Outlook 2003 Calendar 'recurrence information' error message

[Manoj Bhargaw]

I am using XP SP1a and Office 2003 (Outlook 2003).
We use Exchange Server 5.5

Last Friday evening, I downloaded (and installed) Movie
Maker 2 and then the following things started happening (on
Monday). Nothing else has changed on the machine.
1) When I start Outlook, after about 10-15 seconds, I get
this error message: 'There was a problem reading one or
more of your reminders. Some reminders may not appear.
Cannot locate recurrent information for this appointment.'
2) I don't see a number of 'recurring' appointments (all of
them have had some 'updates', especially for a particular
occurence). And I mean NO occurences of those meetings are
visible in my Outlook.
3) Strangely enough, other users can open my calender
(through their Outlook) and see those appointments. Also,
my Palm still shows these appointments, even after
synching. I also see these appointments if I use OWA
(Outlook Web Access).
4) If the original owner sends an update to any of those
meetings (individual occurence or 'all'), I can't accept
those changes (including delete). Error message: 'Cannot
locate recurrence information for this appointment'. Not
only that, when I open a 'delete'/'cancel' request, I can
see the status line as 'This message is not in the
Calendar; it may have been moved or deleted'.

I tried the following:
1) Tried to 'repair' the Outlook installation.
2) Checked that Outlook does NOT use 'Exchange Caching'.
3) Turned off the 'off-line folders'. Tested Outlook.
Removed the existing file for 'off-line folders' and then
re-created it (by turning 'off-line folders' on). Tested
Outlook.

Any other ideas (besided 'removing Office 2003 and
re-installing it')?

Thanks much
MB

 

[Manoj Bhargaw]

I forgot to mention one more thing
Just like the 'delete appointment' (cancel/remove) request, I can NOT accept the same meeting. That is, when someone removes me from the recurring appointment, sends me an update and then adds me to that appointment again, the resulting 'updated meeting request' opens with the status: 'This message is not in th
Calendar; it may have been moved or deleted'. AND I can NOT accept it. The same error message: 'Cannot locate recurrence information for this appointment'

TIA

 

[chiquita]

Hola, ...

after having a LOT of trouble with Outlook 2003 and the error messag
"cannot locate recurrence information" and the unavaliability of th
reminder window, I wanted to post my findings so that others can shar
them.

Solution is as follows:
Obviously there is a corrupted repeating item in your calendar. To fin
it, change your calendar view to only view the repeating items. Tr
opening each and every one, one after another. You may find one or mor
items where you will get the same error message as above. Delete AL
the items that raise this error. Close Outlook afterwards and start i
with commandline switch /cleanreminders.

Done

Possible cause of the error: some users report simulteanously that the
use a third party conduit for PDAs or other programs that access th
Exchange database. Maybe these programs corrupt the repeat patterns o
the affected items.

Hopefully this is of use for anybody.

Greeting from sunny Germany,
chiquit

 

[chiquita]

Hola, ...

after having a LOT of trouble with Outlook 2003 and the error messag
"cannot locate recurrence information" and the unavaliability of th
reminder window, I wanted to post my findings so that others can shar
them.

Solution is as follows:
Obviously there is a corrupted repeating item in your calendar. To fin
it, change your calendar view to only view the repeating items. Tr
opening each and every one, one after another. You may find one or mor
items where you will get the same error message as above. Delete AL
the items that raise this error. Close Outlook afterwards and start i
with commandline switch /cleanreminders.

Done

Possible cause of the error: some users report simulteanously that the
use a third party conduit for PDAs or other programs that access th
Exchange database. Maybe these programs corrupt the repeat patterns o
the affected items.

Hopefully this is of use for anybody.

Greeting from sunny Germany,
chiquit

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Try starting Outlook with these switches: /cleanreminders, /cleanfreebusy
and /resetfolders. In the Start, Run dialog type the following (without the
quotes but with the spaces before the switches):
"outlook.exe /resetfolders /cleanreminders /cleanfreebusy", then press
Enter.

I forgot to mention one more thing.
Just like the 'delete appointment' (cancel/remove) request, I can NOT

accept the same meeting. That is, when someone removes me from the
recurring appointment, sends me an update and then adds me to that
appointment again, the resulting 'updated meeting request' opens with the
status: 'This message is not in the

Calendar; it may have been moved or deleted'. AND I can NOT accept it.

The same error message: 'Cannot locate recurrence information for this
appointment'.

 

[Manoj Bhargaw]

Thanks, Chiquita

This worked
1) Went through all the 'recurring' appointments and deleted the ones which gave errors (while opening)
2) Restarted Outlook with /resetfolders /cleanreminders /cleanfreebus

Thanks, again
MB

 

[Manoj Bhargaw]

Thanks, Ken for the information. By themselves, the switched didn't help. But using Chiquita's suggestions in combination with these switches did the trick

1) Went through all the 'recurring' appointments and deleted the ones which gave errors (while opening)
2) Restarted Outlook with /resetfolders /cleanreminders /cleanfreebus

Interestingly, when I did a search on "resetfolders cleanreminders cleanfreebusy", I got a NUMBER of threads (including 'outlookforum.com') which disucss this issue. The consensus seems to be: If you are using Sony Clie (OR Intellisync Lite) and Outlook 2003, this is a common issue

Anyway, thanks
M

 

[OpusLub]

-----Original Message-----
Thanks, Ken for the information. By themselves, the

switched didn't help. But using Chiquita's suggestions in
combination with these switches did the trick.

1) Went through all the 'recurring' appointments and

deleted the ones which gave errors (while opening).

2) Restarted Outlook with /resetfolders /cleanreminders /cleanfreebusy

Interestingly, when I did a search on "resetfolders

cleanreminders cleanfreebusy", I got a NUMBER of threads
(including 'outlookforum.com') which disucss this issue.
The consensus seems to be: If you are using Sony Clie (OR
Intellisync Lite) and Outlook 2003, this is a common issue!

Anyway, thanks!
MB

I do have a Clie, am using Intellisync Lite, and I'm using
Outlook 2003.

I think this may have finally resolved my missing reminders
problem which I've been struggling with for weeks, but I
had to delete *all* recurring reminders, then run the three
command-line switches simultaneously before my reminders
reappeared.

Thanks so much!