Will do, Stephen Boots.

Stephen,

Back in July, when I first tried to put Outlook back together, I ran scanpst a few times. I don't know what the results were because nobody could interpret them for me. What I read from the program results, not the log, didn't clarify anything, but I knew it wasn't repairing any files. I completely forgot about it until tonight. (This is why I took a BREAK. A healthy computer and vice versa.)
From an old log "Attempting to validate BBT refcounts" & "Couldn't find BBT entry in the RBT (211C8)"

Tonight I ran scanpst on two different (older) files. One of the descriptions said 18 folders and no files. The second file that I scanned left me with 700+kb pst.

Currently, I have many backups and images from three programs and three drives (computer and external).
I restored from backup (B & R) once, which worked fine. I haven't tested anything lately, but obviously they are not all failed backups.

Is scanpst sufficient enough to determine what's wrong with my file(s)?
Could this screwed up file be causing the Outlook Send/Receive errors? That would be a smart computer.

Thank you.

scanpst looks for and attempts to repair the database that holds your mail, calendar, etc. for an Outlook profile. If errors were found that could not be repaired, logs and messages during the scan process could provide a clue.
Nothing in your descriptions of the problem suggest that the regular error messages are due to issues with the local storage for your mail on your PC. The error messages you've had over the years continue to suggest that the problem is due to one or more of the following:
1. Incorrect account settings for the mail account(s)
2. Installed program interfering with the mail send/receive/sync process
3. Network issue
4. Problem at the mail provider with your account

-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Good morning,

I know Outlook will blame ATT & vice versa.
I have to check ATT for a different reason - so I'll do some research. When I tried setting up my account in Acronis to send myself notifications, it failed. Maybe my settings are wrong, which would surprise me, but sometimes it's the simplest thing. Outlook worked with this setup after installing OL 7/22. (When I uninstalled the other account we discussed above.)
I can get mail at SBC directly, so it's not my provider.

I tested network adapters - fine.
I tested my WiFi connection - no difference to Send/Receive.
I followed a 14-pt list - http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Common-Compu ... ork-Issues
and did what I could. Not sharing files with my Admin account.

I will test OL in safe mode later.
What kind of programs could conflict with outlook?

A quick note on sync is that I never use it. If I now need it for a reason that wasn't necessary prior to this installation, that would be new.

As far as scanpst - on how many files should I do the scan? Isn't there a Repair Outlook (not the data files) option? (I used to use it often - on recommendations from you, I think.)

The last log replaced all the others, so the only notes are in the future.
Can you tell me what those two errors indicated?

Thank you for some options.

What do you mean by "get mail at SBC directly, so it's not my provider."?
Repair Outlook is within the steps in this link -- https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... n-US&ad=US
I don't think Outlook if broken, I think your account settings might be wrong.
The only programs that would potentially conflict with Outlook -- and any email program -- would be an antivirus or firewall program that either proxies your mail to scan it or blocks/reroutes the connection.
The log entries basically indicate that some references in the index to items that should exist as an item -- mail message, task, folder, calendar entry, note, etc. do not line up. The index defines the structure that you see that allows you to view the items in the program interface. Somewhere there may be an item that you might see in a folder that won't open as it isn't where it "should be" in the database structure. Or there may orphaned items that don't appear at all in the program interface, but exist in the database. The scanpst program attempts to repair these associations and sometimes it cannot.
-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Boy oh boy - what a sloppy sentence.
Since I can get my mail by logging in at ATT/SBC, I would assume it's not #4, my provider.
If repair isn't a solution, I won't do it.

New AV - I am using Avira for the first time. I never replaced a Windows AV before this W10 installation. I'll try immediately.
This kind of great answer is why I asked you.

In spite of your explanation of the logs, it's not close to sinking in. I'll try reading it later.

Thank you.

I'm still not clear on the ATT/SBC thing. Do you mean that you are logging into their web mail portal to get email and because that works, you are confident that your provider is not having a problem? And by provider, you mean ATT/SBC? I am going to go out on a limb and assume that's what you mean (all of the above). The web interface to your email is very different from using your email program (Outlook) to get your email. If it works in the web browser, but intermittently gives problems in Outlook, that does not rule out a problem on the provider's side.

As for the antivirus, the problem existed before you installed Avira, yes? Then I have to say that Avira is not likely the cause. You could uninstall Avira and let Windows Defender be the antivirus, but I suspect that the problem will persist.

