start wondering about an actual virus.

If you want to initiate a support incident with Microsoft at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;incidentsubmit, you
will need a .Net Passport, but there should be no charge for filing the
request for help if you have a retail version of Office.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

OK--I have removed ALL COM add-ins, checked every program according to the

slipstick.com information, uninstalled/removed all antivirus programs,
temporarily disabled all programs that start when the computer starts up,
updated any and all software programs, shut down everything extraneous
except the critical system programs, checked the registry for all possible
programs and changed their load behavior from 3 to 2, and I have even gone
so far as to shut down Outlook. The result? Even with outlook SHUT DOWN, I
still get this stupid popup! There aren't any programs running in the system
tray, in the background, or anywhere else on the computer. So what do I do
now? Format and reload with Unix so I don't have such ignorant security
"fixes"? It's a shame that I've now gotten so dependent on my Office
products, or I'd go with anything else. I have a 3.5 Gb pst file, so I
really don't have any option but to continue to use Outlook. Could someone
please offer insight into this issue? It was working flawlessly until I
installed SP3. Who can I submit this bug to--and it is a bug! "Security
fix"? I think not.

 

[Aaron]

Still nothing here? Can anyone help me? This is beyond aggravating now!
HELP!

OK--I have removed ALL COM add-ins, checked every program according to the

slipstick.com information, uninstalled/removed all antivirus programs,
temporarily disabled all programs that start when the computer starts up,
updated any and all software programs, shut down everything extraneous
except the critical system programs, checked the registry for all possible
programs and changed their load behavior from 3 to 2, and I have even gone
so far as to shut down Outlook. The result? Even with outlook SHUT DOWN, I
still get this stupid popup! There aren't any programs running in the system
tray, in the background, or anywhere else on the computer. So what do I do
now? Format and reload with Unix so I don't have such ignorant security
"fixes"? It's a shame that I've now gotten so dependent on my Office
products, or I'd go with anything else. I have a 3.5 Gb pst file, so I
really don't have any option but to continue to use Outlook. Could someone
please offer insight into this issue? It was working flawlessly until I
installed SP3. Who can I submit this bug to--and it is a bug! "Security
fix"? I think not.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

It's most unlikely that you would get that prompt if Outlook is really not
running. Did you check in the Task Manager that Outlook isn't running in the
Processes tab? If you use PDA synch software that might be the problem. So
could any other application you run that uses Outlook data or integrates
with Outlook. It's impossible to say what you might be using and be familiar
with every application out there on the market.

 

[Aaron]

As unlikely as it may seem, the popup DOES show up, even when Outlook has
never been opened. I can do a full reboot and not even open Outlook, and
within 3 minutes, I get the prompt. It never EVER happened until I installed
SP3, and ever since, I've had nothing but problems. Is there any way to
uninstall SP3 without completely uninstalling/reinstalling Office? And, for
the record, I am a very well-versed network admin/computer tech, so I know
that which I speak of. I do not use PDA synch software, and I kill the
Outlook process (which phantoms every time I shut down Outlook) every time I
shut down Outlook. It's no wonder they have to keep coming out with service
packs, what with all the crap that we, the paying end user, have to put up
with. Perhaps SP4 will find a fix for the super-tight Micro$oft security
(oxymoron in itself).

As for the applications in question, I started this computer up with NOTHING
else starting--I edited the msconfig and start menu items to where nothing
but the essential operating system files loaded on startup, and lo and
behold, 3 minutes later, I get a stupid popup that something is trying to
access my address book! Is it a virus? NO. I've checked in every way, shape,
and form possible. Is it a trojan? NO. I've disconnected the network so
there's no activity there, either.

So perhaps the MVPs can get together and come up with another reason why
Outlook is such garbage--other than the obvious Micro$oft nametag. So, let's
see just how MVP you guys really are. Save this software before I go
ballistic and begin threatening Bill Gates.

