01-10-2012 05:26 AM
Hi
A user up until recently had his archived PST files viewable in the mail folders pane in Outlook. For some reason they have now vanished and the contents can only be viewed from archive explorer. Is there any way of restoring this ability to view archives in Outlook?
Version is 8.0.3 / Outlook 2002 (tho issue exists in Outlook 2003 as well)
Solved! Go to Solution.
01-11-2012 02:17 AM
If the folder isn't any longer at its place, EV isn't responsible for that because EV doesn't delete folders in Outlook!
Sometimes one drag-and-drops a folder by mistake to another folder (not just in Outlook...) even withot knowing that this happened. Can you confirm, that this isn't the case? Have a look in some folders beneath the place, where it should be - and don't forget to look into the waste paper basket.
If the folder is completely gone but the archived elements are still in place (Archive Explorer) you have to restore from backup.
Maybe your user has the master waste paper basket in Exchange enabled, ask him for that.
Richard
01-10-2012 05:48 AM
Have you tried recreating the Outlook profile?
Also try resetiing the users EV agent by running resetevclient which is in the program files folder.
01-10-2012 06:18 AM
resetevclient - Does that run on the user's local machine? This issue exists anywhere. I have created (and recreated) the user's profile on my own machine and have the same issue. I ran resetevclient on my own machine with no impact.
However, that looks like a useful utility to know about, so thank you!
Any other suggestions?
01-10-2012 06:38 AM
So they had PST's in their Outlook, now they're gone, but you can see them in Archive Explorer?
So it sounds to me like you did a PST Migration? (Either client side or server side) where this would be expected behavior
If they want to see all their archived items, displayed like a PST then you would use Vault Cache and Virtual Vault (EV8 SP4+)
01-10-2012 06:42 AM
In that case the issue may be related to the users folder within the ArchiveFolder table. Refer to this technote: http://clientui-kb.symantec.com/kb/index?page=content&id=TECH66934
01-10-2012 07:12 AM
"So they had PST's in their Outlook, now they're gone, but you can see them in Archive Explorer?" Yes on both counts. Can be seen in Archive Explorer but not in Outlook (anymore). Due to the customer constraints product versions cannot move beyond 8.0.3 and Office XP....
01-10-2012 07:16 AM
I doubt it is the issue Percy is referring to due to the fact the in the first post you say they can only view the items in Archive Explorer.
It does sound like what JW2 suggest, that the pst was imported and you didn't create shortcuts in Exchange.
Virtual Vault and Vault Cache would be the way to go in my opinion.
01-10-2012 07:30 AM
Out of interest, when PST files are migrated, they appear as a folder called Archives and can be used as normal (except for when they suddenly vanish from Outlook!) Why could this happen and why is virtual Vault now necessary?
01-10-2012 07:38 AM
Short cuts had been created as this worked for the user until a week or so ago. Exactly what happened then is anyones guess....!
01-10-2012 08:52 AM
The reason shortcuts may have disappeared is you may have shortcut expiry enabled, it created a bunch of shortcuts that may be seen as "old" and then EV just deleted them as per normal process
That being said, why is it now necessary to use Virtual Vault?
Well Virtual Vault is your archive shown as a PST within Outlook, so rather than the user having several of their old legacy PST files, EV imports them (which im absolutely is what happened) and then Virtual Vault shows their archive as a PST file, they can see all the items just like they do in AE
But unline AE, you can index it through Outlook Instant Search, you're not limited to an amount of pages, you can delete items like you would a regular PST file, you can drag and drop items injust like a PST file and when the Vault Cache synchronizes, those items get uploaded to the archive.
You can also move items from one place to another, which you can't do in AE or Search.asp, also it opens up the possibility of not having to use shortcuts ever again as you will have them right there in Virtual Vault.
If you haven't seen Virtual Vault or used it before, I would highly suggest looking in to it, in my opinion its the single most impressive feature that EV has currently
01-10-2012 09:01 AM
01-10-2012 09:47 AM
OK wait, unless i'm completely mistaken, he's just saying the PST's that used to display in the folder pane are gone right? Thats normal if the PST's become disconnected or removed, after all the Mailbox, attached PST's, shared mailboxes, virtual vault etc all get displayed in the left hand pane which also displays mail folders.
01-11-2012 01:26 AM
The user had PST files that were migrated into EV. After that process, they appeared in a folder called archives (created by the PST migration process). This folder has now vanished and the user wants it back.
On the topic of virtual vault, I took a look and it is an impressive feature which I would like to use. The sticking point however is with the customer and I'm not important enough to push this as an idea...
01-11-2012 02:17 AM
If the folder isn't any longer at its place, EV isn't responsible for that because EV doesn't delete folders in Outlook!
Sometimes one drag-and-drops a folder by mistake to another folder (not just in Outlook...) even withot knowing that this happened. Can you confirm, that this isn't the case? Have a look in some folders beneath the place, where it should be - and don't forget to look into the waste paper basket.
If the folder is completely gone but the archived elements are still in place (Archive Explorer) you have to restore from backup.
Maybe your user has the master waste paper basket in Exchange enabled, ask him for that.
Richard
01-13-2012 11:20 AM
Is the folder in the expected place in Archive Explorer? Depending on the version of EV at the server, EV tracks if the folder exists in the mailbox for Virtual Vault purposes, but you would need their archive id (In VAC, locate the user's archive - properties - advanced) From there you can run something like the following against the Vault Store DB:
Select ExistsInMbx, IsManaged, Foldername, Folderpath
FROM ExchangeMbxArchiveFolderView
WHERE ArchiveVEID = '<ArchiveIDfromVAC>' AND foldername = 'archives'
This would tell you if EV detect it still in the mailbox (ExistsInMbx = 0 means no)
hope this helps.
01-18-2012 06:29 AM
On a slight side note, I would HIGHLY reccommend going to the latest SP of EV 8. I have worked with all the service packs through that version and IMHO the only one I can reccomend people use in good faith is SP5. There are several great reasons for this (check the readmefirst and previousupdates files that released with EV 8 SP5 for just a glimpse as to why I would suggest that).
WIth that said I agree that the issues you are seeing are not related to EV itself. It would almost certianly have to be user intervention that modified the location or deleted the folder itself from Outlook. The best EV will do is to delete the folder within the archive when it is completely empty.
Hope this helps.
J