ThePumpkin
Technical User
Hi
I have a stand-alone computer at a remote site which experienced a strange occurrance with its MS Outlook.
The computer is running Windows XP (SP 2) and Outlook XP for email. Recently they opened Outlook to check email and it had reverted back to the default settings. That is, every email in the inbox, subfolders, sent items and deleted items had gone. There is also now nothing in the Contacts list or Calendar. The account details are also gone. It is as if Outlook has been uninstalled and reinstalled. There were no error or other messages when they openned Outlook to give any indication of a problem.
They had checked their email earlier in the day and it was working fine. Within a couple of hours they opened Outlook again to find it in this state. During this time the computer was not connected to the net. They have a dial-up connection that is only connected when downloading email or surfing the internet (it isn't left running). The computer was also not being used during the couple of hours in between.
The rest of the system is fine, no other programs or files appear to be affected at this stage.
They have run a full virus scan and it showed no viruses. I have never seen this occur and other than a virus I can't think how it could have happened.
Although I can easily have them set up their email download again I would really like to know how this could have happened. It doesn't appear to be something a novice user could do accidentally!!
If anyone has any thoughts I'd very much appreciate them.
I have a stand-alone computer at a remote site which experienced a strange occurrance with its MS Outlook.
The computer is running Windows XP (SP 2) and Outlook XP for email. Recently they opened Outlook to check email and it had reverted back to the default settings. That is, every email in the inbox, subfolders, sent items and deleted items had gone. There is also now nothing in the Contacts list or Calendar. The account details are also gone. It is as if Outlook has been uninstalled and reinstalled. There were no error or other messages when they openned Outlook to give any indication of a problem.
They had checked their email earlier in the day and it was working fine. Within a couple of hours they opened Outlook again to find it in this state. During this time the computer was not connected to the net. They have a dial-up connection that is only connected when downloading email or surfing the internet (it isn't left running). The computer was also not being used during the couple of hours in between.
The rest of the system is fine, no other programs or files appear to be affected at this stage.
They have run a full virus scan and it showed no viruses. I have never seen this occur and other than a virus I can't think how it could have happened.
Although I can easily have them set up their email download again I would really like to know how this could have happened. It doesn't appear to be something a novice user could do accidentally!!
If anyone has any thoughts I'd very much appreciate them.