Confused about starting Outlook

[Terry Pinnell]

Can one of the experts straighten me out on a couple of points please.

I have Outlook 2002, which I use for task and appointment reminders,
and with ActiveSync (from Windows Mobile) for synchronising my XP Pro
PC with my Pocket PC.

I may have inadvertently changed Outlook's shortcut and it may not now
be staying open to handle the synchronising. But it's one of those
obscure types that don't show the full shortcut in its Properties
window, just a greyed out 'Microsoft Outlook 2002'.

From previous recollections it was
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE (that part I'm
sure about) plus a 'switch', something like '- embedded' or
'-embedding' or some such combination, with/without the '-' and the
extra space...

Also, I'm puzzled why my handy Autoruns program doesn't show any hits
for 'outlook', whether it's running or not.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

I'm not sure what your issue actually is now.

The "grayed out" shortcut is the original one from the installation which
you don't have to modify.
If you want to create a shortcut yourself, you are looking for the /recycle
switch.

What exactly are your synchronization issues?

 

[Terry Pinnell]

I'm not sure what your issue actually is now.

The "grayed out" shortcut is the original one from the installation which
you don't have to modify.
If you want to create a shortcut yourself, you are looking for the /recycle
switch.

What exactly are your synchronization issues?

Thanks Robert, appreciate your coming back on this.

Sorry if I wasn't entirely clear - that's probably because I'm muddled
on several aspects! These may be connected or not, so I'll step
through them methodically:

1. First, I think I have my synchronisation back. Following much
googling, I followed this tip. In ActiveSync > Tools > Options, for
Tasks, Contacts, Calendar in turn, I UNCHECKED each, synced, CHECKED
them again, and resynced. So that may or may not have been connected
with my experimenting worth Outlook.

2. By using a program called Process Lassoo I was able to read the
full entry for Outlook.exe under the column 'Command line'. It was:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE" -Embedding
(Is there no easier way to find out what these 'hidden' shortcuts
actually are?) What is this (and your suggested recycling switch)
supposed to do?

3. Sometimes (and I can't yet see the cause), OUTLOOK.EXE remains
running, even after I've closed it. It appears in XP Task Mgr.

4. Sometimes it will still start OK, even though it is already
'running' in the background. IOW, I can click the usual icon and my
Outlook Today window appears as usual. But sometimes it DOESN'T load!

5. The reason I wanted the shortcut mentioned in #2 above was because
I thought I'd write a little macro (with a program called Macro
Express Pro) that would open Outlook and open the New Task dialog.
That would be a little faster than my current method of clicking
Outlook 2002 in my QuickLaunch List and then choosing New then Task.

6. But a few minutes ago I installed a tool called Knockout
http://sunflowerhead.com/software/knockout/
which appears as if it will do that and more, including showing me
whether Outlook is/is not running. (It appears this problem is fairly
common?)

Any comments/insights would be appreciated please.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

#2 - that is not a user switch. It's only used by the program internals.
#3 - known problem with addins and sync. Remove the pda (to end the sync)
before closing outlook and it might close ok.
http://www.slipstick.com/problems/close.asp has a list of other programs
that can cause it.
#4 - caused by outlook not closing properly

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Poll: What version of Outlook do you use?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=27072

 

[Terry Pinnell]

#2 - that is not a user switch. It's only used by the program internals.
#3 - known problem with addins and sync. Remove the pda (to end the sync)
before closing outlook and it might close ok.
http://www.slipstick.com/problems/close.asp has a list of other programs
that can cause it.
#4 - caused by outlook not closing properly

Thanks Diane.

#2 - Outlook seems to start OK whether I use the original shortcut
(which I assume has that 'embedded' switch as a parameter) or my own
home grown shortcut "C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE". What is the distinction please?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

They both call the same program, so they should work the same

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Poll: What version of Outlook do you use?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=27072