--Aaron

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote]

slipstick.com information, uninstalled/removed all antivirus programs,
temporarily disabled all programs that start when the computer starts
up, updated any and all software programs, shut down everything
extraneous except the critical system programs, checked the registry
for all possible programs and changed their load behavior from 3 to 2,
and I have even gone so far as to shut down Outlook. The result? Even
with outlook SHUT DOWN, I still get this stupid popup! There aren't any
programs running in the system tray, in the background, or anywhere
else on the computer. So what do I do now? Format and reload with Unix
so I don't have such ignorant security "fixes"? It's a shame that I've
now gotten so dependent on my Office products, or I'd go with anything
else. I have a 3.5 Gb pst file, so I really don't have any option but
to continue to use Outlook. Could someone please offer insight into
this issue? It was working flawlessly until I installed SP3. Who can I
submit this bug to--and it is a bug! "Security fix"? I think not.

First of all you can't possibly have a 3.5GB PST file as PST files were
limited to 2GB until Outlook 2003 (which doesn't have an SP3 yet) shipped.

Secondly, I don't know what's going on with your machine but as a man
of science I can assure you that if no programs were running that you wouldn't
get a popup telling you that something is trying to access your address
book. Obviously whatever is trying to access your address book is running;
as is whatever is popping up the message warning you of that access. Perhaps
you could open Task Manager when this message appears and list the processes
that are running on the process tab for us?

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

We're all volunteers here, devoting our time to trying to help people, so
your tone isn't appreciated. We don't work for MS and certainly don't write
their code for them.

When you get the popup have you checked in the Task Manager to see if an
Outlook process is listed there, even if you haven't started Outlook
yourself? Have you run a good virus scanner with the latest signatures to
make sure you aren't infected? When the popup comes up what else is running
in the Task Manager either in Applications or Processes? Do you have any
Windows Scheduler software running that might be causing it?

If your Outlook is hanging when you exit it then things aren't normal. I run
Outlook 2002 SP3 here among other versions of Outlook along with a lot of
addins and only badly written addins cause Outlook to hang on exit. If
nothing is listed in COM Add-Ins and in the AddIn Manager in Outlook, do a
little sleuthing work in the registry. Navigate to
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins and see what's there. If you
aren't running addins then nothing but VBA should be listed.

If you have any AV software or fax software see if disabling any
Outlook/Exchange integration makes a difference.

In case something is corrupted, try running the Detect and Repair utility
from the Outlook Help menu.

Last, check in the Event Viewer and see if you have any listings for errors
or warnings or crashes for Outlook.

 

[Aaron]

My apologies for the arrogant tone--the frustration factor here is getting
the worst of me.

Now, as I dig around in the Add-in manager and COM add-ins, I find that in
the COM add-ins, I have only one--my Spam Deputy, which I use to report spam
to Spam Cop. It isn't a well-written program, but I never had problems with
it before SP3. I uninstalled it previously, removed it from the COM add-ins,
and deleted its key from the registry in the same area you detailed. There
are a total of 3 keys in this area: the VBA, the PDFM.Outlook, and the Spam
Deputy. I disabled/removed the PDF maker from the COM add-ins, but the key
remains (I did change the load behavior from 3 to 2 as directed previously).
Spam Deputy was uninstalled and all remnants of it were removed from the
registry in this area, as well as from the COM add-ins.

There is one other thing that I was curious about. In the add-ins manager,
there are two items; one is Exchange Extension Property pages and the other
is Redemption Helper Outlook Extension. Is this "normal", or has something
gotten gimped up there?

I have checked in the task manager, and any extraneous processes that are
running when the computer is in strip-down mode can't be stopped using "end
process" because they're system-essential, but there are only about 15 or so
processes running at that point. I won't list them, as they're all typical
processes. The antivirus software is not started, and I have scanned the
entire computer using the latest signatures of NAV 2004 without finding
anything. I don't know of anything running in windows scheduler, so that
leaves that out, as well. Last bue not least, I checked the event viewer,
and there were no Outlook/Office errors found within the past 2-3 weeks, so
that kinda leaves that out, too.

I will try the detect/repair utility and see if it works, but I don't hold
much hope at this point. I'm running out of options! And, for the record, my
PST file wasn't 3.5 Gb. The folder that contains the PST files has an
archived PST and the active PST--combined to make a 3.5 Gb file size.

I'll keep digging, but maybe the information I have provided here will help?