Outlook is used in many corporations by many users and has been for many years. So it is not surprising that problems eventually emerge that are related to file sizes or email file corruptions.

Sometimes when an end user has started Outlook they will report receiving an error code such as 0×80040116. Usually the error message will read, “Outlook.pst can not be accessed – 0×80040116”. If this error message is received then be aware that this could result in a loss of all emails and contacts that have been saved in Outlook. So it is a serious error code message and one that will require immediate attention.

This is one of the reasons why I always encourage email archiving so as to reduce the use of Personal Storage Folder (.pst) files which can be difficult to use. Having a good email archiving solution can also help when data and other critical email files have become corrupted or accidentally damaged and are no longer accessible.

There are other reasons why the error code 0×80040116 can be received. It is also possible that the error code has been generated in response to a file size limitation having been reached. Usually this will occur if a 2GB maximum file size had been encroached while running Outlook 2000 or earlier versions. If this is the case then an administrator should try running a couple of different tools to correct the problem. Some of these tools include: ScanDisk, PST2GB and ScanPST. These tools can be used to reduce the size of the “pst” file below the 2GB limit.

Continue reading Troubleshooting the 0×80040116 Error Code

In another post I discussed the situation of emails that are not sent and are instead stuck in the email outbox. The flip side of that problem is when emails that are in the email inbox seemingly disappear. This can occur after email messages have been read. It can also happen if the preview pane has been opened and the email has not yet been read.

What might be happening is that a filter is being applied that only displays unread messages. Obviously what needs to happen is to either remove the filter or modify it.

If you want to reset to a known state you can also just remove all filters. This is a very easy procedure.

• In Outlook 2000 bring up the View menu and move to the Current View.
• Once there you can click on Customize Current View.
• This will bring up a View Summary dialog box where you can then choose Filter which will pop up the Filter dialog box.
• Here you’ll want to click on Clear All and then click OK or hit enter a couple times to exit the dialog.
• You should now be able to view all email messages whether they are read or unread.

There is another possible cause for disappearing emails. If one of your end users has managed to set Outlook so that email delivery is pointed at a personal folder file such as a pst file then this can have the undesirable consequence of disappearing email.

Continue reading How to prevent emails disappearing from the inbox

So you’re thinking of acquiring a new email archiving tool and need to craft an acquisition and implementation strategy. Here are some things you may want to consider.

Regulations, rules, requirements and product warranties can make buying archiving tools a minefield. By consulting with your corporate legal and compliance people, as well as your company’s business managers, you can get an idea about where those mines are buried. Moreover, you can use your efforts to educate yourself about what requirements must be met by your new tools to build support and acceptance among your legal and compliance people.

When garnering information from legal and business colleagues, it’s important not to lose sight of your role as a technology advocate. While it’s critical to know what your new archiving tools must do to meet compliance and warranty demands, it’s also crucial that those unschooled in the intricacies of storage management understand basic concepts, such as the distinction between backups and archiving and the hard and soft costs attached to storage.

Keep in mind that your new archiving tools need to do more that meet compliance requirements if they’re going to be accepted by your users. After all, you don’t want to trade one headache–jumping through compliance hoops–for another–a disgruntled user base that sees your new technology as an impediment to its doing its job.

Continue reading Tips when making email archiving choices

By now, every business knows that they need to archive their emails, for convenience, as well as for compliance, e-discovery, and disaster recovery purposes. But once archived, how long do you need to keep them?

There’s really no fixed answer, as is often the case when lawyers are involved. But what’s most important is that there is a written policy about data retention, and that it is followed to the letter, documented, and has an audit trail. The reason for this is clear. Suppose for example, that you are subject to a lawsuit, and opposing counsel has demanded records pertaining to a certain subject. You provide records going back two years. But you have no written policy on data retention. Guess what? Even if the records you provide show no evidence of your guilt, you still lose by default. That is of course, assuming that your opponent has a competent lawyer. The logic behind this is that since you have no retention policy, you may have deleted older emails that showed your liability. 

Now suppose that you do have a written retention policy that says you archive all emails for two years. But, there’s no formal audit trail that shows when those archives are accessed. Again, you lose. Opposing counsel will argue that without an audit trail, there is no reason to believe that you haven’t gone in and erased the evidence! Oh, those tricky lawyers.

Continue reading Email archives, retention periods, and tricky lawyers

The upcoming release of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 includes new email archiving features.  Previously the domain of third party add-on products from various software vendors, this marks the first time it has been built in to the Exchange Server product itself.

Given the long and proven history of some of the third party solutions one wonders whether Microsoft’s first attempt at a built in archiving feature will compare favorably.  Let’s take a look at what we know so far about archiving in Exchange Server 2010.

Exchange Server 2010 Archiving

There are a few pre-requisites for Exchange Server 2010 archiving to function.  Firstly, it requires Enterprise CALs for the users that will be archive enabled.  In addition, the archive mailbox is only viewable using Outlook 2010 (due for release sometime after Exchange 2010), which means Outlook 2007 and prior versions will not be able to see it, although it is visible using the Exchange 2010 Outlook Web App.

