I hate Microsoft

[Chowlett]

Anyone know where Outlook keeps the details of which email accounts etc it's polling? I noticed the other day that my IMAP sent folder wasn't working, so I removed and re-added it. After a large quantity of subsequent trauma, which started with Outlook crashing whenever it polls headers (which it does on startup), and ended with me uninstalling and reinstalling Office, I opened Outlook to find that all the old account details etc were still there, and it was still crashing. I'd like to clear all the account info out of it, and see if I can persuade it to work again.

[Capt Dizle]

If you find out let me know. Sometimes I'll start outlook and it won't respond and I haven't been able to fix it no matter what I do. But if I wait long enough it will finally open and operate correctly for about a month before going wacky again. Sometimes it hangs for a day or two before it loads properly.

I probably need a patch or something.

[Ming]

I use outlook express, and it has never crashed or caused me any problems when adding or deleting new accounts. I just make sure I download all the updates as MS makes them available.

[SpencerH]

At home I use only outlook express. Outlook was a pain that caused continuous crashes and resulted in much gnashing of teeth (and re-formatting of HD to remove the basterrd).

OTOH, I use it at work on an NT machine and its fine (but I dont try to change anything on it).

[Chowlett]

I am using Express now. The trouble is, I quite liked Outlook's diary features...

[Faboba]

I had a dream last night in which someone actually liked microsoft. I was so surprised when I found out I nearly crashed my flying elephant.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

AH reinstall windows, or install another copy, and than check your e-mail from there .... if not that, than what??? phhhh... who knows where is that error. Can be in a million of files, out of whom 10% do not uninstall.

Those improper uninstalls... I trully dislike them, and they are fairly common.

[SpencerH]

But MS just wants to help you. Why would you really want to uninstall something that they've lovingly created for you? They're your friend.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by SpencerH
But MS just wants to help you. Why would you really want to uninstall something that they've lovingly created for you? They're your friend.

they are your friendly bloodsucking nerverbreaking leech... that we have to use because we know no better...

[Faboba]

Personally I'll stick with Windows. The last thing I want is an OS which is smarter than I am.

( That said though, keep away from MacOS - the poor thing's retarded )

[Alex]

I hate Microsoft

Welcome to the club.

[SpencerH]

I used to be a Mac user, but I kicked the habit.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by Faboba
Personally I'll stick with Windows. The last thing I want is an OS which is smarter than I am.

( That said though, keep away from MacOS - the poor thing's retarded )

Or maybe I don't want an OS that is more stable than I am

[SpencerH]

Well then use any mac OS below x. They're good for 2 crashes/day under any strain.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Outlook2000 has a few, uh, "interesting" peculiarities, at least under NT type OS's.

One thing is that is that it sometimes runs in multiple processed - when you hit F5 or the Send/Recieve menu item, the part of Outlook2000 that queries mail servers launches in it's own process. If you have multiple accounts, do a send/receive, and close the main Outlook window (to end the program) before the send/receive finishes, the main Outlook program closes but doesn't terminate the child process. Next time you try to run Outlook, it recognizes itself (or what it thinks of as itself) in the orphan process, and then fails to finish loading itself, leaving two orphan processes.


Then people launch again, and again and again.

If you have NT/2k/XP, you can Ctrl-Alt-Del for Task Manager, and switch to the processes pane to see if there are orphan Outlook processes. There are other creative options for making Outlook go nuts, too.

To get to Chowlett's question, it depends on if you're configured to use Exchange Server as well - for the average schmo on the street, all Outlook data are stored in a .pst file extension. The standard file name is Outlook.pst

That file is typically in the c:\windows folder if you've been running older versions of Outlook/Windows and upgraded, otherwise, if you're set up with network logons, running Win2K or XP, etc., then it's likely in something like C:\Documents and Settings\(either User or your login name)\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

If you run Outlook to connect as an Exchange Server client (assuming you're talking about a work comp instead of a personal desktop or laptop), the file locations are similar, but you have different files for inbox, etc., with different extentions than .pst

To clear and restart the mail accounts, you need to do it from Outlook - Tools - Accounts then select the account and click Remove.

Since you're using IMAP folders, also check the properties of the folders (to see the files used to store them locally), and check the Tools - IMAP Folders menu item as well.