And the scanpst log is a bit technical and I tried to explain it in a less technical way. I'm an old guy, so let's try it another way. The index is the map to tell Outlook where things are within the huge pile of bits and bytes that is the .pst. When you look at Outlook, you are looking at a nice presentation of folders and emails in tidy lists with icons and text. You read an email by clicking on the item in a list. Outlook knows where the item is because of the index, so it can gather the bits to show you the message. If the index is corrupted in some way, that means that there could be items in the list that Outlook can't display or items that are not shown in the list because Outlook doesn't know that they are in the pile. The scanpst tool attempt to resolve these issues by rebuilding the index and matching the bits and bytes to the index -- rebuilding the map. The log entry from your last run says it found some issues it could not fix. A problem within the .pst with the index will not be the cause of mail send/receive errors *unless* the broken index is causing a send/receive to try to send a message it can't find. I don't believe that's what you are dealing with, so any data file corruption is unrelated to the problem with send/receive errors - in my opinion.

-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

*You got it - exactly! Okay, so they are still in contention. This afternoon I started getting the Invalid Password errors. Feh. Your second explanation to my error log is much clearer. Thank you.

I reentered my settings. I sent myself a test. It was a success. Immediately after, the usual S/R error returns. :Task 'nancyamericaneagle@sbcglobal.net - Receiving' reported error (0x800CCC90) : 'Your incoming (POP3) e-mail server has reported an internal error. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). The server responded: -ERR [SYS/TEMP] problem retrieving message.'

I disabled Avira. You are right.

Above you called the problem intermittent again. It's not. I just checked all settings at ATT. My settings are fine.

I started OL in safe mode. Error is there. ATT has a listing for a dozen errors, but none of them are mine.
I am at a loss.

I will tell you what I learned, forgot - it's like physical pain - and now remember. Everything that is/was wrong with my computer was/is attributed to a corrupted Win10.

As far as OL, I will resume where I left off in my troubleshooting steps.

Thank you.

Stephen,

I ran a scan of a recent file. It repaired what it could, but it's a mess. Why the log isn't saved on the desktop where you can easily find it immediately after the scan closes and disappears is beyond me.

If it's a mess in Backup & Restore, is it without a doubt a mess in the other backup programs? Since the other backup programs do not call their psts "pst", the only way to check them is to do an restore.

Does this also mean that my images are bad?

One of the issues, other than it being a very long log, is that it refers to Line X.
How are you supposed to know what is on line X?
" !!AMap page <@17408> has csFree of 12, but should have 125 "
" !!Attachment table for 24F5C4, row doesn't match sub-object: irow = 0, RowID = 226A5 "

Why doesn't it say Success or Fail after it says it's going to "attempt" something?
How do I work with this log?

Going to run an image, anyway.
My heart is in my stomach.

Thank you.

Scanpst does a decent job at repairing the database -- usually, but sometimes it fails and for you and I the details in the log are pretty meaningless. The two errors you copied in the last reply tells me very little, but it appears that there is a reference to an attachment, but that attachment information does not match what is expected.

The .pst file is *not* a backup. It is the file created and used by Outlook for storing all local items (mail, calendar, etc) associated with an email account or accounts.

-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

What I meant is that my file backups by non-MS products are not called pst files so the only way to restore those files is by using the originating program. It was a meaningless point, anyway.

I have a page full of other examples. Are you suggesting that an interpretation would be useless?

When I used an OL duplicate email finder, it had other functions that I thought might be useful later. Not remembering specifically, they seem to be about/for data that would be saved in an OL pst.
I think these results indicate that I am wrong about that ----- when I restored OL, my settings weren't saved, my Rules & Alerts weren't saved, my Contacts were empty, dictionary was empty, and probably other tweaks as well. (Remember how I pushed you on SyncToy settings? The previous sentence was why I pushed.)
From today on, how do I save everything needed to be able to restore a 100% fully functioning Outlook?
It almost sounds as if the problem is with OL, not with the file - is that the wrong conclusion?

Thank you.

Many of the Outlook settings are not stored in files, but rather the Registry.
Have a look here - http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/config ... -settings/
Backing up Rules: https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... 7C3DFED1EB
Your Contacts should have been in the .pst file, but there are odd behaviors when changing profiles and restoring backed up .pst files -- see the first link above -- that can cause the Profile to have multiple address books and Contact and your primary address become being disconnected.
-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

No kidding - in registry?

