SP2 seems to break desktop alerts in outlook 2007

[niemie]

I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and then I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



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[Roady [MVP]]

What does the rule do?
Note that you won't see a New Mail Desktop Alert for messages that are moved
to another folder.

 

[niemie]

Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that because the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
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You can access this newsgroup by visiting
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I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
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newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.

I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[Christof]

That does not solve it here (on both of my machines). Desktop Alert is gone.
I can reboot as much as I want :-(

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

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.

Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.


I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

Here I'm somewhere in between: it doesn't work, maybe, 1 out of 3 times I
run Outlook. Restarting Outlook proves necessary (rebooting the machine is
overkill, though I've done that many times since installing SP2).

Note that when it doesn't work, even the 'test alert' feature hidden in
Tools/Options doesn't work, so it's truly dead, Jim, and has nothing to do
with Rules, etc.

It's hard to believe this could have slipped by the "largest" Office SP test
in history, since surely someone there would have had the configuration
necessary to make this show up.

I run POP3/IMAP, not Exchange, if it matters. Win7 RC, which may.

That does not solve it here (on both of my machines). Desktop Alert is
gone.
I can reboot as much as I want :-(

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot
makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it
works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

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.

Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that
because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

:

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.


I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems
to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went
into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's
dead.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

It could be related to the windows beta. Do you see a difference in
behavior if you have windows maximized?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.

Here I'm somewhere in between: it doesn't work, maybe, 1 out of 3 times I
run Outlook. Restarting Outlook proves necessary (rebooting the machine is
overkill, though I've done that many times since installing SP2).

Note that when it doesn't work, even the 'test alert' feature hidden in
Tools/Options doesn't work, so it's truly dead, Jim, and has nothing to do
with Rules, etc.

It's hard to believe this could have slipped by the "largest" Office SP
test in history, since surely someone there would have had the
configuration necessary to make this show up.

I run POP3/IMAP, not Exchange, if it matters. Win7 RC, which may.

That does not solve it here (on both of my machines). Desktop Alert is
gone.
I can reboot as much as I want :-(

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot
makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it
works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

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.


Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that
because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

:

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.


I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems
to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me
and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went
into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's
dead.

 

[jalperin]

I'm having exactly the same problem. No Desktop Alerts (and after many
reboots). Another IMAP problem as well: Outlook refuses to download message
bodies and attachments (despite my settings) until it performs a
Send/Receive. Before applying SP2, it automatically downloaded both without
waiting for a Send/Receive (which shouldn't be necessary for IMAP anyway,
should it?)/

 

[Christof]

Yes, I see the exact same behaviour with IMAP and it is very annoying. How
could something like this slip through quality control?

 

[jalperin]

If I run Outlook as Administrator (I'm using Vista Ultimate), the Desktop
Alert works. If I restart Outlook and run normally, it doesn't work. (The
other IMAP problem I referenced happens either way.)

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

Consistently? Are you sure it's not just random as it is for me? For
example, I had to run Outlook 4 times this morning to get the one where
alerts worked.

To answer an earlier question, maximizing Outlook is N/A. Why wouldn't it
be?

 

[niemie]

I take it back - it only worked for a little while that day that after I
rebooted. I agree with the poster below that now it only works sometimes -
and hardly at that. Something is definitely wrong as again this happened
after SP2 install...

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.

I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[niemie]

BTW I am on Vista Ultimate and logged in as administrator.....

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.

I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me and then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's dead.

 

[codeinfusion]

I am having the same problem. I rebooted yesterday after seeing that
suggestion, and the alerts started working. Now today, alerts fail,
even in the "Desktop Alert Settings" -> Preview. I've rebooted twice
today.

=============================

 

[Robert]

I can confirm that this also happens to me and it is most annoying.

Reboot did not assist.

 

[ernie]

It happens to me as well since the "February Cumulative Update for Outlook
2007" that is part of SP2 was released back in February. I had put a message
about this on the outlook team blog where the hotfix was announced but my
message had been strangely deleted.

Anyway, I've been leaving with it for 2 months. I installed a couple of days
ago the Win7 RTM and Office 2007 with SP2 and exactly the same happens so
this is not an accident and not related to other software installed. I had
time to experiment and here is what I noticed.

