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Suddenly most of my boss' emails, including those from safe senders, are going to junk mail. No one else in the office is having this problem with Microsoft Outlook 2003 and we are all networked. Even an email from one of them winds up in junk mail.He has checked all of his settings and is perplexed since this problem started a few weeks ago.Thanks for any and all suggestions and hugs for a remedy.Ellen Weiss XXX@XXXXXX.XXX(XXX) XXX-XXXX
Optional Information: Computer OS: Windows XP Browser: IE Already Tried: checked all settings for safe senders
Welcome to JustAnswer.comMy name isXXXXX am one of the experts who will assist you today!We may need to try a few different things to stop this from happening.. So please consider this attempt 1.. We may need to make a second attempt, but lets try this first!1. Open Outlook and go to Tools>>Options... in the menu bar. 2. Select the Mail Format tab at the top of the dialog box. Under the Message Format heading you should be able to use the dropdown menu to select which type of mail encoding you want to use. Your probably on HTML on your bosses account... Try changing it to RTF ..
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Hi Dustin,
There was no choice of RTF, only Rich Text and Plain Text. We selected Rich Text and I then tried emailing my boss. Unfortunately, it still went to his junk mail. I am ready for your next plan.
Ellen
Im sorry, i used the abbreviation.. Rich text and rtf are the same.. Glad you tried that out..lets try to turn off the junk filter..
No luck, Dustin. It's still going to email.
I will be leaving soon but continue if you can and my boss will follow up on your email
Ok.. I have no control over where the replies go.. I assume they will keep arriving at whichever accout you signed up for just answer with.. When you say no luck.. Its still going to junk mail.. We turned the junk filter off.. Does your boss still have an inbox folder? Sounds like a silly question.. But they can be erased.. could you check the inbox folder is still there.. If it is.. Then start outlook, click help, then click detect and repair.. make sure to choose the Discard my customized settings and restore default settings check box. Then..
Before I change the settings back to default, I would like to know if this will cahnge all my screens and layouts that I have set up for outlook. By the way, I do have an inbox. Only almost no email is going to it. 95% ends up in the junk box
I assume that Im talking to the " Boss " now.. So.. Some email is going to the inbox.. I was under the impression that all was going to the outbox.. Question.. And this may seem basic, but its always good to cover the basics.. Have you tried clicking the individual messages in the junk folder, and then marking them as not junk?? If you have tried that,, Are they still coming in from the same sender as junk afterwards?
Yes,I tried all that
Please answer my previous question about whether the default settings will change the screen appearances. Thanks Jeff
Apologies for the delay.. Had went offline by the time you replied.. Ok, I didnt want to assume you had tried to mark as not junk, but since you have.. To answer your previous question.. Changing the default settings would change your screen appearance.. So, if you dont want to re configure the settings yet.. Then we could try something else.. But Im thinking that your version of outlook is corrupted.. SO lets try the repair without restoring the defalt settings first..open outlook..
Dustin,
He just tried your last suggestion; however, it did not correct the problem.
Is it of any importance for you to know that Jeff logs in on two different computers, one has Outlook 2003 while the other is an older version XP small business.
Hmm.. Are both running at the same time.. ? We may neeed to either shut one down and leave it that way why we carry out these commands, or.. We need to run every command on both.. Personally.. Id rather shut one down.. That way it isnt interfering .. Which computer hve we been running these commands on?
The very last suggestion, he did on both. Yesterday's were done only on the computer with XP small business.
Ok... Is it possible that we can shut down one computer temporarily,, for testing purposes..?let me know if that is possible before we redo some steps, and take some new ones!
We'll shut down the one with XP small business. ok?
Ok thats sounds good. So that will just leaves the one with outlook 2003.ok, on the outlook 2003 computer, lets redo a few things since the other computer is off.
I clicked on blocked senders and there are hundreds listed(i.e. Viagra), but none of them are ones I want; the senders I want are in safe senders or safe recipients.
