Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fixing Launch Problems In Outlook

Outlook’s Cannot Start error is surely something you’ve already seen. This is a common problem, faced by many users. What happens is that the email client application doesn’t launch when you open the shortcut to it. Usually, you have the Invalid XML error too, which is one of the causes for this. You generally call a technical support service, when you encounter something like this.

Running the inbuilt Office Diagnostics tool doesn’t suffice to get rid of the problem for you, and neither would you find any errors in this way. The best way to handle the situation involves relaunching the program, this time using the /resetnavpane switch. Alternately, you could try deleting the <profile_name>.xml file and then, running Outlook.

The latter will cause Outlook to create a new XML file, for which it will also set up a default navigation pane folder structure. Any customization you previously had on the navigation pane would be lost, of course, including the favorited folder items. You may face the same problem in XP, if Outlook is being run in the compatibility mode. Keep in mind that this setting is totally unnecessary in any version of Windows, you run the email client in.

Using the /resetnavpane switch

  • Close the program.
  • Go to the Start Search if you’re on Vista or Windows 7, and type in Run. Hit the Windows key + R combo, and paste the following in the field shown there: outlook.exe /resetnavpane.
  • Hit the Enter key.
Removing the Navigation pane configuration file

You might face problems while using the switch, in which case you can find and delete the navigation settings, or the XML file containing it. Go to the Run command in the Start menu, and paste the following in the text field: %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

Hit Enter and you’ll have an explorer window pop open, showing the folder, where the configuration files for Outlook are saved. Find the file, which has the configuration settings for your profile, and delete it.

For fixing other such problems in Outlook, try launching it in safe mode, which means that the customizations and add-ins will be disabled. You can do this by holding down the Ctrl key, when you click on the Start Menu shortcut. Alternately, you can type outlook.exe /safe into the Run command box.

If the above procedures can’t fix the problem for you, call Omni Tech Support for assistive troubleshooting. You will get the best quality services at Omni Tech Support, and at the most economical price.

Monday, October 6, 2014

How To Recover A Deleted Outlook Distribution List

Microsoft Outlook is an email management program developed to enhance convenience in communication and overall productivity of businesses. This does not mean that Outlook is only used for business purposes though; there are many individual users using the email client application too.

Outlook is the most popular email applications developed up till now. There are many features for enhancing emailing experience in Outlook, that most users are heavily dependent on the application for their day-to-day tasks.

One the best thing about Outlook is the ability to allow multiple email accounts configuration. This way, you will be receiving all your important emails at one place. Another productive feature is the distribution list, which helps to create a list of contacts to which you wish to pass on a message collectively. Let us check out this distribution list feature in brief.

Using Outlook Distribution List

Though Outlook provides such an impressive feature, which helps to streamline the routine messaging tasks easily, it is not fully guarded against accidental deletions. Users need to take care of that.

It is a common problem, when users delete some of the contacts in the distribution list or the entire list accidentally. Once deleted, you have no other option but to check it out in the Deleted Items folder. The procedure is same as recovering any other deleted items in Outlook. But in case you are using a personal account, the list will be completely deleted once you empty the Deleted Items folder. It will also be deleted if you close the email client.

However, there no need to panic. Even if the email program deletes the list and empties the Deleted Items folder, it keeps the data saved up to 30 days on the server. This is a safety mechanism Microsoft Outlook has, for helping users with possible accidental deletions. Here is how you can recover the deleted items in Outlook.
  • First, open the Outlook email client. Then, click on the Deleted Items link located on the left-hand column. Thereafter, click on Tools and then select Recover Deleted Items.
  • Then, you need to choose the Outlook distribution list that you want to recover. Click on Recover Selected Items after the list is highlighted.
  • When done, go back to the main menu. You can now drag and drop the recovered distribution list into the Contacts folder.
This is how you can recover the distribution list from the Deleted Items folder, in case you accidentally delete it.