Common Issues with Outlook
Can't send mail because I'm over my limit
Unable to open the default message store
Can I recover items that have been deleted?
Can't send mail because I'm over my limit
Every user has a mailbox size limit of 150MB. The only exceptions are those in the College of Medicine program who have a 300MB limit. In the picture above, everything in between Mailbox and Personal Folders is stored on the mail server. When you have near or more than 150MB (300MB for CoM) worth of content in those folders, you won't be able to send mail and any mail that comes in will be returned to the sender. Here are some tips to help you get back to normal operation.
Clean out the "Sent Items" folder: One of the most common issues is that each piece of e-mail the user sends is stored on the mail server in the "Sent Items" folder. Go to that folder and delete any old messages that you don't want. After you do this, you should follow the next step.
Empty the "Deleted Items" folder: Each item that you delete first gets stored in the "Deleted Items" folder for easy recovery in case of accidental deletion. Items in here also take up space on the server. If you feel that you don't need any of the items in this folder, you can right-click on "Deleted Items" and select "Empty 'Deleted Items' folder". You will be asked to confirm this action. Once you confirm it, the messages will be removed from the server, thus freeing up some space.
Check your folders' sizes: If you've gone through your Sent Items and Deleted Items folders and still seem to have too much stored, you can check the sizes of the folders to see which ones are taking up the most room. Right-click on "Mailbox" and select "Properties for 'Mailbox'" which should be at the bottom of the menu. On the next screen toward the bottom, you'll find a button that says "Folder Size". Click on it and you should get a screen similar to the one below.
The third line from the top that says "Folder Size" gives you the amount of space taken up by all of the folders. It should be less than 50000K, preferably below 45000K. You can scroll down and see how much space each one of your folders is taking up. You can either delete the messages or move them down to your Personal Folders. That will be explained in the next section.
Move the messages to "Personal Folders": If you look at the first image on this page, you'll see toward the bottom something titled "Personal Folders". If you click on the plus sign to the left of it, you should get a screen similar to this:
This will probably look very similar to the folders listed under "Mailbox". To move a message to the Personal Folders, right-click on the message and select "Move to Folder". Select the appropriate folder under "Personal Folders" and click on the OK button. The message will be moved.
NOTE: When you move a message to the Personal Folders, it is stored on your system's hard drive and not the server. The server is backed up on a regular basis whereas your hard drive might not be. Another thing that you'll notice is if you check your e-mail remotely through Webmail, the messages that are in your Personal Folders won't be seen in Webmail.
If you have any questions or issues, feel free to contact the OIT Helpdesk at 9-4648
Unable to open the default message store
If you get this message, it's usually caused by an improper login. Common occurrences are:
- Logging in as somebody else
- Not logging into a domain at all (primarily with Windows 95/98/Me systems)
- Logging into a domain different than the ETSU domain
To remedy this situation, you'll need to properly log into the ETSU domain. Here are the steps to try to rectify the problem. Be sure to either write down or print out these instructions before attempting them.
- Click on the Start button and select "Shut Down" from the Start menu
- If you're running Windows 95 or 98, select "Close all programs and logon as a different user". If you're running Windows Me, 2000, or XP, click on the down arrow and select the "Log off" option. If for some reason you do not have this option, select Restart.
- If you're running Windows 2000 or XP, press CTRL-ALT-DELETE when told to do so.
- For Windows 95/98/Me users, when you are presented with a window to enter in your username and password for Microsoft Networking, enter your username as etsu\username (substituting your username in place of 'username') and enter your password as usual.
- For Windows 2000 and XP users, enter your username in the first box, your password in the second box, and be sure that the third box says ETSU, not ETSUADMIN or ETSU##### or any other selection.
- Click on the OK button.
When you have successfully logged in, try opening Outlook again. It should open up with your Inbox.
If you encounter difficulties, such as not getting a Microsoft Networking box (for Windows 95/98/Me users) or you don't have an ETSU domain listed in the third box (for Windows 2000/XP users) or Outlook still gives you the same error message, please contact the OIT Helpdesk at 9-4648.
Can I recover items that have been deleted?
The answer to this question is "maybe". It depends on how long ago the item was purged from your Deleted Items folder. If you haven't purged your Deleted Items folder since you deleted the message, check there first. If you don't find it there, here's what you can try to see if you can recover the e-mail.
First, you will have to log into Outlook Web Access, also known as Webmail. You can log in to your mailbox there even while logged into Outlook. You will need to go here to login. Be sure that you're entering your username in the following format: etsu\username. If you don't, then you won't be able to log in.
When you're logged in, look on the left-hand side and see if that bar is showing the shortcuts like the image below:
If you see folders instead of those icons, click on the Shortcuts button below where it says "Outlook Web Access". Next, you need to click on the Options icon. On the Options screen, scroll all the way down to the bottom where you'll find "Recover Deleted Items". Click on the "View Items" button. You'll get a screen similar to the one below:
If you have any items that are recoverable, they will be listed. To recover an item, click on it once and then click on the "Recover" button. The message will then be moved back into your Deleted Items folder. You can move it to another folder within Outlook later, if you so desire. The "Permanently Delete" button, as the name suggests, gets rid of the message permanently. This is optional since the message will be permanently deleted after a certain amount of time.
When you are done, click on the Close button. If you are done with Outlook Web Access, click on the "Log off" icon and then close your browser window. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the OIT Helpdesk at 9-4648.