The archiving feature can be enabled on a per-mailbox basis.  Once enabled it creates a second mailbox for the user, the archive mailbox.  Mailbox items can be moved to the archive mailbox either manually or via the use of Retention Policies set by the administrator.

Unlike the primary mailbox, the archive mailbox cannot be cached by Outlook for offline access.  This reduces the file size of the cached OST file on the end user’s computer; however, this benefit is somewhat redundant because the OST file format in Outlook 2007 SP2 and Outlook 2010 has been greatly optimized and will now run quite efficiently at large sizes such as 10 gigabytes. Continue reading Is Exchange Server 2010 Archiving a Hit or Miss?

Have you ever received error messages about running out of memory when using Outlook?

There are many reasons for why this will happen. Most of the time, I find myself closing down applications on my screen to free up memory. Sometimes you will find that your email clients are using up system resources on the computer. You may see the following error show up repeatedly:

Task ‘private email of company – Sending and Receiving’ reported error (0×8007000E): ‘Out of memory or system resources. Close some windows or programs and try again.’

I’m going to explain a couple ways for you to avoid this issue.

Continue reading Outlook Out Of Memory Errors

Occasionally your end users will open up their emails or personal folders and make the horrific discovery that their files have seemingly disappeared. They try a couple more times and then, after concluding that one of their co-workers has planted a virus or hacked into their email, they go bursting into your cubicle, panicking and pleading with you to please find their email!!!

Lucky for you, you know a thing or two about a thing or two

There are a couple of reasons why email disappears from email folders. One of those reasons is that the <dot> Personal Store (PST) folder for the default email has accidentally been deleted by a user for whatever reasons. It’s possible that the “Del” key was accidentally hit or the Shift plus Del key combination may have been mistakenly chosen. It’s also possible that the Deleted Items Folder was emptied out. And there will probably be the suspicion that someone other than the owner did remove it intentionally. So checking the logs will be an appropriate course of action once you – the administrator – have restored some office sanity.

And with viruses as common as they are today there always exists the possibility that Microsoft Outlook emails were lost due to a virus attack. Sometimes just the action of compacting a <dot> PST file can cause corruption due to the 2GB <dot> PST file size limit. If the <dot> PST file header is corrupted this can also lead unreadable emails.

Continue reading Recover Lost Or Deleted Email Files

Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger of California signed the state’s Electronic Discovery Act, which is effective immediately. An earlier version had been vetoed for what was said to be budgetary reasons. The Act lays out procedures for discovery of electronically stored information in California. As is the case with any piece of legislation, especially legislation from California, the actual text is quite lengthy, but it’s similar to the most recent revisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For most data centers, there is no big cause for alarm, since the law doesn’t deviate much from the Federal e-discovery standard.

Under the new legislation, when somebody requests electronically stored information (ESI), they may specify the format they would like to receive it in. If the party doesn’t specify a format, then the data should be produced in the same format that it was originally created, or in another format that is “reasonably usable.” It’s only necessary to produce the documentation in a single format.

If the data is not what the Act terms “reasonably accessible,” it is possible to refuse the request if it causes undue burden or high cost. But it’s not enough to just say “I can’t get to it”–if you want to claim that the data is inaccessible, you have to state specifically why, and you have to identify the sources and types of data that can’t be accessed. The burden of proof that the data is not accessible falls on the party from which the data is being requested. This is of course a very subjective rule, and an email admin managing archives should be prepared to produce in any event. So long as the requesting party has a more expensive lawyer, the point of whether it is “reasonably accessible” could be debated endlessly, or until your company runs out of money, whichever comes first.

The administrator may appropriately be tasked with administering, or at least overseeing, the process of email archiving, if for no other reason than the fact that end-users are not likely to do it themselves. The process of archiving emails, if left to individual end-users, would be chaotic at best. Uniform standards must apply, and archiving needs to be done according to a rule-based procedure; without such a rule-based procedure, the enterprise risks falling out of compliance with one or more legislative mandates.

But there are two pieces to the archiving puzzle: Putting things into it, and taking things out of it. The first part can be largely automated and done according to a set of rules that specify that emails get archived after a certain period of time. But as for the other end—searching the archives—that’s another story entirely.

Continue reading Self-service retrieval

You have an email archive and you’re doing everything right in disaster planning. You’re archiving to an off-site storage facility, the archives are easily searchable, and remotely accessible.

Email archiving has been a hot button for several reasons, the most noteworthy of which are compliance with regulation, compliance with internal policy, and disaster preparedness. We’re always facing increased regulation, and there’s likely to be more, especially with the renewed Federal focus on cyberspace security. Disaster preparedness has been on everyone’s minds ever since 9/11, and it was reinforced by Hurricane Katrina, and this increased awareness is a good thing for everyone. And finally, more internal policies are including more details and requirements concerning email archives as part of their overall security and emergency preparedness initiatives.

Continue reading Getting ready for disaster: Dress rehearsals