Ok... Thank you for checking that.. This is going to sound crazy.. But on the blocked senders list, can you check and see if your boss's email is in that list.. Sometimes spammers will send you an email, and spoof your own email address.. So when you click on block sender, youve actually just blocked your own email address and everything that goes to it is now junk mail.. ( because you inadvertenlt blocked your own email address) If your own email isnt listed in the blocked senders list. Then, I hve question.. Do you have a second anti spam program running by chance besides outlooks junk filter? If so.. that is probably causing the issue.. You cant run two at once..If not.. Then we need to download and install a tool to overide outlooks junk filter..the link below, contains instructions on doing so. and how to use it. If you get stuck, tell me where and I will help you through it!http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/fix_junk.htm
Yes, Jeff's name is XXXXX XXXXX blocked sender's list and has been for the past 5 years.
We also have been using Panda, an anti-spam virus program for at least 7 years.
Based on this, should I disable the Outlook spam filter?
Hmm.. Since your using Panda as well.. Lets do this.. remove his name from the Blocked sender list.. Because Im 100 percent positive we cant have the account holders name on the blocked sender list and get messages normally. Then.. lets send a test message.. If that doesnt work.. Lets try as a test, disabling panda.. because panda could be diverting all the mail as well.. We need to disable panda first.. and then send another test message. But.. Before doing so.. remove jeffs name from the blocked sender list.. Disable panda.. then close and reopen outlook.. then send the test email.. let me know what happens.
Panda is on our network; I don't think I can disable that.
Ok,, to start with.. Remove Jeffs name from the blocked senders list.. Theen close and reopen outlook..And send him a test email.. let me know what happens!
Done. My test email went to junk. He wants to put his name back on blocked senders if that is ok since it reduces his spam.
Since I can't disable Panda, should we disable Outlook's spam filter.
I leave at 4pm and we are closed on Fridays; however, Jeff will be here until at least
5pm(EST).
About having his name on the blocked senders list, we can put it back shortly, when were done testing.. But that is usually something that causes almost all email to go to spam.. Leave his name off for now.. And overide outlooks junk filter by doing the following.Then we need to download and install a tool to overide outlooks junk filter..the link below, contains instructions on doing so. and how to use it. If you get stuck, tell me where and I will help you through it!http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/fix_junk.htm
We highlighted button for no automatic filtering and we can't make any progress after that. Can you call us a (XXX) XXX-XXXX or give us step by step directions (pretend we are in kindergarten).
Sure.. I can try to include some screenshots to help.. But first , can you clarify.. Are you working on doing the steps on this link below..?http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/fix_junk.htmOr.......... Are you just working with outlook.. And you have highlighted no auto filteriing?
I have highlighted the no auto filtering then went to the outlook-tips site and tried to follow the information about the registry editor, but there are no steps to follow. It just says type in regedt in the start search field. I did this and it didn't do anything
Ok, so my steps can be as specific and easy to follow, as possible.. The current computer your on now.. Is it windows xp, windows vista?
All of our computers are XP
Ok, thanks..Lets copy your pst first, just in case..click start, click run, type in %appdata% now hit enternow click microsoft , now click outlook, do you see a file that ends with .pst is there more then one?
There is no file that ends with .pst
Ok, we may need to show hidden files first then..click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options.Click the View tab.Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.click apply, then click ok..Now, lets try this again.click start, click run, type in %appdata% now hit enternow click microsoft , now click outlook, do you see a file that ends with .pst is there more then one?
There is no program that says windows explorer. There is only internet explorer??
Ok, its there.. It just probably isnt listed.. Lets get it another way.. Look on your keyboard at your spacebar. Now, look 2 keys to the left.. you will see the windows key, in betwee the alt key and the Fn key Press and hold the windows key.. Hold it down, now press E that will bring up windows explorer.. ( its a window youve probably seen many tims before) On that specific window.. click the Tools menu , click Folder Options.Click the View tab.Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.click apply, then click ok..Now, lets try this again to see the Pst file..click start, click run, type in %appdata% now hit enternow click microsoft , now click outlook, do you see a file that ends with .pst is there more then one? If not.. what do you see in side the outlook folder?
