Outlook Rules Problem: Limitation

[Richard]

I have Outlook 2003 SP2. I am only able to put check marks by 4 rules I have
created which have a total of 48 individual email addresses associated with
them. When I put a check mark next to an additional rule (even if it has
only 1 email, associated with it) I receive the error message:

Microsoft Office Outlook (Popup box label
One or more rules could not be uploaded to exchange server and have been
deactivated. This could be because some of the parameters are not supported
or there is insufficient spacer to store all the rules.â€

What can I do to fix this limitation. My understanding is that Outlook
rules can support hundreds of individual email addresses. I have deleted and
re-created the rules and that has not fixed the problem.

The PST file is not large, and I have plenty of RAM available (over 400 MB).

 

[Mary Patricia]

There is a system file which stores the rules themselves. It has a finite
size (32K if I remember correctly) but I have never been able to actually
locate this file and see its file size. Regardless, the more complex the
rule, the bigger it gets. Sounds like your rules have reached the maximum
limit although there could be some other problems. I would try exporting the
rules out to a backup file (Tools-->Rules Wizard-->Options) and recreating
the rules one by one to see if you get the same results.

 

[Richard]

Dear Mary:

THank you for your response. However, I am shocked if the limit to rules is
3 rules associated with only 49 email addressess. I am surprised if the
limit is 32kb as well. When I export my rules he resu,ting file size is 44kb.

Also, when I select “Run rules Now†and put check marks in all the rules (I
have 9) and click “Run Now†the rules seem to perform as they are supposed to.
Richard

 

[Mary Patricia]

The size of the rules is not just tied to the number of email addresses but
to the complexity of the condition and/or action. In other words, if one of
your rules wants to move email to a folder AND forward it to some third
person, that rule takes up more space than a rule that only moves email to a
folder. Not sure if that applies to you or not, though.

Check each rule to ensure that all of the conditions and actions are
properly set. For example, if your rule stated that certain emails be moved
into your Company folder, and you later deleted the Company folder, this
rule would be now invalid and cause a similar error. You can tell this
easily by checking each of the rules and making sure all the conditions and
actions are specific to you and not generic. If the rule action says "Move
message to the SPECFIED folder" rather than naming a specific folder, that's
where your problem is. Just an example so check all of the conditions and
all of the actions for each rule.

Pay special attention to rules that call for a special sound alert or pop-up
alert as these rely on things outside of the normal Outlook system files on
your computer. If you've changed your sound themes, for example, your sound
alerts may get goofy.

If you see any rules tagged (client-only) or similar, get rid of them.
There's two types of rules: those stored on the server and those stored on
the client. Generally these two types don't play nicely together and that,
too, may be causing your problem.

 

[Richard]

Dear Mary:

Thank you for your detailed explanation. Al, of the rules I have just do
one function, They move the email from the inbox to a separate folder. No
special sounds or alerts are used because of the potential for problems that
you expertly pointed out. Also, I went through each rule ((since there are
only 9 it did not take long) to verify that all the folders exist. Finally,
as you point out, mixing the server and local drive is not always a good
think for Outlook, therefore I do everything off of the drive (all emails are
automatic ally downloaded to the hard drive inbox and all rules move to
folder in the PST file on the drive.

Is there anything else you can think of that I can try to fix the problems?