Outlook XP / Exchange 2010: Text E-mail

[JimmyC]

When you receive a text e-mail message from an Exchange 2010 server--while using Outlook XP---the e-mail displays as blank. I guess this is a known bug. The work around is to move the text e-mail to a personal folder and it will then display (i.e. I can confirm this works). You can also move the text mail from the personal folder back to the inbox and it still displays properly (i.e. I can confirm this works too).

I have been searching the internet and have found comments that its possible that a Outlook vb script can be created that will move all incoming text e-mail messages from the inbox to a personal folder and back to the inbox--prior to the end user knowing that this process has occurred--thus the text e-mail will display properly when opened by the Outlook account owner. But I am now at a dead-end as I can't seem to find anyone that has posted such code let alone instructions on how / where to store such code...

Does anyone have experience with this issue or can point me in the right direction?
Thank you
JimC

[JoeP]

I saw that some had success by creating a new mail profile.

Joe

[JimmyC]

Joe--thanks, but I must have seen the same posts---unfortanately re-creating a new profile made no difference. Some of those same posts said that a script worked--but the individual did not offer any additional insight. Thanks again. JimC

[HansV]

Outlook 2002 (XP) is not officially supported with Exchange 2010, but from what I've read the problem also occurs in Outlook 2003 and 2007.

Some people report that creating a new e-mail profile solves the problem, so I'd try that first. (I see you've already tried that)

I'm not sure that a script such as you mention would really work - it would only run while Outlook is open, so it wouldn't apply to messages that arrive while Outlook isn't open.

As a workaround, you can view the e-mails in Outlook Web Access.

[JimmyC]

Hans--thanks. I guess I didn't think about Outlook needing to be open to work. I guess a script would need to run when opening Outlook (i.e. to process any text messages that arrived while Outlook was not open) and then also stay "active" while Outlook is open to handle those text e-mails as they are received. Have I said this correctly? Maybe its 2 scripts--one that fires when Outlook opens and open that stays active while Outlook is running? Wow, I am out of my league.
JimC

[HansV]

Frankly, I don't know how to have such a script run automatically.
As an alternative, here is a macro that you can run on selected e-mail messages. The macro can be assigned to a custom toolbar button.
It will move each of the selected items to a folder in a pst and back.

Code: Select all

Sub ThereAndBack()
    Dim i As Long
    Dim c As Long
    Dim v As Object
    Dim nsp As NameSpace
    Dim fld1 As MAPIFolder
    Dim fld2 As MAPIFolder
    If TypeName(ActiveWindow) = "Explorer" Then
        c = ActiveExplorer.Selection.Count
        If c > 0 Then
            Set nsp = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
            Set fld1 = ActiveExplorer.CurrentFolder
            ' Modify as needed - this version moves to
            ' a folder named Inbox in a .pst with title
            ' Archive Folders
            Set fld2 = nsp.Folders("Archive Folders").Folders("Inbox")
            For i = c To 1 Step -1
                Set v = ActiveExplorer.Selection.Item(i)
                Set v = v.Move(fld2)
                Set v = v.Move(fld1)
            Next i
        Else
            Beep
        End If
    Else
        Beep
    End If
End Sub

Don't forget to edit the title of the .pst file and subfolder to match your situation.

[JimmyC]

Hans---thank you for the code---I am off to try it and will report back.

I continued to research last evening after work and I found several sites that claim a vb scribt can be set-up or assigned to an Outlook rule---meaning the script runs when Outlook is opened--just like any other Outlook rule. Sadly, I did not find any additional information beside the declarative statement on two different sites that a vb script can be assigned to an Outlook rule. I am "thinking outloud" wondering if assigning a script to a rule would address the issue of processing text e-mail messages (i.e moving to a pst and then back to the inbox) that arrive to an Exchange account while Outlook is closed.

Again, thank you. JimC

[HansV]

Attaching a script to a rule makes that rule run only when Outlook is active. It won't run when Outlook is not active. And unless you have a roaming profile, it won't run either if you login to another computer and start Outlook there. This is because Outlook saves the VBA code in a file on your hard disk. It is not saved on the Exchange server.

[JimmyC]

Hans--thanks for the additional clarification. JimC