The first time I open Outlook it never works. When closing Outlook, we have
this new grey icon that appears for some time until Outlook closes for good.
Sometimes it takes a very long time for it to disappear and sometimes it
goes aways almost instantly. When reopening Outlook after it took a long
time to close, desktop alert including preview will not work.

I found one way to make it work again temporarily. It sounds strange but it
works systematically. If I kill OUTLOOK.EXE while the icon is staying a long
time (outlook takes a long time to close) and restart Outlook, desktop alert
works again, including the test preview. After that, Outlook usually closes
quickly and desktop alert keeps working. If for some reason, outlook takes a
long time to close, desktop alerts including preview will not work anymore
when Outlook is restarted.

Here I'm somewhere in between: it doesn't work, maybe, 1 out of 3 times I
run Outlook. Restarting Outlook proves necessary (rebooting the machine is
overkill, though I've done that many times since installing SP2).

Note that when it doesn't work, even the 'test alert' feature hidden in
Tools/Options doesn't work, so it's truly dead, Jim, and has nothing to do
with Rules, etc.

It's hard to believe this could have slipped by the "largest" Office SP
test in history, since surely someone there would have had the
configuration necessary to make this show up.

I run POP3/IMAP, not Exchange, if it matters. Win7 RC, which may.

That does not solve it here (on both of my machines). Desktop Alert is
gone.
I can reboot as much as I want :-(

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot
makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it
works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

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.


Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that
because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

:

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.


I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems
to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me
and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went
into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's
dead.

 

[LisaR]

I'm having the same problems as everyone else. I have a number of rules that
include a requirement for a Desktop Alert to be shown when an email is posted
to specific work folders so that I don't have to stop what I'm doing and
maximize the Outlook window every time an email comes in. None of them are
working now, and i'm getting email sound alerts when things go into folders
where there are not supposed to be any alerts at all.

I know there's a link to this thread in the Outlook Team's blog posting
about the SP2 launch, so Outlook Team, if you're reading this: PLEASE FIX
THIS PROBLEM ASAP!

 

[D L S]

I installed the Office 2007 SP2 last week and since then desktop alert does
not work. I have rebooted many times since SP2 was installed. After
researching the problems, I found one suggestion that an addin may have been
the culprit. I ran Outlook as an administratior and disabled all addins. It
did not resolve the problem. I tried to disable and then reenable the desktop
alerts using the "Advanced email Options" but that didn't work. What I find
very curious is the fact that when I click on the "Desktop Alert Settings"
and click "Preview", I don't see any preview. That tells me that something
else is going on.

If anybody has a solution, please let me know. ... one step forward (SP2), a
half a step back.

 

[blueskyjason]

I just wanted to throw in my two cents that SP2 broke my Desktop Alerts as
well. I did a Repair and that fixed them for a day. Now they are broken
again. Hitting "preview desktop alert" in the advanced mail configuration
proves that desktop alerts are simply broken. I am on Vista SP1.

It could be related to the windows beta. Do you see a difference in
behavior if you have windows maximized?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.

Here I'm somewhere in between: it doesn't work, maybe, 1 out of 3 times I
run Outlook. Restarting Outlook proves necessary (rebooting the machine is
overkill, though I've done that many times since installing SP2).

Note that when it doesn't work, even the 'test alert' feature hidden in
Tools/Options doesn't work, so it's truly dead, Jim, and has nothing to do
with Rules, etc.

It's hard to believe this could have slipped by the "largest" Office SP
test in history, since surely someone there would have had the
configuration necessary to make this show up.

I run POP3/IMAP, not Exchange, if it matters. Win7 RC, which may.

That does not solve it here (on both of my machines). Desktop Alert is
gone.
I can reboot as much as I want :-(


:

A forced reboot is not always required, so for some people it's only one
reboot, but yeah, I've noticed that sometimes a user-initiated reboot
makes
a difference. I have no idea what it does differently, only that it
works.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

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

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.


Ok I rebooted and it works now - I wouldn't have thought of that
because
the
system rebooted automatically after SP2 install.....

Thanks for the help.

:

Did you reboot? It works here, so its not a direct bug - but its
possible
an add-in or something is interacting with it.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(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.


I just downloaded SP2 for office - i was happy to read about the
improvements
in stability to outlook. I think I found a bug though as SP2 seems
to
kill
the desktop alert feature altogether. It stopped working for me
and
then
I
created a new rule for it which doesn't work either. I even went
into
tools
/ options and the preview desktop alert button did nothing - it's
dead.