Trouble emtying Deleted Items folder

[OscarVogel]

Using Outlook 2003 with a cached Exchange acct. The mailbox is on a SBS
that resides on our local network.

When the user attempts to "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" Outlook seems to
stop working, but maybe it's just taking a very long time to complete. Users
have waited over an hour, before forcing Outlook to close. Then when they
restart Outlook, it goes though a several minute process where it checks
checks the consistency of the .ost file (?), after which the user finds that
nothing has been deleted.

I suppose the problem has to do with the large "Deleted Items" folder, and
the synchronization. But I don't know what to do about it.

What is the best way to empty a very large cached Deleted Files folder?
(Secondly, how can I avoid it?).

Thanks

 

[Kevin Weilbacher]

The .ost cached file on the local workstation is just duplicating what's in
Exchange on the server for the user. I would first deactivate cached mode,
then delete the .ost file, then cleanup the deleted items. If you're talking
about a lot of deleted items (thousands) then you may want to consider doing
an offline defrag of your Exchange priv1 and pub1 stores.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

rather than having users empty it, set up Exchange's mailbox manager to
delete older items in the deleted folder (and junk email folders) - I set it
to run 1 or 2 times a week and delete items older than 3 days.

 

[OscarVogel]

Kevin,

Thanks for the response. So let me get this straight. Please tell me if
this is right:

1) Deactivate cache mode in the account's properties by clearing the "Use
Cached Exchange Mode" box.
2) Then delete (or rename) the .ost file.
3) Restart Outlook.
4) Empty "Deleted Items" Folder
5) Check the "Use Cached Echange Mode" box.
6) Restart Outlook.

I just want to make sure. Is that correct?

Thanks

The .ost cached file on the local workstation is just duplicating what's
in Exchange on the server for the user. I would first deactivate cached
mode, then delete the .ost file, then cleanup the deleted items. If you're
talking about a lot of deleted items (thousands) then you may want to
consider doing an offline defrag of your Exchange priv1 and pub1 stores.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
*

Using Outlook 2003 with a cached Exchange acct. The mailbox is on a SBS
that resides on our local network.

When the user attempts to "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" Outlook seems to
stop working, but maybe it's just taking a very long time to complete.
Users have waited over an hour, before forcing Outlook to close. Then
when they restart Outlook, it goes though a several minute process where
it checks checks the consistency of the .ost file (?), after which the
user finds that nothing has been deleted.

I suppose the problem has to do with the large "Deleted Items" folder,
and the synchronization. But I don't know what to do about it.

What is the best way to empty a very large cached Deleted Files folder?
(Secondly, how can I avoid it?).

Thanks

 

[John Fullbright]

If you're deleting thousands of items, it can take a while to delete them on
the server then sync the changes to the local ost. If this is the case, I
would do a mailbox policy on the server side and dump the deleted items for
them.

 

[Kevin Weilbacher]

that's what I would do. However, John makes a good point about flushing the
deleted items on the exchange side as well.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
*

Kevin,

Thanks for the response. So let me get this straight. Please tell me if
this is right:

1) Deactivate cache mode in the account's properties by clearing the "Use
Cached Exchange Mode" box.
2) Then delete (or rename) the .ost file.
3) Restart Outlook.
4) Empty "Deleted Items" Folder
5) Check the "Use Cached Echange Mode" box.
6) Restart Outlook.

I just want to make sure. Is that correct?

Thanks

The .ost cached file on the local workstation is just duplicating what's
in Exchange on the server for the user. I would first deactivate cached
mode, then delete the .ost file, then cleanup the deleted items. If
you're talking about a lot of deleted items (thousands) then you may want
to consider doing an offline defrag of your Exchange priv1 and pub1
stores.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
*

Using Outlook 2003 with a cached Exchange acct. The mailbox is on a SBS
that resides on our local network.

When the user attempts to "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" Outlook seems
to stop working, but maybe it's just taking a very long time to
complete. Users have waited over an hour, before forcing Outlook to
close. Then when they restart Outlook, it goes though a several minute
process where it checks checks the consistency of the .ost file (?),
after which the user finds that nothing has been deleted.

I suppose the problem has to do with the large "Deleted Items" folder,
and the synchronization. But I don't know what to do about it.

What is the best way to empty a very large cached Deleted Files folder?
(Secondly, how can I avoid it?).

Thanks

 

[OscarVogel]

Thanks. That seemed to work much better.

Although I didn't like the big download needed to recreate a new .ost,
overall it solves my immediate problem.

John's suggestion is probably reasonable.

Thanks again.

that's what I would do. However, John makes a good point about flushing
the deleted items on the exchange side as well.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
*

Kevin,

Thanks for the response. So let me get this straight. Please tell me if
this is right:

1) Deactivate cache mode in the account's properties by clearing the "Use
Cached Exchange Mode" box.
2) Then delete (or rename) the .ost file.
3) Restart Outlook.
4) Empty "Deleted Items" Folder
5) Check the "Use Cached Echange Mode" box.
6) Restart Outlook.

I just want to make sure. Is that correct?

Thanks

The .ost cached file on the local workstation is just duplicating what's
in Exchange on the server for the user. I would first deactivate cached
mode, then delete the .ost file, then cleanup the deleted items. If
you're talking about a lot of deleted items (thousands) then you may
want to consider doing an offline defrag of your Exchange priv1 and pub1
stores.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"
*

Using Outlook 2003 with a cached Exchange acct. The mailbox is on a
SBS that resides on our local network.

When the user attempts to "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" Outlook seems
to stop working, but maybe it's just taking a very long time to
complete. Users have waited over an hour, before forcing Outlook to
close. Then when they restart Outlook, it goes though a several minute
process where it checks checks the consistency of the .ost file (?),
after which the user finds that nothing has been deleted.

I suppose the problem has to do with the large "Deleted Items" folder,
and the synchronization. But I don't know what to do about it.

What is the best way to empty a very large cached Deleted Files folder?
(Secondly, how can I avoid it?).

Thanks