funkyGibbon

Hi all,
I have been asked by my boss to find a solution to a problem that only he is experiencing with his outlook. The problem being that when you start typing in an address that Outlook should know, occasionally outlook has forgotten that particular contact - most notably an individual he frequently emails.

I have explained that it is simply a matter of clicking the [TO] box and browsing our company contact list for the relevant person but for reasons that I should not go in to this is not a satisfactory solution for him and it will be selectively forgotten the next time the problem occurs.

The company contact list is based on an exchange server. In an attempt to force this specific contact to be remembered, I also added them to my bosses personal contacts list with no luck, as days later they have been forgotten again and I am being asked by my boss again as to why it is happening!

I tried hunting for a solution on Google with little success and the search on this forum is currently returning an error - so apologies if there is an existing solution already posted here.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice on getting outlook to remember contacts a little more reliably.

Regards,
Steven

EDIT: Additionally, my boss is currently expecting me to directly contact MS to obtain a solution to this issue - however I am far to ashamed to make that call for such an insignificant issue

djaburg

I know the feature that he's using is the autocomplete feature. The addresses are contained in the <profilename>.nk2 file that hidden. I believe it has a capacity of 1000 addresses and it replaces old addresses as needed to facilitate new ones. I also have seen that if outlook doesn't close correctly, it will not save any new addresses. I don't have my laptop with me, but I believe there's an option "Suggest names while completing to To, CC, BCC fields" that should be selected.

funkyGibbon

Yes, that’s the feature. You start typing in a name and you get a drop-down list of possible known contacts to pick from. This is a feature that is being used, as a list of names appear as you type, however the frustrating thing is that certain contacts that are used quite frequently and randomly do not show up in the drop-down list of contacts. This results in me getting called up to 'fix' the problem (I send a test message to the contact by locating them in the address book and then the contact starts appearing in the drop-down list again) but a few days later - maybe a week that contact might stop showing up again in the list.

From what you say, am I right in thinking that this auto complete does not use the profiles contact lists at all ?

The contact that most frequently is lost is another member of staff and is emailed very frequently with reports etc and as such should always be in the top 1000 contacts in a log file - I would imagine safely in the top 25 contacts!

funkyGibbon

A subtle nudge in the form of a Bump

sobersong

Morning,

just some ideas :
- His nk2 file is corrupt : rename it so that outlook creates a new one next time it starts (the list is then gonna be empty and your boss will have to fill it up again...) -> see http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B287623&x=8&y=8
- Quicker (for him, not for you ;)) : create a new outlook profile including new ost and test

good luck

funkyGibbon

Thanks for the ideas and link. I will try renaming the nk2 file and leave the country for a couple of months while it gets repopulated! ;)

If I am not called to the office for a few weeks I will assume that the nk2 file was indeed corrupted.

sobersong

enjoy the trip abroad.... Finger crossed ;)