"Synchronizing Folders" seems to be involved with trouble

[Fred Marshall]

I'm working with a client who uses Outlook.
There is no server involved here. So, Outlook is just an app. on his
computer.

Sometimes "Synchronizing Folders" comes up and then things slow down and
sometimes die.
From what I've gleaned from searches, this operation seems unnecessary and
odd in view of the use. I don't know the history of the computer.....

How can this be resolved? I don't work with Outlook that much.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

I'm working with a client who uses Outlook.
There is no server involved here. So, Outlook is just an app. on his
computer.

Sometimes "Synchronizing Folders" comes up and then things slow down
and sometimes die.
From what I've gleaned from searches, this operation seems
unnecessary and odd in view of the use. I don't know the history of
the computer.....

How can this be resolved? I don't work with Outlook that much.

Thanks,

Fred

What version of Outlook? If you don't need an offline file (as one might for
a laptop or a remote computer) you can disable offline folder use/cached
mode....

Have you looked in your deleted items folder for a synchronization message?

 

[Fred Marshall]

Thanks for the response! Outlook 2003.

Hey, I find the Outlook terminology rather confusing - so that's part of the
problem.

You say:
"If you don't need an offline file"

and I naively respond:

I can't imagine anything *but* an offline file. Where the heck would there
be an "online file"? My model is that everything is contained in the app's
files, including saved data files, on the client. When online, we add to
the app's files - which remain on the client when we're offline.

Once more, there isn't an Exchange Server or a file server on the private
network. Only a remote ISP / mail server. So, yeah, there are emails
sitting on the mail server but that's not quite what I'd call an "online
file".... most of the same emails should be in files on the client.

So, once I get past this lack of understanding the terms, it should be
easier.

That said, you say:
you can disable offline folder use/cached mode....

1) How?
2) What does this mean?

Thanks,

Fred



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Thanks for the response! Outlook 2003.

Hey, I find the Outlook terminology rather confusing - so that's part
of the problem.

You say:
"If you don't need an offline file"

and I naively respond:

I can't imagine anything *but* an offline file. Where the heck would
there be an "online file"? My model is that everything is contained
in the app's files, including saved data files, on the client. When
online, we add to the app's files - which remain on the client when
we're offline.

Once more, there isn't an Exchange Server or a file server on the
private network. Only a remote ISP / mail server.

Sorry, I missed that part in your original post. Is this a POP or IMAP
account?

So, yeah, there
are emails sitting on the mail server but that's not quite what I'd
call an "online file".... most of the same emails should be in files
on the client.

So, once I get past this lack of understanding the terms, it should be
easier.

If you press F9 to do a send/receive, what happens?

That said, you say:
you can disable offline folder use/cached mode....

1) How?
2) What does this mean?

Won't apply since you aren't connecting to an Exchange server.

Thanks,

Fred



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

What version of Outlook? If you don't need an offline file (as one
might for
a laptop or a remote computer) you can disable offline folder
use/cached mode....

Have you looked in your deleted items folder for a synchronization
message?

 

[Fred Marshall]

The email is a pop account.

I keep getting answers that suggest that not having an Exchange server makes
some comments moot. However, Outlook is "Synchronizing Folders" and
troubles seem to follow this status report.

It may be that this computer was set up on a LAN that had an Exchange
Server - I don't know. I do know that the company used to have their own
internal mail server that has since been abandoned. Could this explain the
behavior? And .... how to fix?

Thanks,

Fred

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Thanks for the response! Outlook 2003.

Hey, I find the Outlook terminology rather confusing - so that's part
of the problem.

You say:
"If you don't need an offline file"

and I naively respond:

I can't imagine anything *but* an offline file. Where the heck would
there be an "online file"? My model is that everything is contained
in the app's files, including saved data files, on the client. When
online, we add to the app's files - which remain on the client when
we're offline.

Once more, there isn't an Exchange Server or a file server on the
private network. Only a remote ISP / mail server.

Sorry, I missed that part in your original post. Is this a POP or IMAP
account?

So, yeah, there
are emails sitting on the mail server but that's not quite what I'd
call an "online file".... most of the same emails should be in files
on the client.

So, once I get past this lack of understanding the terms, it should be
easier.

If you press F9 to do a send/receive, what happens?

That said, you say:
you can disable offline folder use/cached mode....

1) How?
2) What does this mean?

Won't apply since you aren't connecting to an Exchange server.

Thanks,

Fred



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Fred Marshall wrote:
I'm working with a client who uses Outlook.
There is no server involved here. So, Outlook is just an app. on
his computer.

Sometimes "Synchronizing Folders" comes up and then things slow down
and sometimes die.
From what I've gleaned from searches, this operation seems
unnecessary and odd in view of the use. I don't know the history of
the computer.....

How can this be resolved? I don't work with Outlook that much.

Thanks,

Fred

What version of Outlook? If you don't need an offline file (as one
might for
a laptop or a remote computer) you can disable offline folder
use/cached mode....

