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MS Office Forum / Outlook / Contacts / January 2005Outlook 2003 contacts button not working
I have a user running windows xp professional, and recently installed Office 2003. the user was running Office XP, and uninstalled that, then installed Office 2003. Everything went well, except that the contacts button doesn't work. When I click on it, nothing happens. I can right click on the contacts button, and then click on open in a new window, and it works perfectly, all contacts are there. I can also access his contacts through the address book just fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Help us out here. "Contacts button?"  SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] >I have a user running windows xp professional, and recently installed >Office [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > the address book just fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > Thanks. Contacts Button = (shortcut?) On the lower left side of the screen you have shortcuts or (buttons)..... inbox, calendar, notes, contacts....etc... to reiterate the problem, when clicking on any of the shortcuts, it brings up the appropriate view in the main window, except for contacts. It does absolutely nothing. I have installed Office 2003 SP1, however that did not help at all. If you right click on the shortcut and click on "open in new window" it works just fine, albeit in a new window. Any other questions please let me know. Thanks Mike D > Help us out here. > "Contacts button?" [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > the address book just fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks. Never seen this reported. See if you have a corrupt view. Try starting Outlook once with the /cleanviews command line switch. This switch (and a few other really helpful ones) are discussed here: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q156/9/82.asp SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] > > Contacts Button = (shortcut?) On the lower left side of the screen you [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >> > appreciated. >> > Thanks. My user is currently on vacation, so I will not be able to try your suggestion for a few days. I do appreciate your help, and will let you know what happens when I get the chance to try it. thanks again, Mike D Do keep me posted. This is an odd one. SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] > > My user is currently on vacation, so I will not be able to try your [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Mike D Alrighty, I have tried using the /cleanviews and the /resetoutlookbar switches. neither changed anything. When using the /resetoutlookbar switch, Outlook doesn't open, I just get a quick hourglass, and a "ding" sound. When taking the switch off of the shortcut, nothing had changed. The /cleanviews switch did open outlook, but didn't change anything either. I have looked through all the settings in outlook, but can't seem to find anything that would affect this. NOTE: It's looks like XP Pro doesn't like utilizing switches when the path contains a space (c:\program files...etc) whenever i tried to place the switch on the original .exe file, it would tell me "cannot open "c:\program". When I copied the .exe straight to the c: then it would allow the switches to be used. Don't know if i'm really offering any informative information to help you help me, but unless you have another suggestion, it looks like I am going to have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. Thanks for your help! Mike D > Do keep me posted. This is an odd one. > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > > > Mike D 2 other things to try since reinstalling rarely if ever solves anything: 1. Close Outlook, rename "outcmd.dat" with Outlook closed and restart Outlook. This will clear any toolbar customizations you have made and reset Outlook to its default 2. Create a new profile from scratch. SignatureRuss Valentine [MVP-Outlook] > Alrighty, > [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] >> > >> > Mike D I have tried both suggestions, and neither works. After a little more fumbling around, i figured a couple of things out. My user had personal folders setup that he wasn't using at all. I believe that the button in the navigation pane is trying to open the contacts folder from his personal folders, the only problem with this theory is that when you right click and select open in new window, you get the contacts from the server. I successfully made a shortcut in the shortcut pane to open his contacts, however the shortcut will disappear if you switch views (i.e. click on mail, and then click on shortcuts again.) Is there a way to change the focus of the contacts shortcut in the navigation pane? My user isn't too concerned about this problem since he can get to his contacts by opening them in a new window, however, this is something that is just floating on my to-do list and i would like to get it taken care of. Thanks for the support, and hopefully we can figure this out somehow. Mike D > 2 other things to try since reinstalling rarely if ever solves anything: > 1. Close Outlook, rename "outcmd.dat" with Outlook closed and restart [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > >> > > >> > Mike D What happens when you tried creating a new profile, as Russ suggested? