Outlook XP Cal - Time & recurring appt dilemma

[Guest]

Re-entered. Other try produced no result, and I got the quality feedback
email.

Old laptop screen dead. Installed Office XP on new laptop (Vista)-- version
shows in Calendar, Help-About as Outlook 2002 (10.6822.6830)SP3. I moved the
old outlook.pst to the new Vista computer’s correct location. Calendar
opened and all looked to be working well at first, but...

1. Many items were one hour earlier in the new Outlook Having thought about
it, now I think they were all recurring items. I searched for all that were
wrong (lots) and reset them to the correct time.

2. But now the real problem: Trying to do most things with any recurring
item produces: "Can't open this item. The object is not valid." I tried to
open them—they won’t. I can delete them, but only by selecting it and hit
Del. Rt click produces nothing. When I recreate one, ohmigosh, any newly
created recurring item acts the same way. You can create any new recurring
item, but they have this the same quirk. You cannot move it—delivers you a
message: “The item may not have been deleted correctly. If someone sent you
the item, that person’s copy of the item may not be updated. The object is
not valid.â€

Hey, is that a clue in that statement? If you physically move outlook.pst
to a new Outlook installation, does it consider that to be another person’s
copy which cannot be updated (and besides, why would Outlook have that
restriction anyway?). But further, even if that were true, why can I not
create valid new recurring appointments?

I have seen some posts in other forums about the ““The item may not have
been deleted correctly…†message. All seem to related in some way to a time
problem (as I had as well. I never saw a resolution though. I do still have
the original pst available from the unusable laptop.

This is an emergency of high order (well to me anyway). I have tons of
recurring appts and use them often. The reminders on them do still operate,
BTW. Please help.

I'll be happy to provide what ever other info you need. I'm desperate. I did
do an overall text web search for the "Can't open this item...". phrase (no
number is included in the error response), to no avail. Really need help
here. My Outlook calendar is my life, and the old machine, on which calendar
worked fine, is unusable as a laptop (screen dead).

 

[Brian Tillman]

Re-entered. Other try produced no result, and I got the quality
feedback email.

Old laptop screen dead. Installed Office XP on new laptop (Vista)--
version shows in Calendar, Help-About as Outlook 2002
(10.6822.6830)SP3. I moved the old outlook.pst to the new Vista
computer’s correct location. Calendar opened and all looked to be
working well at first, but...

It is wrong to plop a PST in the default folder for PSTs and expect Outlook
to use it properly. First, the folder is actually immaterial. Second, if
you overwrite an existing PST you likely will corrupt the existing mail
profile. Third, in your case, the OL 2002 PST will have the same size limit
it had before. You're better off creating a Unicode PST and moving your
data from the old PST to the new one.

1. Many items were one hour earlier in the new Outlook Having thought
about it, now I think they were all recurring items. I searched for
all that were wrong (lots) and reset them to the correct time.

Mismatch in the timezone informaton between the two machines, either in the
Windows clock or in Outlook's calendar.

2. But now the real problem: Trying to do most things with any
recurring item produces: "Can't open this item. The object is not
valid." I tried to open them—they won’t. I can delete them, but
only by selecting it and hit Del. Rt click produces nothing. When I
recreate one, ohmigosh, any newly created recurring item acts the
same way. You can create any new recurring item, but they have this
the same quirk. You cannot move it—delivers you a message: “The item
may not have been deleted correctly. If someone sent you the item,
that person’s copy of the item may not be updated. The object is not
valid.â€

Hey, is that a clue in that statement?

Could be. If I were in your shoes, I'd start with a new mail profile and
new PST, then copy the data in the folders of the old PST to the new PST.
The exact method has been posted in these newsgroups several times and
Google Groups can find it for you.

 

[Guest]

Brian, Thank you. I will digest that and try to implement. Have to do a
little more research on exactly what you mean, but I think I can figure it
out.

I don't use Outlook mail--only the calendar, and very infrequently the task
list (none in it now). I'm not sure where "the folders" you mention are. I
start Outlook and the calendar shows. Folders in the pst? I'll have to go
to work disecting this.