This will be a fascinating read, but since I wiped out my hard drive (internal) in July, what I have will be mostly too obsolete except for my long-time customers.
I think the only response I have to your explanation is that I haven't changed profiles. The only thing I did to Outlook since rebuilding my computer is backing up its data daily. Unless yours is an either/or construct (not that I would have had to both change profile and restore backups) , it definitely applies to me.

This does remind of something that flits in and out of my consciousness - sometimes when I enter a search word or name in Win Search - (not inside Outlook), I will see multiple responses (w/the contact icon) and I wonder where the hell I would even begin to look for it, because I know that I did not YET add that particular person or company to my current Contacts list. That's fairly remarkable. I'm not sure when I would remember to mention that ODD situation.

(Re Primary address being "disconnected.") Do I understand correctly that it might also explain my ongoing email errors?

Wow, Stephen.

Thank you.

Working backwards...

No, "disconnected" refers specifically to the internal relationship in the Outlook Profile to the Address Book and Contacts. The Outlook folder for Contacts can be an Address Book. Multiple accounts in Outlook allows for multiple Contacts folders and each of them can be an "Address book" when addressing messages. Sometimes an Address Book points to a Contacts folder in an older PST rather than the current one when one fiddles with the Profile to Data file (PST) relationship.

The search results showing a People icon probably means that Windows Search has indexed and found an item matching your search that is an email message or has some other relationship to People and Mail. Since you used search, you should be able to click on the results list item to arrive at the item -- and the search results list should also provide details on where this item can be found.

The items stored in the registry are rules, alerts, and other settings (as described in the article). It has nothing to do with the mail. When you wiped your drive in July, you wiped out the rules, alerts, and other settings in the registry. They were not backed up, so restoring the data file would not bring them back. If you wiped your drive in July, you created a new profile and account settings as these are not contained in the PST.

-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I now understand your disconnected context.
Would the March 2010 Outlook restore put items back into my registry?

I have a rules wizard file, which either is empty or I do not have a way to restore today. I was going to try dropping it into my pst, but that doesn't seem practical either. No idea how it is a standalone file, but maybe in 2010 it was created that way.

I am usually searching for something else, so I make a note somewhere and then probably delete my notes.

I installed the Classic 8 - I think it's called - the Search window that looks like Win7, so opening the corresponding file is not always an option. That is the one thing I don't like about it, but I intensely disliked Win10.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Still.

Thank you for the further clarification.

Rules in Outlook 2010 (and 2007) were stored in a .rwz file. Outlook didn't always recognize a copied rwz file. http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/ ... ard-rules/

What is "the March 2010 Outlook restore" you are referring to? (It's early, so if I should know that from an earlier post...)

-steve

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I restored Outlook to an old pst file from 3/2010. All other psts were corrupted.

Missing a lot - such as contacts, rules, settings, etc. That's where I started when I found an old - 11/2015 SyncToy file, which, if it could have been mined for data...

Ah... I see. Thanks for explaining.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

You are welcome.

PS - Thought you might like to know. Last week for the first time, I got an Acronis error in backing up files, not in creating a full image. No errors anyplace else, but I don't find that encouraging.

They will interpret my log.
I hope to learn how to make a complete OL file.

Nancy

It won't help you now, but for the future, consider Outback Plus http://ajsystems.com/outbackplus/obp.html. When you run it's back up it saves EVERYTHING you need. A restore to a new outlook install will have you up and running immediately.

Note, I use a tool like sync toy to keep outlook current on a 2nd machine, and it works, but if I do a new outlook install syncing to it will NOT have everthing outlook needs. Doing a restore from Outback plus will.

As an additional plus you can also have it back up browser setting and also data files.

Peter,

As I briefly mentioned, I had installed a couple of Outlook addons to clean up the dupe emails.
Those programs had many more options that seemed important for creating a new pst.
They cost money, which I wasn't going to pay for deleting dupes and I completely forgot about them when I was shopping for an image and file backup program.

There are some great scripts for deleting dupes, but I don't know how to write script - even with instructions.
I think Sync Toy is both too little and too much for me and my one computer.

Thank you for the suggestion.