windows/outlook search just stopped working in Vista

issue: Windows/Outlook search just stopped working in Windows Vista. As a result instant search in outlook won’t return any results. 
 
this is a known issue with windows vista
 
resolution:
 
step 1: try rebuilding the search index. go to indexing optioins, advanced tab and click rebuild. if this doesn’t work, try clicking on restore defaults
 
if stepy 1 doesn’t work, go to step 2
 
step 2: go to services in control panel, look for windows search or windows searcher as the case maybe
 
double click on the service and stop it. restart the service
 
this will initiate indexing and should fix the isue

Distribution list has reached maximum size errors

Issue: you may receive error that distribution list has reached max size and therefore no new contacts can be added.
 
Info: There is no definite limit to the number of contacts that you can add to a distribution list. The exact limit is based on the total file size of the contacts. 
If you use only the very basic information for contacts, your distribution list limit may be as many as 125 contacts to 130 contacts. For example, the information for the contacts in a list of this size may include only the name and the e-mail address for each contact. You can create very large distribution lists that contain over a 1,000 contacts. However, these very large lists may not function as expected in Outlook.
 
Resolution/Workaround:
 
create multiple distribution lists while not exceeding maximum number of contacts. Please follow these steps to create multiple distribution lists
 
  1. In the Contacts folder in Outlook, open the large distribution list.
  2. On the File menu, click Save As.
  3. Type distribution_list_name Copy, click Outlook Message Format (*.msg) in the Save as type list, and then click Save. 

    Note This creates a backup copy of your original distribution list.

  4. Close the distribution list.
  5. Reopen the distribution list.
  6. In the Name box, type the following text at the end of the distribution list name:
    (start_firstname – end_firstname)

    In this example, start_firstname is placeholder text for the first name of the first contact in the new list. The placeholder text for the first name of the last contact in the new list is end_firstname. Select a range of contacts that has fewer than the maximum number of contacts. 

    For example, the distribution list “Business contacts” contains 200 contacts. There are 70 contacts between David Jones and Tony Smith. Therefore, you rename the list to “Business contacts (David – Tony).”

  7. Select and then delete all the contacts that are not in the name range that you specified in the new list name. 

    For example, if you rename the list to “Business contacts (David – Tony),” you then delete all the contacts that have first names that come before “David” alphabetically. Additionally, you delete all the contacts that have first names that come after “Tony” alphabetically.

  8. On the File menu, click Save As.
  9. Click Outlook Message Format (*.msg) in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
  10. On the File menu, click Close. When you are prompted to save changes to the list, click No.
  11. In Windows Explorer, open the folder to which you saved the modified distribution list, right-click the .msg file, and then click Copy.
  12. In the Contacts folder in Outlook, click Edit, and then click Paste. This creates a new distribution list that uses the new name that you specified in step 6.
  13. Repeat steps 5 through 12 for each group of contacts that you want to separate into an individual distribution list.

Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;238569&Product=out

How to display and print yearly calendar in Outlook 2007

use calendar printing assistant to display Outlook Calendar in various day/week/month and year templates.
 
please download the utility from here:
 
 
after installation, you can find calendar printing assistant from programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office tools.

Access to additional contacts in Outlook

During the conversion from Groupwise to Outlook, some of my contacts that were in subfolders have been added to contacts in their respective folders, but I can’t access them when I am trying to create an email. I don’t want to add them all to my ‘Contacts’ list since that list is synched with my Blackberry, and I don’t want several hundred names to sort through. How can I get access to contacts to send emails if they are not part of the Global email address list?

unblock attachment restrictions in Outlook

Outlook by default blocks a lot of attachments. You can use this utility bu Ken Slovak(MVP-Outlook) to unblock attachments
 
It’s a COM add-in for outlook that lets you choose levels of file types in outlook
 
Note that level 1 types are totally blocked by Outlook by level 2 types can be saved to a disk
 
download the utility from:
 

Outlook requiring logins after laptop idle for 15-20 minutes

System: Macbook Pro running Windows XP Professional (yes XP natively via Bootcamp, not my choice) Problem: After leaving the laptop for 15-20 minutes Outlook would require the password to be entered numerous times before reconnecting. 1st step: Set power options in Control Panel to never go to standby while plugged in. This didn’t seem to have an effect. 2nd step: Opened Network Connections, right-clicked on the connection and opened Properties. Clicked on Configure next to the network card. On the Power Management tab, unchecked “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” This seems to have fixed the problem, although I’m not sure why Outlook required multiple password entries.

user cannot find conversation history folder in Outlook 2007

Office communicator integrates with Outlook and stores conversations in a seperate folder. User reported he couldn’t find the folder
 
checked and confirmed there was no OCS integration error
 
Found out conversation history folder was moved inside the task folder. Had to move the folder beneath the mailbox root folder