Cannot Open Contacts when using the Search Bar

S

SJMP

Using outlook 2003 when using the Search Bar in outlook contacts I type in a
name, it finds the contacts, but when I try to open it - "Cannot Open Item"
is the message I get.

I can open the item if I find it manually in the contact list.

this happens to all contacts so if I search for "se" it would retreive a
bunch of contacts and all of them would give me the same message "Cannot
Open Item".

To fix the problem I have to restart outlook. then it works for awhile and
then the problem repeats. Can someone please assist?

Thanks, - SJMP
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi Customer,

Issue:
==========
1. Cannot open the searched contacts. Error "cannot open this item".
2. Can open the contacts manually.
3. Restarting Outlook will temporarily fix the issue, and after a while, it
recurs.

Suggestion:
==========
Such an issue may occur under several situations. The most common causes
are:
1. Addins in Outlook 2003 affects the search contacts result.
2. Outlook profile was corrupted.

Let's perform the following steps to narrow down this issue and resolve the
issue.

Step 1: Start Outlook in Safe Mode
----------------------------------
1. Quit Outlook. Click Start menu, and click Run.
2. In the Open box, type: "Outlook /safe" (without the quotation marks).
Notes: There is a space character between Outlook and the forward slash (/).
3. Click OK. Keep working under Outlook safe mode to see if the issue
recurs.

If the issue is fixed under Outlook safe mode, the issue is mostly related
to the addins or Outlook cache files. Follow the steps below to fix the
issue. If the issue persists under Outlook safe mode, skip to step 2.

a. Open Outlook.
b. Click Tools menu > Options.
c. In Other tab, click Advanced Options.
d. Click COM-Add-Ins and then remove all add-ins, click OK.
e. Click Add-In Manager and remove all add-ins. Click OK, OK, OK.

Test the issue again. If the problem is still there, close Outlook program
and search for the following four files and rename them by changing the
file extension from ".dat" to ".old". These four files are temporary cache
files that Outlook 2003 loads on startup. (Be sure to check the "Search
hidden files and folders" box under "More advanced options")

outcmd.dat
extend.dat
frmcache.dat
views.dat

Generally the files can be located in the folder C:\Documents and
Settings\<LogName>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. Some
of them may not exist, please ignore it.

Step 2: Create a new Outlook profile
======
A new profile is a new environment for us to use Outlook. To create a new
profile is only for a test to see if the problem is related to the corrupt
profile of Outlook. Creating new profile will not do any damage to the old
profile.

To create an e-mail profile, please refer to the following article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB):

287072 OL2002: How to Create a New E-mail Profile for Outlook (This article
is also useful for Outlook 2003)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;287072

Is the issue fixed under the new Outlook profile? If so, let's move data
from the original profile to the new profile and keep using the new Outlook
profile instead.

Click File menu > Open > Outlook Data File > choose the pst file which
contains the data in original profile to open it in the new profile. Thus,
there should be a new Personal Folders in the Outlook Folder List.

By default, the pst file for original Outlook profile is located in the
folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\<your-login-name>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

If the issue persists, please take a screen shot of the exact error about
"Cannot open this item" and send it to me at <[email protected]>.

How to take a screen shot, please follow the steps below:
------------------------------------------------------------------
a. When screen shows up, press the Print Screen key (right of F12 key)
Note: nothing will happen.
b. Open MS Paint program (click Start menu > All Programs > Accessories >
Paint).
c. Click Edit (menu) -> Paste or press Ctrl + V.
d. Click File (menu) -> Save. Save it as a *.jpg file and send it to me as
an attachment.

If anything is unclear or if you have any other concerns, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
S

SJMP

Emily

Thank you very much for this detailed response. I will try all of your
suggestions and then get back to you.

Thanks,
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi customer,

It's always my pleasure to be of assistance. :) Feel free to let me know if
you need further assistance.

Regards,

Emily Lin

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hello,

I am just writing to see if you have had the opportunity to try the
troubleshooting steps or collect the requested information. If you have any
questions with the previous information I've provided, please don't
hesitate to let me know.

I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

======================================================
PLEASE NOTE: The partner managed newsgroups are provided to assist with
break/fix issues and simple how to questions.

We also love to hear your product feedback!
Let us know what you think by posting
from the web interface: Partner Feedback
from your newsreader: microsoft.private.directaccess.partnerfeedback.
We look forward to hearing from you!
======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
S

SJMP

I have tried everything. And the problem still exists.

Is there a tool I can use to run against the contacts and see if there are
any issues with the contact entries?

I might export them -reset the permissions and then re-import them see if
that works.
 
S

SJMP

I did see something. Maybe you can shed some light on this for me.

If I change the default view to 'type' amd sort by 'icon' 90% of the
contacts do NOT have the contact icon next to them.
(on the left most part of the list - before the name) They have a yellow
form with a blue tac - like a sticky note.

