Cannot Close Personal Folders

  • Thread starter Thread starter lylefair
  • Start date Start date
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lylefair

Recently to search for some e-mail I opened (Open Outlook Data File)
some personal and archive folders stored on an external hard drive I
use for backup. Some of these were from a computer I was selling.

Having finished with this search I would like to close these folders. I
cannot.

They all appear as "Personal Folders" or "Archive Folders". They work;
that is I can see and read the e-amil stored in them. When I click
"Close Personal Folders" or "Close Archive Folders" I get "The
operation failed. An object could not be found". When I click on
Properties -> General -> Advanced I get the same message, which
prevents me from seeing if Outlook has the correct location of the
file; I assume it does as it can show the messages.

I have searched this problem for a few hours in Google Web, Google
Groups and MSDN. I have tried several solutions:
1) create a new profile;
2) use command line switches to reset various Outlook characteristics;
3) examine the Registry / Windows NT / Message System keys and remove
those pointing to the Folders I would like removed; I could find only
one folder here which I removed; the next time I started Outlook, it
returned.

None of these solutions has worked.

I am using Outlook 2003. I am not using Exchange. As far as I can
gather some of these folders are in the pre 2003 format and some are in
the 2003 format.

I am not a Computer Newbie. I have written a little VBA for Outlook and
a few million lines for Access and code and script for several other
applications going back to the early 1980's. I have used Outlook since
MS Office when there was no designation such as 95. I could implement a
VBA solution.

Is there a solution? Do you know of one? Could you tell me?
 
Recently to search for some e-mail I opened (Open Outlook Data File)
some personal and archive folders stored on an external hard drive I
use for backup. Some of these were from a computer I was selling.

Having finished with this search I would like to close these folders. I
cannot.

They all appear as "Personal Folders" or "Archive Folders". They work;
that is I can see and read the e-amil stored in them. When I click
"Close Personal Folders" or "Close Archive Folders" I get "The
operation failed. An object could not be found". When I click on
Properties -> General -> Advanced I get the same message, which
prevents me from seeing if Outlook has the correct location of the
file; I assume it does as it can show the messages.

I have searched this problem for a few hours in Google Web, Google
Groups and MSDN. I have tried several solutions:
1) create a new profile;
2) use command line switches to reset various Outlook characteristics;
3) examine the Registry / Windows NT / Message System keys and remove
those pointing to the Folders I would like removed; I could find only
one folder here which I removed; the next time I started Outlook, it
returned.

None of these solutions has worked.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm confused as to how creating a new profile and using it couldn't
solve this, as a new profile does not automatically load in a bunch of PST
files.... are you sure you did that correctly? Recreated your account
settings, set your *real* PST file as the default delivery location, removed
the vanilla PST file from your new profile afterwards?
I do think it's your best option.
 
Thanks for your help.
A cold reboot made the new profile thing work.
I am tempted to remove all the registry settings for the intial
"Outlook" profile and replace them with the settings for the new
profile to see if this brings that profile (the Outlook profile) into
line ....
 
Thanks for your help.
A cold reboot made the new profile thing work.
I am tempted to remove all the registry settings for the intial
"Outlook" profile and replace them with the settings for the new
profile to see if this brings that profile (the Outlook profile) into
line ....
Click to expand...

Don't play in the registry unless a) absolutely necessary and b) you're
absolutely sure what you're doing.
Why not just use the new profile, if it works? Profiles do get corrupted
from time to time.
 
I am using the new profile, thank you.

I have been playing in the registry for a long time, probably since
there have been registries. This has not yet caused a problem for me.
 
So I did this:

1. Exported the Outlook profile to Outlook.reg (just in case);
2. Exported the new Profile to NewProfile.reg;
3. Edited NewProfile.reg in Notebook, replacing all occurrences of the
new profile name with "Outlook";
4. Deleted the Outlook Profile from the registry;
5. Merged (regedit.exe "%1") the information in NewFile.Reg by double
clicking on it;
6. Changed my default profile from the new profile back to the Outlook
profile;
7. Opened Outlook and checked everything;
8. Deleted the new profile from the registry;
9. Deleted the two reg files I had created;
10. Sent myself some test messages.

Everything seems fine. I am back to where I want to be: in a profile
named Outlook showing the folders I want it to show.
 
So I did this:

1. Exported the Outlook profile to Outlook.reg (just in case);
2. Exported the new Profile to NewProfile.reg;
3. Edited NewProfile.reg in Notebook, replacing all occurrences of the
new profile name with "Outlook";
4. Deleted the Outlook Profile from the registry;
5. Merged (regedit.exe "%1") the information in NewFile.Reg by double
clicking on it;
6. Changed my default profile from the new profile back to the Outlook
profile;
7. Opened Outlook and checked everything;
8. Deleted the new profile from the registry;
9. Deleted the two reg files I had created;
10. Sent myself some test messages.

Everything seems fine. I am back to where I want to be: in a profile
named Outlook showing the folders I want it to show.
Click to expand...

Glad you got it working the way you want.
 
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