The 2 keys directly to the left of the space bar on my Logitech keyboard are alt and the start button with the windows logo. There is no fn key. If I hold the start button with the logo and press E, the window that posp up is My Computer. I followed your instructions here but the show hidden files was already highlighted. Still no .pst
The show hidden files was already set..Ok.. When we go inside this folderclick start, click run, type in %appdata% now hit enternow click microsoft , now click outlook Do you see a folder that says profile?If so, click to open that folder..now do you see any files that end with pst.. if not.. what do you see in there?
No profile folder. There are 6 items here, labeled as follows. None of them are yellow folder files
otcmd video movie
outitems text doc
outlook office data file
outlook.srs
outlook.xml
outprint
Hmm.. Sorry for the run around.. it seems your outlook file isnt in the standard place.. Lets try to find itI thik the link below explains it well, and has some nice pictures to boothttp://ask-leo.com/where_is_my_outlook_pst_file_located.html Follow the guide to show the location of the outlook file,, then let me know the location. usually, if we find one pst, we find them all in the same place.
I am responding from home (Go to my PC) and have read your instructions. I will have Jeff follow them when we are back in the office on Monday. He usually gets in around eleven am.
Thanks,
Thank you for the response Ellen.. I will be online all day monday to assist further.. I hope you enjoy your weekend!
Jeff should be in sometime before noon today and hopefully, together, we will solve
the problem.
Ok, last thing we were trying to do was locate his pst file.. ( pst file is what holds all the mail, settings etc..) Look forward to hearing from you Ellen.. Hope your weekend was relaxing and enjoyable..
You should be hearing from Jeff very soon. It's been a crazy day.
Ok Ellen, thats fine.. If today is no good.. I will be here tommorow and the rest of this week as well, during business hours.. I understand that you guys probably have more pressing issues, and im more then happy to work around your shedules..
Hi Dustin
Trying to pick up where we left off. Perhaps there is no pst file on my computer because our emails are stored on our file server. Is this possible? Anyway let me know what you woule like me to do next and if I am to do it from my computer. Please email me at my desk to XXXXX@XXXXXX.XXX I know it will go to junk mail but I will find your responses there. This way I can do it all from my desktop instead of Ellen's
Thanks
Jeff
Hey Jeff.. I cant control where the email goes.. Thats not the way this interface works. To protect our customers privacy, it blocked out your email.. Your pst file, most likely, is on your server. And its almost definitely corrupted, and the root of the whole issue.. Do you know how to access the files on your server..?
Sorry I don't know how to access the files on the server. I am hesitant to start messing around with the server without my tech support person. He had told me that he would have to reload the server because of this problem. Do you have another suggestion?
Actually.. That is a good suggestion.. Your tech support person should understand this.. tell him, that your pst file for outlook, on the server is corrupted.. and it needs to taken off the server.. Than run scanpst.exe on it.. then put it back on the server to solve your junkmail issue.. Thats the only thing left, as we have already covered every other option.. And once you have eliminated all the false postives, it only leaves one thing left.. Scanpst.exe , run it on the main copy of your pst on the server.. and it will fix the issue.. The tech guy should be able to do that in about five miniutes..Please click accept so that it shows I assisted you!If you still need assistance, You can reply to this message at any time.Thanks!
My tech guy said that he had done this before, but will take another look at it.
If all works out I will accept your answer.
I appreciate all your efforts and assistance
If hes done it before, then it shouldnt take to long to do again.. If i was there.. it would be five minutes. He has to make sure though that he removes all copies of your pst off the server first.. Then.. run scanpst.exe on the pst file for your account.. Sometimes its good to run it two or three times.. Then put it back in place.. If that doesnt work.. then your pst is corrupted, and he needs to make a new pst for you.. and put the brand new pst on the server.. Anytime you store your pst ( the data file for outlook) On a server, you will ultimately have these types of corruption issues. Your welcome so far.. If this doesnt work.. ( the first step of running scan pst.. ) then that means your pst is too corrupted.. And he will need to put a new one on the server.. You wont lose all your emails, s long as you dont erase your original pst.
