Outlook set to look for offline files--will not open

[Mr. Coffee]

Outlook 2003 on Vista. Has been working fine until I was suddenly unable to
connect to my VPN server--but that's a different problem.

I opened Outlook, which informed me that it could not connect to Exchange
and offered "Work Offline" as an option. I selected that and got the error
message:
"Unable to open your default email folders. The file C:\users... is not an
offline folder file"

I clicked okay and the application closed. Now, every time I launch the
application, it goes straight to that error message. I have no other options.
I do not have the option to use my Exchange mailbox.

I found knowledge base articles around converting offline files to different
formats. That's not what I want to do. I want to use Exchange, but Outlook is
stuck in a loop.

thanks in advance.

 

[Castell]

Whilst connected to your VPN, create a new Outlook profile using the Control
Panel "mail" applet, add your Exchange server details and re-set your
offline settings.