Outlook 2003 Problem Under WinXP Pro SP2

[AA Smith]

After saving all important files from my hard disk on a separate hard drive
on this computer, I had to format my C: drive and reinstall a fresh copy of
WindowsXP Pro, Office 2003, etc.

I had saved my Outlook.pst file to a separate hard drive beforehand and then
copied it back to the same directory on my C: drive where it had been
beforehand. When I opened Outlook, my Contacts
opened up just fine. However, when I try to send e-mail, Outlook 2003 won't
permit access to my Contacts to get e-mail addresses; I get some error
saying I don't have access to the Address Book; that it may have been moved
or whatever. Well, it HAD been moved. An MVP on this newsgroup recently
told me that exporting the contents of Outlook.pst results in duplicate
entries. He further stated that I should copy the Outlook.pst file to
another hard drive when I need to export, then copy it back to the C:: drive
when I need to import. That works fine EXCEPT for the address book.

Today, Instead of e-mail messages in my inbox, I have a group headed up
"None" with a bunch of entries below (like e-mail messages) that all read
"None". But no e-mail messages appear in the Inbox.

I even uninstalled & reinstalled Outlook 200-3 (including ALL updates, but
still these problems persist.

How can I get Outlook 2003 to let me use my Contacts in my Phone Book and
how can I get the Inbox problem resolved?

I shall greatly appreciate your help.

 

[Guest]

The inbox problem sounds like you have a strange view set. What view is set
on your Inbox folder? If the Advanced toolbar is visible, click the View
dropdown box to see the various options. Messages is the default -- if
that's what it's already set to, try resetting the view at View | Arrange By
| Current View | Define Views.

As for the address book/Contacts folder issue -- are you sure the MVP told
you to import and export, or did he tell you to simply back up your file to
CD and then restore it later by simply copying it back to your hard drive,
removing the read-only attribute if needed, and opening it in Outlook using
File | Open? The latter is the preferred method. Also, a .PST file can
reside anywhere on your hard drive that you have user access to, so there's
no need to put the file back where it was before -- though that usually won't
cause problems unless you overwrite a .PST already in use by Outlook. That
usually causes duplicate .PST files to show up in your folder list.

The article at http://www.howto-outlook.com/Faq/contactsinaddressbook.htm
should help you to re-associate your Contacts folder with the Outlook Address
Book.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

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