Q: I’m finding is that my old MS Outlook (2003) still does its job on Windows 7, but on each initial log-in to my ISP for the emails, the passwords have all disappeared. I put them in every time and tick the ‘remember‘ boxes in both the Email Account set-up part and also in the windows that come up when I try to log on the first time. If I remain on-line, then each time I make a subsequent connection, all is fine. After I close the program, and restart it (without switching off the computer), the passwords have all disappeared again. I’ve missed an essential element here, but, for the life of me, I’ve no idea what it is. My wife is finding the same problem with her new machine (again an Acer, but model 5738Z. Same software, same issue!)
I’m getting to the stage of trying out the new Mozilla email package, but am daunted by yet another learning phase. If I can’t manage the old Outlook package, what hope the Mozilla item?
A: This is a well-known issue with Outlook 2003 in both Windows 7 and Vista. There may be a couple of reasons for it, so finding a fix will involve a bit of trial and error. The first thing to do is to check for a corrupt Outlook profile by creating a new one. Start Outlook, go to the Tools menu and click Options. On the Mail Setup tab select Data Files and make a note of where your .pst file is stored. Now go to Control Panel, select the Classic View and double-click Mail. In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles. On the General tab, under When starting Microsoft Office Outlook, use this profile, click Always use this profile, and then click Add. In the Profile Name box, type the name that you want to use for the new e-mail profile (make it different from your existing one so it’s easy to identify), and then click OK. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click Add a new e-mail account, then click Next and follow the wizard to enter your ISP account details.
Now open Outlook, go to Tools, Options and on the Mail Setup tab click E-mail Accounts, View or change existing e-mail accounts, then select the account you just created. Click New Outlook Data File, select Personal Folders file and click OK. Navigate to the folder name that you noted at the start and associate it with your new profile. Once you’ve done that, check for mail, enter your passwords and see if they get saved.
Another possibility is that you have an Outlook add-on that’s interfering with the program’s ability to save passwords – this could be a toolbar installed by an antivirus program for example. Open the Start menu and type outlook.exe /safe into the Search box and press Enter. This starts Outlook without any plug-ins, if the program behaves correctly in this mode then you need to work through your add-ons. Go to Tools, Options, click the Other tab, select Advanced Options and click the COM Add-Ins button, from here you can remove items one-by-one until you find the culprit.
A final possibility is that you’re falling foul of Windows 7’s additional security and that Outlook simply doesn’t have permission to save the password data in the profile. Try launching the program using the Run as Administrator option.
If you want to try an alternative, installing Thunderbird should be relatively straightforward as it’s able to import your settings and messages from Outlook.
Launch Outlook in safe mode from the Start menu to prevent it from loading add-ins
Originally featured in PCU124
{ 3 trackbacks }