Have you looked in your deleted items folder for a synchronization
message?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I keep getting answers that suggest that not having an Exchange
server makes some comments moot. However, Outlook is "Synchronizing
Folders" and troubles seem to follow this status report.

As far as I know, Outlook won't do this unless it thinks it's connected to
an Exchange server, but then you'd get error messages if you weren't.

It may be that this computer was set up on a LAN that had an Exchange
Server - I don't know. I do know that the company used to have their
own internal mail server that has since been abandoned. Could this
explain the behavior? And .... how to fix?

What do you see when you click Tools>E-mail Accounts>Next?

 

[Fred Marshall]

In Outlook 2002 on my computer, I see the email accounts that have been set
up and I see Deliver Mail to "Personal Folder". I would have to check on
the client's computer with Outlook 2003. Where are we heading with this
Brian? I can ask the client this question but should be a little more
specific with him and ready to follow up.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Brian Tillman]

In Outlook 2002 on my computer, I see the email accounts that have
been set up and I see Deliver Mail to "Personal Folder". I would
have to check on the client's computer with Outlook 2003. Where are
we heading with this Brian?

Since I can't imagine any situation where Outlook sould try to sync without
some kind of account where messages stay on the server (i.e., non-POP
accounts), I expect to see an Exchange, HTTP, or IMAP account in the
profile. Syncing simply doesn't occur with POP accounts.

 

[Fred Marshall]

Hmmmmm... then I wonder why the notice shows up "Synchronizing Folders"?
All they have are pop accounts.

Thanks for the reply Brian. I'll investigate further. Any other thoughts
on the subject would be appreciated.

Fred

 

[Fred Marshall]

What if it's a pop account and we've selected "Leave a Copy of Messages on
the Server"?? Would that matter? Generally that's what I do.

Fred

 

[Brian Tillman]

What if it's a pop account and we've selected "Leave a Copy of
Messages on the Server"?? Would that matter? Generally that's what
I do.

My first reaction would be, "that's not it," because POP accounts have no
folder structure on the server, whether or not you leave a copy there, but
since I haven't tested this exact scenario, I won't bet my life on it.
However, I'd be surprised if that's the issue.

 

[Fred Marshall]

Brian,

The account is a pop account.
I found a check box setting for email that says something like:
"Create an Exchange View of the emails" ??? something like that...
It was checked.
I wonder if that may have had something to do with the Synchronizing Folders
message?
So, I unchecked it.

New information:
It appears that this client is losing internet connectivity intermittently
through an upstream switch.
It is reported that the "synchronizing folders" message appears when there
is this sort of trouble.
So, maybe we should assume that the internet connection is lost and THEN the
synchronizing folders message appears?

Now, on my XP / Outlook 2002 system, I was receiving a large download of
emails and turned off the router to simulate a lost connection. I
eventually got an error but nothing about synchronizing folders. So, that
doesn't seem to duplicate the problem here.

Fred

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Brian,

The account is a pop account.
I found a check box setting for email that says something like:
"Create an Exchange View of the emails" ??? something like that...
It was checked.
I wonder if that may have had something to do with the Synchronizing
Folders message?
So, I unchecked it.

No, that shouldn't make a difference.

New information:
It appears that this client is losing internet connectivity
intermittently through an upstream switch.
It is reported that the "synchronizing folders" message appears when
there is this sort of trouble.
So, maybe we should assume that the internet connection is lost and
THEN the synchronizing folders message appears?

Now, on my XP / Outlook 2002 system, I was receiving a large download
of emails and turned off the router to simulate a lost connection. I
eventually got an error but nothing about synchronizing folders. So,
that doesn't seem to duplicate the problem here.

Have you tried recreating the user's Outlook profile?

 

[Fred Marshall]

Have you tried recreating the user's Outlook profile?

Not yet. Since I have very limited experience with Outlook, I'd prefer to
not lose the contacts and emails. Can I recreate the profile without this
being a concern? If so, is there a procedure to use that's sure to work?

XP Pro / Outlook 2003....

Thanks,

Fred


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Brian Tillman]

Not yet. Since I have very limited experience with Outlook, I'd
prefer to not lose the contacts and emails. Can I recreate the
profile without this being a concern?

Certainly. You just point the new profile at the existing PST. If you wish
to feel safer, just make a copy of it before you start.

If so, is there a procedure to
use that's sure to work?

When you create a new profile (Control Panel>Mail>Show Profiles>Add), set up
the Data portion of the profile first, browsing to your old PST. Then
recreate the accounts within the profile.

 

[Fred Marshall]

Thanks Brian - that's reassuring.

Certainly. You just point the new profile at the existing PST. If you
wish
to feel safer, just make a copy of it before you start.


When you create a new profile (Control Panel>Mail>Show Profiles>Add), set
up
the Data portion of the profile first, browsing to your old PST. Then
recreate the accounts within the profile.