By Unicode, did you mean Export to some type of file then re-import into the
new system? Or copy what to where (obviously not the pst; that's what I did).

I REALLY appreciate your response; you've given me a path.

 

[Guest]

Here is some further info. I put back the original extend.dat and
outlook.pst that were there when Office XP was first installed on this
machine, i.e., about a clean as could be. Everything empty. Even with this
pristine pst, when I create a new recurring appt--the ONLY thing in the
pst--it is an invalid object, behaving just like all the others.

I believe anything I import, open, or create will have this situation. It
appears the problem is somewhere deep inside the Outlook files themselves,
not in the data files.

Is there a way to remove ONLY Outlook form the installed Office XP (=2002),
and reinstall ONLY Outlook? I have got probably 40 hours of customizations
reaccomplished to Word and Excel. It would kill me to lose all that work.

 

[Guest]

One last tidbit before bed...Detect and Repair off the Help menu ran but did
not fix the problem.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

if you only use the calendar - try vista's calendar. It has many of the same
features of Outlook 2007's calendar with a much smaller footprint.

The bad news is there is no really easy way to convert from any version
except Outlook 2007, that I have found yet. Vista's calendar only imports
ics files and only 2007 can export an entire calendar to 1 ics. Importing
single ics files is almost as slow as making new appointments. I'm still
looking for add-ins that will make it easier and that is foolproof - I
haven't found one that likes all of my appointments and meetings.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/convertics.htm

FWIW, while Outlook 2002 is said by Microsoft as being "supported" on vista,
that support ends where problems begin. We know there are problems with
mail... no idea how many there are with other functions.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Here is some further info. I put back the original extend.dat and
outlook.pst that were there when Office XP was first installed on this
machine, i.e., about a clean as could be. Everything empty. Even
with this pristine pst, when I create a new recurring appt--the ONLY
thing in the pst--it is an invalid object, behaving just like all the
others.

Moving PSTs around is fraught with trouble if those PSTs are part of a mail
profile. Make sure you update the mail profile with the Mail applet in
Control Panel if you want to adjust the PST locations.

I believe anything I import, open, or create will have this
situation. It appears the problem is somewhere deep inside the
Outlook files themselves, not in the data files.

Is there a way to remove ONLY Outlook form the installed Office XP
(=2002), and reinstall ONLY Outlook? I have got probably 40 hours of
customizations reaccomplished to Word and Excel. It would kill me to
lose all that work.

Yes. The Office setup should allow you to do that. It should list all the
Office apps installed and allow you to remove individual apps.

 

[Guest]

OK. I think the "remove calendar from and reinstall it to" the new, 2nd
computer is my next path. So that I do it right this time, what is the
=best= method to get the calendar entries in the old installation on the 1st
computer--including recurring ones-- transferred to the new Outlook calendar
on the new, 2nd computer? (Not physically--I've got network, etc, but I mean
procedurally). I've read before in this thread and all over the web--it
seems there are many ways to do it, but I don't get a feel for the "most
certain to work" procedure. And I certainly know now not to just move the
pst file over.

Oh, for clarity and responding to other responses here...I don't use the
Outlook mail. I have no mail profiles in Outlook and don't intend to have.
Calendar/Task use only in Outlook.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Oh, for clarity and responding to other responses here...I don't use
the Outlook mail. I have no mail profiles in Outlook and don't intend
to have. Calendar/Task use only in Outlook.

I'm going to comment on this first. If you're using Outlook AT ALL, then
you DO have a mail profile. Outlook simply will not operate without one. A
mail profile and a mail account are not the same thing.

OK. I think the "remove calendar from and reinstall it to" the new,
2nd computer is my next path. So that I do it right this time, what
is the =best= method to get the calendar entries in the old
installation on the 1st computer--including recurring ones--
transferred to the new Outlook calendar on the new, 2nd computer?
(Not physically--I've got network, etc, but I mean procedurally).
I've read before in this thread and all over the web--it seems there
are many ways to do it, but I don't get a feel for the "most certain
to work" procedure. And I certainly know now not to just move the
pst file over.

