'name or distribution list has been deleted' error message

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DDB - 31 Dec 2004 15:36 GMT

Outlook 2000 SP-3, Internet Mail Only, WinXP
When I enter name in e-mail To: box, the contact name is displayed with a
dashed, black underline. Right click; Properties gives the error message:
The name or distribution list has been deleted and is no longer a valid
Address Book entry
If I then click on To button and the Select Names screen appears; then click
"ok"; the line under the name in the To: box changes to solid black. The
e-mail address from the Contact e-mail field is present because the e-mail
can be sent; however, if the name with the solid black line is
"right-clicked" no dropdown list is displayed. This prevents one from
checking the e-mail address associated with the name.
Must I delete and reenter every Contact that has this behavior? Many of my
Contacts entries work with e-mail addressing just fine, but several display
the error condition described.
I will appreciate any help offered.

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 31 Dec 2004 16:33 GMT

Have you tried repairing your PST file?
Have you checked the Contacts in question to be sure the addresses are not
corrupt?
Any idea what caused this problem?

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> Outlook 2000 SP-3, Internet Mail Only, WinXP
> When I enter name in e-mail To: box, the contact name is displayed with a
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> display the error condition described.
> I will appreciate any help offered.

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DDB - 31 Dec 2004 18:46 GMT

At your suggestion I tried to repair the pst file. Scanpst.exe found no
errors that I can tell; i.e. there was no "recovered personal folders" file
produced.
I retyped the e-mail address in the Contact in question, then saved &
closed. Problem remains.
As to what may have caused the problem, I can only say I have been living
with the problem for several years. Outlook 2000 previously ran on Win ME
and I did some imports of contact items from Outlook 2000 pst exports from
my Win ME laptop.
This issue may be a nit, but I have trouble explaining this "exception" in
Outlook's behavior to my spouse!
Hope you have more suggestions.
Happy New Year.

> Have you tried repairing your PST file?
> Have you checked the Contacts in question to be sure the addresses are not
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>> display the error condition described.
>> I will appreciate any help offered.

Reply to this Message

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 31 Dec 2004 19:58 GMT

The fact that there is no "recovered personal folders" file means nothing.
Scanpst will tell you if there are errors and you need to alternate it a
time or two with a scandisk utility to repair your file completely.
If you delete a Contact that produces an error message, then re-create it
from scratch, can you still not resolve the name?
The fact that this has been going on for years and the fact that you are
using IMO will not permit a diagnosis to be made.

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> At your suggestion I tried to repair the pst file. Scanpst.exe found no
> errors that I can tell; i.e. there was no "recovered personal folders"
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>>> display the error condition described.
>>> I will appreciate any help offered.

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DDB - 31 Dec 2004 21:02 GMT

It may be important that I have both Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express 6.0 on
my computer. I have two examples of the problem. In addressing Outlook
messages with the first name John Doe, if I type "Doe" the problem occurs (I
get the error message when I click "Properties" on the drop down menu). If
I type "John" things work as expected; i.e. I get the contact info when I
click "Properties" on the drop down menu.
In the second case it works in reverse. If I enter the first name, I get
the error message but things work fine with the last name!
I deleted and recreated both contacts and the problem remains.
The address book in Outlook Express shows the names at issue as well. If I
search for the names in the OE address book and click "Properties" I don't
get the error.
Scanpst didn't mention finding any errors. Do you recommend a scandisk
followed by rerunning Scanpst?
Thanks for your patience.

> The fact that there is no "recovered personal folders" file means nothing.
> Scanpst will tell you if there are errors and you need to alternate it a
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>>>> several display the error condition described.
>>>> I will appreciate any help offered.

Reply to this Message

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 31 Dec 2004 21:43 GMT

I already know you have OE installed. You can't use IMO without it. The
reason I can't solve this is that IMO does not use the Outlook Address Book
Service. It doesn't have that capacity because it's a simplified version of
Outlook. So it must borrow OE's address book engine, and it is there that
your problem resides. Microsoft abandoned IMO (thankfully) without ever
addressing these problems (regrettably). That's why I said there would be no
diagnosis and hence no cure.

The best you can hope for is some voodoo (AKA alternative medicine). Try
disabling sharing of OE's Address Book with Outlook. Do so in OE (Address
Book > Tools > Options). Reboot. Then re-enable sharing. Reboot again. See
if anything changes.

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> It may be important that I have both Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express 6.0
> on my computer. I have two examples of the problem. In addressing
[quoted text clipped - 54 lines]
>>>>> several display the error condition described.
>>>>> I will appreciate any help offered.

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