# Outlook 2003 columns keep changing



## divtruk (Jul 22, 2006)

I have one laptop here that is running XP Pro and Office 2003 Pro. This particular laptop suddenly started to change the column headings on it's own. In the sent items folder, it started opening with the "from" column instead of the "to" column. Our course we know who it is from, it's the sent folder. We would change it back to the correct column and move on. It then started happening to the Inbox. Column headings would rearange or change themselves. It started after I ran all the updates for Office and installed the DST update.

Some days it does not happen at all. Other days its almost every time you go to a folder. It seems to be limited to the Inbox and Sent Items folders.

I was about to backup the outlook.pst file, uninstall Ofiice, reinstall office, then copy the outlook folder back.

Before I go to all that trouble I thought I would check here to see if anyone has seen this before.

Chip


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## sdexec (May 22, 2007)

... and it's driving everyone in my company INSANE!!!

We've tried everything -- resetting column headings, backing up the PST files, etc., etc. Nothing seems to work. We've called Microsoft. They say they've never heard of such a problem and are worse than useless. Our IT guys are going bonkers and aren't sure what to do next. We're contemplating just loading Outlook 2007 and seeing if that works.

Two confounding issues that our IT guys seems to be focusing on are our Mailstreet server that handles our e-mail (www.mailstreet.com), and possibly our ACT! database software. Do you, by chance, use ACT! or Mailstreet?

And if you solved the problem, let me know.

If anyone else has a suggested fix for this, I'm all ears.

Thanks,
CKC


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## GLComputing (Apr 27, 2007)

I use ACT!, and it doesn't happen here.

SDEXEC - is it one machine or multiple?
Have you tried Outlook Detect and Repair?

BTW: Outlook 2007 won't work with ACT! till ACT! 10 is released.


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## sdexec (May 22, 2007)

Thanks, GL Computing.

We have three computers that are all networked. But it's only happening on one computer.

I've had conversations with the folks at Microsoft. They've been all very pleasant, but in the end, they're worse than useless. The problem persists.

We've tried Outlook Detect and Repair, to no avail.

Thanks for the head's up regarding ACT/Outlook 2007.

If you have any other ideas, please let me know.

Thanks,
sdexec


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## GLComputing (Apr 27, 2007)

Have you tried creating a new profile?


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## sdexec (May 22, 2007)

Yep.


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## GLComputing (Apr 27, 2007)

Just a thought - Have you tried making sure your AntiVirus is up to dat and checked with at least 2 or 3 AdWare/Spyware products?


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## Krash (Jun 21, 2007)

Try opening Outlook from the Command window using "Outlook /cleanviews" (without the quotes) See if this fixes the issue.

But i notice that you said you have created a new profile. Probably something to do with the .dat files.

views.dat
frmcache.dat
outcmd.dat

Rename the above


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## cicliced (Aug 28, 2007)

Hi Guys, 
I am experiencing the same issues with Outlook, I work for an international company and the IT dept have looked at it for weeks and come back to me saying they can't help. (Hasn't happend with other PC's on the network)

They tried all the suggestions above (detect and repair, reloading pst's, loading my pst on a 'clean' PC etc etc and it still happens) I also opened outlook in the 'cleanview' and it still happened.

There don't seem to be any other forums/articles on this subject. Have any of you solved it yet? Please say yes!

Thanks
James


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## nomarski (Aug 28, 2007)

We are running around 30 XP machines but, sadly, its just one which has the problem. I have found no way of solving it. Any solution would be very gratefully received.
Thanks
Nomarski


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## FirstCavGuy (Oct 1, 2007)

I found that this problem starts when I do a *search* on one of my "data files" on my C: drive (but not always). The folders that are handled by my work's server (my current email) do not seem to cause this problem after a search and they are not likely to be modified once the problem starts. However, they are not always immune to this problem (I've seen them change too).

What seems to happen when this problem is started is that the folder that was searched is then used as a format guide for all future folders opened. I have not figured out how to stop this problem once it starts but somehow it does eventually stop.

Obviously, this problem is a big nuisance and I'm often using View - Arrange by - Current View - Customize Current View - Fields to change the columns back to what they are suppose to be. There is also another way to restore column headers and that is to cause the problem (if you can) and then open up the appropriate folders to change them to the correct column. Its a lot faster to make the changes this way but I cannot always get the problem to start when I want to and I cannot always stop it once the problem has started.