You have a couple choices. The easier choice would be to just copy the
existing PST to the new PC and configure your mail profile to use it.
Simple, elegant, and if done correctly, gives identical data on the second
PC with all of its the data exactly as it was originally. A second choice
is to create a new PST and copy only the calendar folder to it, then close
that PST and transfer it to the other PC, again adding it to the mail
profile to enable access to it. Proper manipulation of PSTs can be done
ONLY while Outlook is closed. See the following sites:
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2002/up020605.htm#movetonew2002
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm

 

[Guest]

OK, thanks a lot. I will undertake this on Monday (am off to a family
reunion all weekend). Brian, please keep 'Notify me of replies' turned on
for these posts. If all goes well, I will be done and forever grateful for
your help. If not, I may need to post again. Thanks indeed.

 

[Guest]

Brian, please take a look at the thread--link at bottom. It is people having
exactly the same problem as me, driving them as crazy as me, and finding no
solution, as me. The scariest thing is that one of them said an
uninstall/reinstall did not fix the problem! Ohmigosh, that was to be my
last ditch fix tomorrow.

This is an unmitigated disaster for me, and apparently for others as well.
Is there any way to get some real high attention to this at MS? I am at my
wits end, and extremely disgusted over this...not at you; you've been trying.
But the more I read and see discussions of this in forums all over without
solution, the more it tears me up. Outlook calendar is my life. Now useless
and unfixable.

Oh, one poster in another forum said deleting FRMCACHE.DAT and letting
Outlook recreate it fixed it for him. It did not for me nor all the other
people.

http://help.wugnet.com/office/Recurring-Itemsftopic-946327-days0-orderasc-8.html

 

[Brian Tillman]

Brian, please take a look at the thread--link at bottom. It is
people having exactly the same problem as me, driving them as crazy
as me, and finding no solution, as me. The scariest thing is that
one of them said an uninstall/reinstall did not fix the problem!
Ohmigosh, that was to be my last ditch fix tomorrow.

Uninstalling and reinstalling will never repair a profile issue.

This is an unmitigated disaster for me, and apparently for others as
well. Is there any way to get some real high attention to this at MS?

Beats me. I don't work for MS and this newsgroup is not an official support
channel for MS. If you're VERY lucky, a, MS emplpyee might see the post and
respond, but it's not typical. This group is for end-users to help each
other.

Oh, one poster in another forum said deleting FRMCACHE.DAT and
letting Outlook recreate it fixed it for him. It did not for me nor
all the other people.

That won't fix profile issues, either.

http://help.wugnet.com/office/Recurring-Itemsftopic-946327-days0-orderasc-8.html

I don't see how this thread relates to your original post at all.

Start with a new mail profile using the Mail applet in Control Panel. Use
the applet to add whatever PST you want to contain your data. Use the
applet to define your accounts. After you've configured the mail profile
completely in the applet, then start Outlook and see if it behaves.

 

[Guest]

As to the link, I see now that it opens on page 2 of the thread. You have to
read page 1 to see it is talking about the same problem.

You are right that uninstalling/reinstalling didn't work. I did that this
morning of 6-25-07. When I 1st opened calendar after reinstall, it wanted
the pst to look at, (meaning it had no profile?) so I pointed it to the pst
that worked fine on the XP machine, now stored on this Vista machine. Still
has the same problem.

As to the FRMCACHE deletion, some people were saying that it fixed the
problem--others not. Since it did repair this problem for some people, I
tried it. It didn't help mine.

What =IS= the official support channel?

Start with a new mail profile using the Mail applet in Control Panel. Use
the applet to add whatever PST you want to contain your data. Use the
applet to define your accounts. After you've configured the mail profile
completely in the applet, then start Outlook and see if it behaves.

When you say add whatever PST you want to contain your data, do you mean to
add the one I have that has all my appts and contacts in it? That's what I
need in the end--to have the Outlook installation operate properly with old
and new recurring appts AND to get my data back.

