Outlook wont connect to Exchange

M

Mabrito

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
7,004
I restarted my server this week and since then I cant get Outlook to connect to my Exchange 2003 server. OWA works just fine where I can send and recieve emails and do other Exchange activities just fine but when I try to use Outlook 07 it just doesnt work. Any ideas? I tried restarted the services as well and still nothing. The error Outlook is throwing is: "Task 'Microsoft Exchange' reported error (0x8004011D): 'The server is not available. Contact your administrator if this condition persists'"
 
O btw the servers Event Viewer isnt throwing any errors or less Exchange has its own Event Viewer somewhere.
 
Well I decided to just remove the Exchange connection from the Outlook connections and just reinitialize it. So I delete the Exchange connection from my Outlook and then go thru the steps to re set up the connection and now get this error when I try to open Outlook: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. You must connection to Microsoft Exchange with the current profile before you can synchronize your folders with your offline folder file."
 
This is on XP x64. Windows Firewall has Outlook in its exceptions. I did have this working before, then I restart the server and now its not working even though OWA access is fine.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
Well I decided to just remove the Exchange connection from the Outlook connections and just reinitialize it. So I delete the Exchange connection from my Outlook and then go thru the steps to re set up the connection and now get this error when I try to open Outlook: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. You must connection to Microsoft Exchange with the current profile before you can synchronize your folders with your offline folder file."
Click to expand...

So when you went through the setup wizard you were able to get outlook to accept your mailbox settings but once it tried to connect you got the error ?

If so does it show "Offline" ? try hitting F9.
 
I should of mentioned that when that error message pops up everytime I start Outlook, Outlook closes once I hit ok.

Also I tried connecting to my Exchange account through my laptop and I still get the same message. So it seems like this error message is coming from Exchange itself and not a Outlook being stupid error.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
I should of mentioned that when that error message pops up everytime I start Outlook, Outlook closes once I hit ok.

Also I tried connecting to my Exchange account through my laptop and I still get the same message. So it seems like this error message is coming from Exchange itself and not a Outlook being stupid error.
Click to expand...

Are you running w2k3 SP2 or Sp1 w/ the scaable networking pack installed ? If so is TCP chimney disabled ?

try runnign this on the server..... Netsh int ip set chimney DISABLED
 
On your outlook 2k7 machine do the following

Start > Run

Paste the following in the Run window

outlook.exe /promptimportprf \\localfolder\outlook.prf

Hit enter

This will re-initialize the outlook profile. Once you start outlook back up, it will reconfigure and you whould be ok.
 
k1pp3r said:
On your outlook 2k7 machine do the following

Start > Run

Paste the following in the Run window

outlook.exe /promptimportprf \\localfolder\outlook.prf

Hit enter

This will re-initialize the outlook profile. Once you start outlook back up, it will reconfigure and you whould be ok.
Click to expand...

Tried that, still a no go. Like I mentioned earlier, also tried connecting to my Exchange account with my laptop and it still isnt working and gives the same error. Something is stuck in Exchange it sounds like.
 
For this particular user, under 'Exchange Advanced' is there a tick in the 'Hide from Exchange address lists'? If so, try unticking it...apply the settings...and then re-launch Outlook again.
 
Check the SSL Certificate on the Exchange Server if your using RPC over HTTPS, verify it has not expired.
 
This is my own Exchange server so I didnt bother putting a SSL certificate on it. I do not have 'Hide from Exchange address lists' option in the Advance options.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
I wish I could even get that far. But when that error message pop ups and I hit OK, Outlook closes. I cant even get into Outlook when I have a Exchange account setup.
Click to expand...

Did you try my sugesstion of disabling TCP Chimney ?
 
Make sure the information store is mounted in ESM. if you can't mount it, your information store may be corrupt, which i believe means you'll want to look into eseutil to repair it.
 
SJConsultant said:
Check the SSL Certificate on the Exchange Server if your using RPC over HTTPS, verify it has not expired.
Click to expand...

Yea- that's caused me headaches in the past. That's the ONLY step in setup of RPC over HTTP that I usually forget (You have to browse to the server to install the cert)... and it drives me crazy why it won't work.
But if you don't use SSL then I guess a moot point.

Did you try rebooting the server again? Why exactly did you reboot it??? If it was for an update it might've screwed something up.
Just this one user??? Sounds to me like a server at your house- which isn't highly critical to get running I guess...

I'd disable all firewalls/AVs, reboot server again... see what happens.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
This is my own Exchange server so I didnt bother putting a SSL certificate on it. I do not have 'Hide from Exchange address lists' option in the Advance options.
Click to expand...

Is this an SBS server? If yes, then a self signed certificate was already installed. Again, check to see if it has expired. Login to OWA then check the SSL cetificate and verify if the SSL cert is expired or not.

Lazy_Moron said:
I wish I could even get that far. But when that error message pop ups and I hit OK, Outlook closes. I cant even get into Outlook when I have a Exchange account setup.
Click to expand...