My tech guy did all the scans of pst and ost and then reloaded everything. Still no luck. In about one hour he is sending me a list of everything he has done to date. I will send it onto you to see if you have nay other ideas. At this point, if we can't come up with another idea or solution, he will have to come in and completely reload the server with all the programs from scratch. Obiously something is off the rails that keeps directing all my new mail to junk.
Ok, Thank you for updating me.. When you send me the list, im gonna have a few of the techs here I know are geniuses look over it.. im pretty good, and Im sure your tech guy is, but we both could be missing something.. ( obviously we are missing something, or it would be working right?)
See below the info we received from our IT person.
From: Jeff MearSubject: Email actions to date
History AMI originally had installed Office XP (2002) Pro to work with SBS Exchange 2000 and many moons ago built a Personal folder .pst (outside of exchange) that Jeff categorized pockets of info. At some point we UPGRADED his computer to Office 2003 Pro and continued to run the same way. With the introduction of SBS Exchange 2003 providing Outlook 2003, we installed JUST Outlook 2003 on all other computers Jeff has another computer that was no longer in use at another place in his organization running Office XP (2002) Pro and Outlook 2003, and he logged in and setup the Outlook 2003 to show just his Exchange mail with no access to that Personal Folder .pst. He has run this way for some years. Along the way, at his main computer, he built up Blocked Senders, Safe Senders, etc. in the Action Junk Mail area. Recently most all of his inbound email is directed to Junk Mail, but I observe that the nightly report from Backup Exec finds its way into the Inbox. Actions have I taken Firstly, I deleted and rebuilt Jeff's Outlook profile (including caching) and did NOT include the Personal Folder .pst in the setup, then deleted the Outlook folder from C:\Documents and Settings\Jeff\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft. Secondly, overnight I closed the priv1 and pub1 folders in System Manager and ran eseutil on both /g integrity and /d defragment - all clean. Then I restarted Jeff's Outlook and allowed it sufficient time to rebuild the Outlook.ost. NO FIX in the classification of inbound mail - NOTE no Personal Folder .pst in the picture. Thirdly, I attempted to reintroduce the Personal Folder .pst because Jeff needed the information. However on settting it up I discovered it was in 97-2002 format and Outlook refused to allow its use. Research discovered that the are NO .pst converters from 97-2002 format to 2003-on format. Someone offered a $250 fix which I declined. Further research indicated that the 97-2002 format could be imported into 2003 format .pst and with a little creativity (to get around "You cannot import into the same folder"), I managed to get the job done although it took 6 hours to convert. NO FIX in the classification of inbound mail - NOTE with Personal Folder .pst now in the picture. Jeff uninstalled Office 2003 Pro, rebooted and reinstalled Office 2003 Pro. Note that this action did not destroy his BLOCKED SENDERS LIST etc in Action Junk Mail. I have deleted just the BLOCKED SENDERS LIST in the Action Junk Mail and set the filter to LOW. I know nothing about the setup on the other computer that Jeff uses for email except to say that he uninstalled Office XP (2002) Pro AND Outlook 2003, then installed Office 2003 Pro which has the same classification of inbound mail problem. I have done no work on Outlook setup on this machine and following the install of Office 2003 Pro, Outlook was operational upon initiation. I know nothing of the Action Junk Mail settings nor about the Profile or Cache setting and I did NOT do any deleting to permit the cache to be rebuilt. Note that mail has been sent to Jeff with BOTH computers having Outlook shutdown, and no matter which one starts Outlook, the item appears in Junk Mail. This does NOT affect other Exchange mail users. I am only left with the thought of a complete reload of SBS 2003, but since this situation is not debilitating, that remains until we have more attempts to find a resolution. _______________________________Please note that $38.00 was charged to my American Express card despite the fact that I did not click OKAY. I am not protesting that charge and do appreciate your efforts; however, I would like you to pursue this case and am hoping that the info supplied above will help.
