Cannot open your default e-mail folders.

J

Joel

Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in use and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file, and then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that, it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.
 
J

Joel

None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default values, and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

Diane Poremsky said:
Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Joel said:
Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in use and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file, and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that, it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
J

Joel

I still do not have a resolution to this problem. I've turned off Windows
Sidebar, run the scanpst.exe program, all with the same results. Any more
ideas?

Joel said:
None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default values, and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

Diane Poremsky said:
Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Joel said:
Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in use and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file, and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that, it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
R

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]

Not until you provide at least some information. The error message simply
means that the mail account in your Outlook profile is not configured
correctly and not connected to your data store.Only you know how that would
happen. We don't even know what mail account and information store you are
using. Did this profile ever work correctly? If so, what steps broke it?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Joel said:
I still do not have a resolution to this problem. I've turned off Windows
Sidebar, run the scanpst.exe program, all with the same results. Any more
ideas?

Joel said:
None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default values,
and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email
files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

Diane Poremsky said:
Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in use
and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file,
and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that, it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
J

Joel

Yes, this profile has been working fine for years. I can create the same
profile on my PC and it works perfectly. The issue seems to have started
about the time I upgraded my wife's PC to Vista 32 w/SP1, but I can't be
positive about that. In either case, the new PC configuration has far, far
less software installed now than it did with XP Pro, and I can't think of
anything that might be continuously accessing the .pst file. Thanks

Russ Valentine said:
Not until you provide at least some information. The error message simply
means that the mail account in your Outlook profile is not configured
correctly and not connected to your data store.Only you know how that would
happen. We don't even know what mail account and information store you are
using. Did this profile ever work correctly? If so, what steps broke it?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Joel said:
I still do not have a resolution to this problem. I've turned off Windows
Sidebar, run the scanpst.exe program, all with the same results. Any more
ideas?

Joel said:
None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default values,
and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email
files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

:

Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in use
and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file,
and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that, it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
R

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]

You mean you did an in place upgrade of the entire OS on this partition?
That's certainly highly relevant information. I can't imagine Outlook would
ever work correctly after that. Did you at least create a new Outlook
profile from scratch after the OS upgrade? That is the first pre-requisite.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Joel said:
Yes, this profile has been working fine for years. I can create the same
profile on my PC and it works perfectly. The issue seems to have started
about the time I upgraded my wife's PC to Vista 32 w/SP1, but I can't be
positive about that. In either case, the new PC configuration has far, far
less software installed now than it did with XP Pro, and I can't think of
anything that might be continuously accessing the .pst file. Thanks

Russ Valentine said:
Not until you provide at least some information. The error message simply
means that the mail account in your Outlook profile is not configured
correctly and not connected to your data store.Only you know how that
would
happen. We don't even know what mail account and information store you
are
using. Did this profile ever work correctly? If so, what steps broke it?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Joel said:
I still do not have a resolution to this problem. I've turned off
Windows
Sidebar, run the scanpst.exe program, all with the same results. Any
more
ideas?

:

None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default
values,
and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email
files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

:

Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or
point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in
use
and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file,
and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that,
it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
J

Joel

I'm sorry Russ. When I said upgraded, I really meant a 'clean install'
Then, after installing Office 2007, I imported the .pst file back in after
setting up the email acocunts from scratch.

Russ Valentine said:
You mean you did an in place upgrade of the entire OS on this partition?
That's certainly highly relevant information. I can't imagine Outlook would
ever work correctly after that. Did you at least create a new Outlook
profile from scratch after the OS upgrade? That is the first pre-requisite.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Joel said:
Yes, this profile has been working fine for years. I can create the same
profile on my PC and it works perfectly. The issue seems to have started
about the time I upgraded my wife's PC to Vista 32 w/SP1, but I can't be
positive about that. In either case, the new PC configuration has far, far
less software installed now than it did with XP Pro, and I can't think of
anything that might be continuously accessing the .pst file. Thanks

Russ Valentine said:
Not until you provide at least some information. The error message simply
means that the mail account in your Outlook profile is not configured
correctly and not connected to your data store.Only you know how that
would
happen. We don't even know what mail account and information store you
are
using. Did this profile ever work correctly? If so, what steps broke it?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I still do not have a resolution to this problem. I've turned off
Windows
Sidebar, run the scanpst.exe program, all with the same results. Any
more
ideas?

:

None that I'm aware of. Vista was installed with all the default
values,
and
I've not installed anything that I know of that might access the email
files.
I will turn off the sidebar to see if that helps.
Thanks

:

Are you using any device or software which access outlook data? This
includes cell phones and vista's sidebar gadgets.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or
point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Error message: Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The file
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is in
use
and
cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file,
and
then
try again. You might need to restart your computer.

After re-boot, Outlook will work OK for a few hours. After that,
it
defaults back to the same error. Any ideas.
Vista 32, SP1, Ofice 2007 Pro
 
B

Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]

I'm sorry Russ. When I said upgraded, I really meant a 'clean install'
Then, after installing Office 2007, I imported the .pst file back in after
setting up the email acocunts from scratch.

Importing a PST can corrupt a mail profile. That's never the way to
transfer data from one Outlook to another. Start with a new mail profile
and connect it to the ORIGINAL PST. Do not import.
 
J

Joel

Exporting and importing the pst file is the way I've been doing it for years,
and have never had a hitch before. Seems to me it was Microsoft that
instructed me to do it that way. Why else would there be an Import/Export
choice under the File button? But none of these remarks has anything to do
with why I keep getting an error message saying that another program is
accessing the Outlook folders. How can I find out exactly what might be
accessing the folders, prevent it fom doing so, and why should it be doing
that in the first place?
 
B

Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]

Exporting and importing the pst file is the way I've been doing it for
years,
and have never had a hitch before.

That doesn't change the truth of what I said and the hundreds, if not
thousands, of messages in this very group that contains reports of people
who have corrupted their mail profiles by using import.
Seems to me it was Microsoft that instructed me to do it that way.

And they've always been wrong.
Why else would there be an Import/Export choice under the File button?

So that you can import from and export to NON-Outlook programs.
But none of these remarks has anything to do
with why I keep getting an error message saying that another program is
accessing the Outlook folders. How can I find out exactly what might be
accessing the folders, prevent it fom doing so, and why should it be doing
that in the first place?

Likely suspects are add-ins, background search programs, sync programs,
Skype. iTunes, and apps like that.
 

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