Go to the Control Panel, click on Mail, then email accounts. You can resetup your Exchange settings there and then try to start outlook.
 
SJConsultant said:
Go to the Control Panel, click on Mail, then email accounts. You can resetup your Exchange settings there and then try to start outlook.
Click to expand...

If he tried the run command i listed earlier and it failed then this won't work.

With outlook 07 i have only had luck with the run command, not the mail section.

OP: What OS is this running on?
 
k1pp3r said:
If he tried the run command i listed earlier and it failed then this won't work.
Click to expand...

AFAIK The command you told him to "cut and paste" will not work because the path "\\localfolder\outlook.prf" is merely a "template" where the path should be replaced with the actual location of a PRF file. The other problem with the command is PRFs generally do not exist unless someone creates the PRF file.
 
SJConsultant said:
AFAIK The command you told him to "cut and paste" will not work because the path "\\localfolder\outlook.prf" is merely a "template" where the path should be replaced with the actual location of a PRF file. The other problem with the command is PRFs generally do not exist unless someone creates the PRF file.
Click to expand...


Nope, i ran that exact command, it looks for outlooks local path, which is were it stores the profile
 
This is not on SBS. This is on Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. I got Exchange through my schools Academic Licensing program and MSDN with one of those academic licenses. I do not have any SSL certificates at all. My room mate and I installed it because its avaliable to us, so why not install it and learn it features. Exchange is installed my old P4 machine that we are using as a server in our apartment.

oakfan52:
I could not find an option for TCP Chimney in the Advance options when setting up the Exchange account in Outlook.

Gambit:
I can still can connect to the account with OWA and still send and recieve messages and do any other Exchange activity. It even syncs with my phone still. Can the information store still be corrupt if I still can do all that?

I rebooted the server because I updated the video card drivers and it needed to reboot after installation.

In about an hour, ill make a new user and make a Exchange account for the user and see if I can connect to that Exchange account with Outlook.

O yeah, my main rig I use Outlook on is on XP x64.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
This is not on SBS. This is on Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. I got Exchange through my schools Academic Licensing program and MSDN with one of those academic licenses. I do not have any SSL certificates at all. My room mate and I installed it because its avaliable to us, so why not install it and learn it features. Exchange is installed my old P4 machine that we are using as a server in our apartment.

oakfan52:
I could not find an option for TCP Chimney in the Advance options when setting up the Exchange account in Outlook.

Gambit:
I can still can connect to the account with OWA and still send and recieve messages and do any other Exchange activity. It even syncs with my phone still. Can the information store still be corrupt if I still can do all that?

I rebooted the server because I updated the video card drivers and it needed to reboot after installation.

In about an hour, ill make a new user and make a Exchange account for the user and see if I can connect to that Exchange account with Outlook.

O yeah, my main rig I use Outlook on is on XP x64.
Click to expand...


Run the following from a command prompt......" 'Netsh int ip set chimney DISABLED'
 
Ahh, I missed the part about OWA working. In that case, oakfans solution should work. I believe there are some issues with some updates to win 2003 that cause issues with some connections. Pretty sure we had something like this happen to our MX server at work when we first got it up and running.

After you run the netsh command, it may take a few minutes to regain the ability to connect. If after a few minutes you still can't connect, reboot.
 
Ok, do I run this command on the server or on the workstation with Outlook?
 
That command still didnt work.

But now the server is being a total bitch to me. I cant use remote desktop at all and only my desktop can access the shares I have on it. My laptop cannot access the shares at all and both computers cant establish a remote desktop connection to the server. Doubt this is related, just stating my frustrations and venting a little. OWA is still working fine though...go figure. Thank god this is a home server.... Event viewer is still staying clean from error's as well.
 
What if you installed a VirtualMachine on your laptop... and tried to connect from it????
 
k1pp3r said:
What handles your DHCP/DNS, and is the server on a static IP?
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. This would be good to know.

Also are you using the Cached Exchange mode in Outlook? In my experiences this mode can be somewhat quirky. Try NOT using this mode if you haven't already.
 
Lazy_Moron said:
That command still didnt work.

But now the server is being a total bitch to me. I cant use remote desktop at all and only my desktop can access the shares I have on it. My laptop cannot access the shares at all and both computers cant establish a remote desktop connection to the server. Doubt this is related, just stating my frustrations and venting a little. OWA is still working fine though...go figure. Thank god this is a home server.... Event viewer is still staying clean from error's as well.
Click to expand...


Try this ..... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037
 
Yeah I gave it a static address. It seems like my laptop is the only one that cant access the shares. My desktop, room mates laptop, and my VM in Virtual PC 2007 can access the shares. I do not have DHCP set up as there is no need in my case. Me and about 3 other people are the only ones accessing the shares from it. Like I said its just a server we use to store back ups of our school work and learning purposes (such as Exchange and AD). I havnt done anything to the DNS since Active Directory set it during its installation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top