Jeff Mear
Just got back from a buiness vacation Jeff, My apologies for the delay. Was reading over the very detailed info your IT guy gave, very detailed. I can definitely say, he knows tech. Before we get into that, i would like to address the easiest to explain portion of your letter. The 38 $ charge.. I am not in control of accounting nor charges, It would be a conflict of interest to have experts able to bill customers, as a lot of experts would probably do so just for the time they put in, even though the problems arent fully resolved, and thats not how this site operates. What happened is this, the 38 $ is a good faith, or security deposit charged by the website. This is done to ensure that paying customers get tended to by experts, if no deposit was charged, then any one of the billions of interent users could ask for help, and paying customers such as your self would wait XXXX amount of time for the assistance they needed. Your deposit is fully refundable , now or at any time. If youd like me to end this session and put in a refund request for your deposit, i can message Customer Service and make it happen. I just want you to understand that this is a large corporation, and I havent charged you, nor could I.. Its only when the accept button is clicked that any portion of your deposit is released to my work account. If you want the refund , or want to continue, let me know.. Im going to read over this a few times, at the moment, Im thinking about what your IT guy said about the different versions of outlook being installed over top of one another on two computers.. With all we have tried, and he has tried. And the two versions being installed, this points to registry corruption. The fix, if im correct should be rather easy to implement, but thats if Im correct. If incorrect, then it doesnt leave a lot of dominoes to turn over. But it does continue to narrow the issue.. Will look forward to your replies one way or the other, and my apologies for not helping to solve this sooner.
I was questioning the $38. charge only because I do not recall clicking the accept button, but no problem. You certainly have put in a lot of time and I would like for you to continue.
No problem Jeff.. I dont blame you at all for questioning the charge, the site intends well but i think the wording of their deposit page can throw you off. Im talking this over with a few colleagues of mine. ( the junk mail issue) Ive sent an edited version of the technical report you sent me to a few friends as well ( edited out names and personal data) I think this may be a registry issue, but im still not sure it isnt an issue with your pst file on the server itself Want to do a little research first, as there are steps we can take, but im hoping that i can reassure both of us that we are taking the " right " steps. If i havent messaged you by this evening, or early morning, send me a reply.. Talk to you soon Jeff.
No rush, Justin. I am leaving in a few minutes for a trip to Colorado. I should be back in the office next Thursday afternoon.
You last wrote:
Ive sent an edited version of the technical report you sent me to a few friends as well ( edited out names and personal data)I think this may be a registry issue, but im still not sure it isnt an issue with your pst file on the server itself
Just wondering if you have an update.
Hello Jeff, I sent a reply after that.. It appears, that it didnt go through.. Was wondering why I hadnt heard from back from you. Im thinking at this point.. Your account has serious issues.. The best recommendations we came up with. Was to abandon your current account.. What we want to see is this.. If we completely erase your accounts from one of your computers, and then.. Add a co workers account.. We want to see if that account will function correctly on your computer. And then.. To complete the loop, we want to add like its new, your account to a fellow co workers computer. This is the only way to eliminate the account, and the computer as a culprit. The idea is this.. If we put someones elses account on your computer, and it starts behaving the same way.. Then theres something underlying on the computer. To continue the idea, if we put your account on someone elses computer, and your account behaves the same way from scratch.. Then that tells us theres an issue with your email account itself. And if it works on another computer, then we also know its not the server having some sort of issue. At this point, so we dont work on this forever. we have to complete eliminate possible targets. I think to start with, recreating your account from scratch on a working co workers computer is the best bet.And when i say recreate from scratch. I mean, do not import anything from your computer no pst, no ost, no files. Just a clean build. on a working computer. If you need guidance in doing so, I will be happy to provide it.. I know its been a while But please forgive the communication error. Im not allowed to send replies unless you have responded. as its considered flooding the customer
Jeff will be in Chicago until Wednesday. Our IT person is coming to the office on Nov. 9th and we will share your info with him and let you know how it goes.
Ellen Weiss
Thanks Ellen, Also add to Jeff, that I mentioned you deserve a raise!! Look forward to your messages then..
I knew you were bright........................incredibly bright. Thanks.
Ha ha ha.. Glad my genious is recognized Ellen.. Not trying to flood message you, I have to reply last, that way when you send your next reply, the message returns to the top of my cue. I dont want the message to get lost like last time.. When you have further information, please reply, and as long as Its after I reply, your message will be first in line so I cant miss it.. Thanks again, and look forward to hearing from you.