I do really appreciate all the guidance. I am still fightin' and tryin'.

 

[Guest]

see other post immediately before this one also...

Following the instructions at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320842/en-us

I created an entirely new profile. Using CP mail applet, added a valid
email account to it, even though I don't intend to use the inbox portion of
Outlook, but seems you have to do that to make Outlook work. As instructed, I
renamed frmcache.dat, extend.dat, and outcmd.dat. As instructed, I opened
Outlook and selected the new profile, which is working with a new, empty pst.


Problem still exists with a any new recurring appts created (there are no
old ones--pst is empty). You can create a new recurring, but right click
brings no menu. Trying to move the item to a different time produces, "The
item may not have been deleted correctly. If someone sent you the item, that
person's copy of the item may not be updated. The object is not valid."

Double clicking the item to open it produces, "Can't open the item. The
object is not valid." I can delete the item, but only by clicking it, and
pressing Del, which does delete the item after clicking OK on the dialog that
reads same as one appearing when trying to move the item.

So, the problem still exists after a removal and reinstall, and after
creating a new profile, and deleting the three dat files.

 

[Brian Tillman]

What =IS= the official support channel?

The telephone or email.

When you say add whatever PST you want to contain your data, do you
mean to add the one I have that has all my appts and contacts in it?

Certainly. Why would you want a PST that doesn't contain your data?

That's what I need in the end--to have the Outlook installation
operate properly with old and new recurring appts AND to get my data
back.

I do really appreciate all the guidance. I am still fightin' and
tryin'.

If you follow the steps that are in the web site I named,
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm, it will work.

 

[Brian Tillman]

see other post immediately before this one also...

Following the instructions at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320842/en-us

I created an entirely new profile. Using CP mail applet, added a
valid email account to it, even though I don't intend to use the
inbox portion of Outlook, but seems you have to do that to make
Outlook work. As instructed, I renamed frmcache.dat, extend.dat, and
outcmd.dat. As instructed, I opened Outlook and selected the new
profile, which is working with a new, empty pst.


Problem still exists with a any new recurring appts created (there
are no old ones--pst is empty). You can create a new recurring, but
right click brings no menu. Trying to move the item to a different
time produces, "The item may not have been deleted correctly. If
someone sent you the item, that person's copy of the item may not be
updated. The object is not valid."

I'm stumped, then. Sorry.

 

[Guest]

I broke down and called Microsoft/India for the $49 per incident help. On
phone over 4 hours with them. They connect to your computer with something
like GoToMyPC.

He went thru almost all of the same things I have tried (some with a few
extra wrinkles, like deleting stuff in the registry. Just as with me, none
fixed it. He tried some things I had not, like deleting all of the mapi
dll's. Also, msconfig'ing out all my stuff, including McAfee suite (=no
firewall--didn't much like that). Didn't work. Ended with him saying it
would be referred to his research team.

 

[Guest]

Late last night, I discovered the root cause. You won't believe it, and
Microsoft during my multiple interactions with their paid support ($49)
didn't discover the cause, they just fixed it by reinstalling Office. Well,
not really...it wasn't the reinstall that fixed it...it just appeared that
way.

The root cause was that, if you use the personalization function in control
panel to create a custom font size, to increase the font size, it causes the
Outlook issue I described to occur. I proved it by changing the font twice
from the default size. Each time I increased it, Outlook failed. Each time
I restored it to default, Outlook exhibited no problem (although at default
size, I can't read it without getting my glasses). Go figure--font size
causes recurring appointment failure!!

The reason it appeared that reinstall fixed it was that there also was a
lesser problem in Excel that tech and I worked on also...some dialogs were
slightly mangled, hiding part of the dialog box. As we were looking at that,
I said something like, "it looks like the box doesn't have enough room to
show all the tabs...oh, I increased the font size." So we returned font size
to normal, and that fixed the dialog boxes. Obviously now I see that
happened time-wise at the approximate time Office reinstall was happening,
so, after the reinstall, the font was now set to default, and the Outlook
problem went away--appearing to to have been fixed by the reinstall.