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## lee forman (Oct 4, 2007)

I have the exact same problem and found this thead while googling for a solution. The problem began only shortly after I had corrected a pst folder - which in the past, always seems to substitute a 'from' instead of a 'to' in the sent folder I created. This has always been annoying, but now I find it seems to have applied the change in a more global fashion, which seems to suggest a bug in the code - as opposed to a virus or something. It seems to occur on a much more frequent basis now, and the primary mailbox is impacted routinely.

I am running Outlook 2003 (11.8118.8132) SP2. Another interesting point of fact is that the issue did not exist before - only after I had rebuilt a bad harddrive and reinstalled all of the software that came with the machine. The software was provided to me by Dell, since I had not retained a copy of the originals with the machine.

If anyone can figure out the answer, it would be great to know. I also have a floating cursor which I have tried to fix unsuccessfully. I don't believe that this is related - just 2 annoying conditions which have to be endured while using this pc.


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## Jorabi (Oct 4, 2007)

I am also having the same problem as lee forman with the same version of Outlook 2003. It started happening this year, with no software changes that I know of.

It's very irritating if MS still insists they have never heard of this problem. Obviously it is out there in numbers. I have a standalone workstation, so it is not network-related. And one of my clients has the same problem on her laptop, also standalone.

If anyone has since found a solution, please post!


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## toiletvictorious (Oct 10, 2007)

*sigh*

Also having this problem. It's not me, of course, but one of our more nagging employees. Of course this nag is rooted in actual reality.

I tried to force it to revert by opening/closing outlook but it didn't take. My guess is it's like you guys say... something such as a search throws it out of wack. Has anyone installed the recently released Service Pack 3 to see if it fixes it?


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## FirstCavGuy (Oct 1, 2007)

I am pretty sure I had SP2 when I made my first post about this problem. But now I have SP3. I'm not sure when it was installed. My work's IT department often upgrades our software without telling us anything. I have several "pst" files with 8 "Inbox" folders ("From") and 8 "Sent Items" ("To") folders. I will now pay attention to see if SP3 has corrected my problem. I made sure all of the "To" and "From" columns were correct (I had to correct a few but they could have been that way before SP3 was installed). I tried my normal trick of doing searches to create the problem but I could not create any column changes (looks encouraging). However, my trick does not always work so this test may or may not have proved anything. I often do searches and I often have the problem. I will report back here if I see the problem again or in a few weeks if I do not see the problem again. Fingers crossed.


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## Krash (Jun 21, 2007)

We appreciate your effort in keeping this thread updated and in helping people find a solution in the event of facing the same issue. Keep us posted and it would help someone at some point. Thanks again.


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## FirstCavGuy (Oct 1, 2007)

Well, that didn't take long for the problem to surface again. SP3 did not fix the problem for me. 

I searched my main "Mailbox" folder called "Sent Items" for "pilot" (a few email were found) and then I went to one of my archive "pst" files and opened a folder called "Inbox". That "Inbox" now had a "To" column (I knew it was a "From" column previously as I checked all my folders for this test). I went to another "pst" file and its "Inbox" folder still showed the "From" column (it did not change). I went to my "Mailbox" folder "Inbox" and it had changed to "To". All total I changed 2 of 3 of my "Mailbox" folders called "Inbox" to "To" columns and 4 of 8 of my "pst" file folders called "Inbox" to "To" columns. SP3 did not fix the problem for me.:down: 

Now I have to fix them all back.


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## FirstCavGuy (Oct 1, 2007)

Brainstorm thoughts:

Does anyone have this problem on a computer that always stands alone without ever being networked with other computers?

Does anyone have this problem on a network that connects to other computers but the network does not have a remote server for Outlook? That's probably a stupid question as somehow email has to go to/from something and it probably is an Outlook server. If anyone knows how an Outlook server interfaces with its clients then give us a little education.

My laptop is part of a large network that has a remote Outlook server. I assume my laptop interfaces with the server using Send/Receive although that may not be what is used for "real time". I'm not a network administrator so I don't know very much about how the server and clients interface in "real time". 

I will do a test sometime soon and try to cause the problem after I boot-up without any connection to a network.


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