Sending a Non-Existent Message and Crashing

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I turned on my computer this mroning and the first thing I noticed in Outlook was a message on the bottom right that read, “Sending 1 of 1,” even thought I had nothing in my Outbook.

Outlook proceeded to crash (shut down) every 20 minutes or so and then automatically restart.

Is there a solution?

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It sounds as though you may have a corrupt PST file. Did you get any error message with the crash, and if you did, what didi it say? What version are you running? If it is 2003 or later, try runing the scanpst utility and see what it finds.

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You may have a corrupt message in the Outbox. Try disconnecting the network and checking.

cheers, Paul

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I did not get any error messages with the crash. I am running Microsoft Office 2003 Outlook (11.8313.8221) SP3.

I ran the scanpst utility, which found some errors that I had repaired.

I already have the laptop disconnected from the laptop (the WIFI is off and there are no Ethernet cables connected). How can I check for a corrupt message?

I think this generally starts to happen when I am doing email offline and begin saving messages to my Drafts. Outlook for some reason thinks they are in the Outbox and starts trying to send them with messages such as “Sending 1 of 2 …,” but it doesn’t realize my Outbox is empty and anyway, I have no connection to the internet.

I think it’s happened in the past and the scanpst utility fixed it.

Regards,

John

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Update: the scanpst utility did not fully work, Outlook just crashed again. i will try to rerun it. Should I also scan the archive files?

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Unless you have the Archive folder(s) open in Outook, there shouldn’t be an issue there, but It shouldn’t create any problems by scanning them either. You might try repairing your Outlook installation as another step. Also, if you are connected to the Internet, do you see this kind of behavior?

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It appears that the problem has stopped, at least for now. If it continues, i will take your recommendation in repairing my Outlook installation.

Regards,

John

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If Outlook is opening, be sure you don’t have message stuck in your out box.

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I had this problem once before, and I have it again now (without the crashing).

I found the answer here (I think) that it was to do with deleting (permanently) messages that had read receipts attached that had not been sent. If I remember rightly there was registry fix needed (nasty!) but it did the job. Wish I could find the original post as I need to do it again. I just cleared out my deleted items folder and one of the messages had a read receipt attached.

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I had this problem once before, and I have it again now (without the crashing).

I found the answer here (I think) that it was to do with deleting (permanently) messages that had read receipts attached that had not been sent. If I remember rightly there was registry fix needed (nasty!) but it did the job. Wish I could find the original post as I need to do it again. I just cleared out my deleted items folder and one of the messages had a read receipt attached.

Found this with the Lounge Advanced Search.
http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?showtopic=736285&view=findpost&p=736289

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Found this with the Lounge Advanced Search.
http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?showtopic=736285&view=findpost&p=736289

That’s the one – I just found it myself. Found the stuck receipt and blew it away.

Thanks

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I have continued to have this problem, even though I am sure that there are no messages that have read receipts attached that are in my Outbox. In fact, I never select the option to have the read receipts activated. Outlook continues to display the message “Sending 1 of 1” whenever I am offline and have nothing in my Outbox and several emails in my drafts.

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I have continued to have this problem, even though I am sure that there are no messages that have read receipts attached that are in my Outbox. In fact, I never select the option to have the read receipts activated.

Actually, the issue is not how you set up your outgoing messages, but how senders set up the messages incoming to you.

The way I understand this issue, Outlook may responding to a read receipt request on an incoming message even if you have instructed Outlook NEVER to do so (Tools > Options > Preferences tab, E-mail Options button, Tracking Options). I discovered this when I wrote a macro to move spammy messages out of the Inbox (see my old thread Oh no! ‘Not Read’ Receipts for Spam (2002 SP2)). If you use any automation to move unread messages out of the Inbox, this could be a factor for you.

If you are curious which incoming messages in the Inbox have read receipt requestss, try this: add a new automatic formatting rule to your Messages view so that messages with a receipt have an italicized entry in the message list. This is how in Outlook 2003; if you have 2007, I assume it is similar:

From the Inbox, View > Arrange By > Current View > Customize Current View {or you can use Define Views}

Automatic Formatting > Add

Name = ReadReceipt
Font = Italic (your choice of face and size)
Condition = {Advanced tab} Receipt Requested Equals Yes

Does that shed any light on things?

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I don’t know about that Jefferson–the only thing that does is put all of my sister’s emails in italics. That’s because she has this terrible habit of requesting read receipts everytime I receive a message, which has led me to in turn select “Do not ask me about this again” to my sister’s many emails requesting read receipts becuase they are so annoying and I don’t want to see them and have asked her a thousand times not to send them but she refuses to listen. Do you think that could be related? If I were to instead answer all of her read receipts and send back read receipts, would it solve the problem? Does the phantom “sending one of one messages” in the Outbox only appear when I have a draft message to my sister saved in my Drafts?

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I don’t know about that Jefferson–the only thing that does is put all of my sister’s emails in italics.

I suspect that your sister is not the problem, because “phantom” messages generally are ones that can’t be sent successfully (and you have no problem replying to your sister). If the italics are too annoying, you can delete the formatting rule, but if you can stand it for a few more days, you might keep an eye out for any others that come in.

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I DEFINITELY think my sister is the problem. I have not been opening any of her messages or drafting replies to them saved in Drafts, and there have been no phantom emails as a result. My theory is that when I open one of her emails, even though Outlook is programmed not to ask me whehter I want to send a read receipt, it is sending them anyway. These read receipts that are trying to go out show up as phantom messages in my Outbox, even though when I go to my Outbox, it looks empty. When two or three of these phantoms gets stuck in my Outbox, Outlook starts to crash.

I am going to steer clear of her deadly emails from now on whenever I’m offline.

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Or just steer clear of her emails period!! ;-))

cheers, Paul

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