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx >I have tried both suggestions, and neither works. After a little more > fumbling around, i figured a couple of things out. My user had personal [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] >> >> > >> >> > Mike D Absolutely nothing. My user really hadn't customized his views or settings or anything, so it came back exactly like it was. The Contacts shortcut does the exact same thing. In the right pane whatever was there (i.e. calendar, mail) stays there, and the navigation pane goes totally blank except for two links (i think they were "share my contacts" and "open contact") The first is not necessary to do, and the second is really just a search for a specific contact (which it will return if you enter a valid contact) At the very top of the navigation pane there is a spot called "My Contacts" but there is nothing in it. I was hoping I could just add the contacts in there somehow, but I can't seem to figure it out. Look forward to more suggestions. Thanks Mike D > What happens when you tried creating a new profile, as Russ suggested? > [quoted text clipped - 76 lines] > >> >> > > >> >> > Mike D Since shortcuts are specific to each Outlook profile, it sounds to me like you created the profile but didn't actually use it to start Outlook. What folder are you trying to point the shortcut to? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Absolutely nothing. My user really hadn't customized his views or > settings [quoted text clipped - 96 lines] >> >> > to >> >> > have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. the problem isn't with the outlook shortcut. It is within outlook, getting his contacts to display properly. I pointed the shortcut that I created within outlook to the contacts folder (that reside on the server) The shortcut would work properly, however as soon as you changed views (i.e. clicked on mail or calendar) and then went back to try and access the shortcut, it would not be there anymore. Basically, I just need him to be able to click on contacts in the lower left hand window, and have his contacts display. Mike D > Since shortcuts are specific to each Outlook profile, it sounds to me like > you created the profile but didn't actually use it to start Outlook. [quoted text clipped - 101 lines] > >> >> > to > >> >> > have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. Please be specific. Is it the user's Contacts folder in an Exchange mailbox? On a Personal Folders file? In Exchange Public Folders. I don't know what you mean by the lower-left hand window. As a scorched earth tactic, you could start Outlook once with the /resetnavpane switch to remove all navigation and shortcut pane customizations and start fresh. At this point, I think this is what you may need to do. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > the problem isn't with the outlook shortcut. It is within outlook, > getting [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >> >> What folder are you trying to point the shortcut to? >> > Absolutely nothing. My user really hadn't customized his views or >> > settings [quoted text clipped - 114 lines] >> >> >> > to >> >> >> > have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. Specifically. Outlook 2003 -- Navigation Pane -- Bottom (buttons or shortcuts) There is a (button or shortcut) that is called contacts -- when clicking on it, it does not open the contacts folder from the users mailbox. They are stored on the server under his mailbox. -- at least that is my understanding of where they reside. All the other (buttons or shortcuts) work just fine (i.e mail and calender..etc..). As for the scorched earth tactic, there were never any customizations made. This problem has been there since installing Outlook 2k3. I've just been made aware that a second user is having the same problem. These are the only two installations of Outlook 2003 that we have done so far. Mike D > Please be specific. Is it the user's Contacts folder in an Exchange mailbox? > On a Personal Folders file? In Exchange Public Folders. [quoted text clipped - 144 lines] > >> >> >> > to > >> >> >> > have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. Switching to the Contacts navigation pane (which is what you do when you click that button) for the first time during an Outlook session will display the user's default Contacts folder. That could be on an Exchange server mailbox or in a Personal Folders .pst file, depending on how the user's mail profile is set up. The default folder is the one in the same store as Outlook Today. Perhaps the user's default store isn't what you think it is? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Specifically. > [quoted text clipped - 185 lines] >> >> >> >> > to >> >> >> >> > have to try uninstalling and reinstalling office. Then why would I be able to right click on it and select open in new window, and it opens a new window where the contacts are displayed properly? > Switching to the Contacts navigation pane (which is what you do when you > click that button) for the first time during an Outlook session will display [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Perhaps the user's default store isn't what you think it is? I don't know. Are you still talking about the big Contact button at the bottom of the navigation pane? Did you check on the configuration issue I suggested? Did you try using /resetnavpane? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Then why would I be able to right click on it and select open in new > window, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> >> Perhaps the user's default store isn't what you think it is? |
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