Could this be the issue? How can I make them all 'contact' again.
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi,

Great! I am glad to hear that you found the difference Contact Icons in the
Contacts folder. First, please take a screen shot of the contacts folder
which contains abnormal Contact icons and send it to me at
[email protected]. Thus, I can view what is wrong with the contact
icon.

At the same time, please perform the steps below to see if it works.

Step 1: Repair Outlook
===========
Click Help menu > Detect and Repair. Click Start. Wait for the end of the
process. Restart the computer and then test the issue again. What is the
result?

Step 2: Create a new Contacts folder to test the issue
============
1. Click Go menu > Folder List to show the folder list.
2. Right click on the first folder and choose New Folder.
3. Name it as TestContact and choose "Contact Items" to create a new
Contact folder.

4. In the folder TestContact, create several test contact items. And then
test the issue. If it works fine, copy the contact items from the original
Contact folder to the TestContact folder to test the issue again.

If anything is unclear or if you have any other concerns, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
S

SJMP

Emily

I never heard back from you, did you recieve my email. I sent it yesterady
early in the am

Let me know - and thanks for your help - Scott
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the notification. I overlook your emails as they are in the Junk
Email folder. Now, I found them and thanks for the excellent screen shot.

Before we go any further, I would like to confirm with you that:
1. Was the same issue occuring in the new created TestContact folder before
you copy your really contact items into it?
2. Does the issue occur under Outlook safe mode?
3. As you said before, restarting Outlook will temp fix this issue. After
you restart Outlook, is the Contact icon shown abnormal?

Let's create a new Outlook profile and export/import the Contact items to
test the issue.

1. Open Outlook, highlight the Contacts folder.
2. Click File menu > Import and Export and follow the wizard to export the
Contacts as a *.csv file.
3. Refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) to
create a new Outlook profile.

287072 OL2002: How to Create a New E-mail Profile for Outlook (This article
is also useful for Outlook 2003)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;287072

4. Open Outlook in the new profile, click File menu > Import and Export and
follow the wizard to import the *.csv file into the Contacts folder.

Test the issue again. What is the result?

If anything is unclear or if you have any other concerns, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
S

SJMP

Before we go any further, I would like to confirm with you that:
1. Was the same issue occuring in the new created TestContact folder before
you copy your really contact items into it? No this is just on one machine
2. Does the issue occur under Outlook safe mode? No
3. As you said before, restarting Outlook will temp fix this issue. After
you restart Outlook, is the Contact icon shown abnormal? always yes
Click to expand...

Let's create a new Outlook profile and export/import the Contact items to
test the issue. I did same thing
Click to expand...
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi Scott,

As the issue doesn't occur when you running under Outlook safe mode, it may
be caused by the addins in Outlook which corrupted the contact items. Did
you perform the steps in my first response to uncheck the addins, rename
Outlook cache files?

For your convenience, I copied the steps below.

a. Open Outlook.
b. Click Tools menu > Options.
c. In Other tab, click Advanced Options.
d. Click COM-Add-Ins and then remove all add-ins, click OK.
e. Click Add-In Manager and remove all add-ins. Click OK, OK, OK.

Test the issue again. If the problem is still there, close Outlook program
and search for the following four files and rename them by changing the
file extension from ".dat" to ".old". These four files are temporary cache
files that Outlook 2003 loads on startup. (Be sure to check the "Search
hidden files and folders" box under "More advanced options")

outcmd.dat
extend.dat
frmcache.dat
views.dat

Generally the files can be located in the folder C:\Documents and
Settings\<LogName>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. Some
of them may not exist, please ignore it.

If you have performed the above steps and the issue persist, continue to
the steps below.

Step 1:
========
1. Close all Office applications.
2. Come to the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\ADDINS\
3. Choose all the files on this folder and press Ctrl + X.
4. Come to the desktop, press Ctrl + V to copy out all the files. Make sure
that there is not a file in the ADDINS folder.
5. Restart Outlook. What is the result?

Step 2: Remove the Outlook addin registry keys
==================
1. Click Start menu > Run > type regedit > click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins

3. Click File menu > Export to save them as 1.reg and 2.reg on the desktop.
4. Right click all the sub keys under Addins and choose Delete to delete
them. Restart the computer and test the issue in Outlook. What is the
result?

Step 3:
=========
Check taskmgr to see if any processes are loading with outlook if so
removed related software

Step 4: Disable all macros to see if it works
=========
1. In Outlook, click Tools menu > Trust Center.
2. Click "Macro Security", choose "No warnings and disable all macros."
click OK.

If anything is unclear or if you have any other concerns, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
E

Emily Lin [MSFT]

Hi Scott,

I am just writing to see how everything is going. If you have any updates
or need any further assistance on this issue, please feel free to let me
know. I am glad to be of assistance. :)

Sincerely,

Emily Lin,
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

======================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from this issue.
======================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
======================================================
 
Top