Another workstation has modified a PST file?

[larryc43230]

The Windows Search service which shows up as the Search Indexer in the Task Manager Processes tab should be running under the System account not a user account.

Joe

SearchIndexer.exe is running under the account named NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.

--Larry

[JoeP517]

I've really exhausted my guesses now. I just don't know what to ask or suggest now.

Joe

[larryc43230]

I've really exhausted my guesses now. I just don't know what to ask or suggest now.

Joe

Thanks for all the suggestions. The only thing I can think of is the possibility of some weird interaction/conflict with another program or process, or some subtle change caused by a recent Windows Update. I'm still open to any and all suggestions or inspired guesses.

--Larry

[JoeP517]

Maybe some "background processing" overnight will turn something up.

Joe

[larryc43230]

Maybe some "background processing" overnight will turn something up.

Joe

Please don't do what I do when I'm struggling with a problem: Wake up in the middle of the night with the solution. I've lost more sleep that way...

--Larry

[larryc43230]

The problem still remains, and it still somehow involves Windows Search.

Every time I restart the PC, then start Outlook, if I wait long enough (usually a couple of hours; it varies), the Send/Receive errors return and I'm forced to shut down, then relaunch Outlook.

I tried unchecking PST files from the types of files that are indexed (from the Indexing Options Control Panel, Advanced, File Type tag), but that wasn't enough. Even with the PST file type excluded from indexing (but with Microsoft Outlook files included in the list of "Included Locations"; this gets reset somehow every time I restart the PC), the Send/Receive errors popped up again eventually.

I'm still looking for any assistance I can get on resolving this maddening issue.

--Larry

[JoeP517]

The Microsoft Outlook files are the .PST files. I guess that the inclusion of Outlook in the included Locations overrides the PST exclusion.You need to change the indexing to exclude Outlook.

Joe

[larryc43230]

The Microsoft Outlook files are the .PST files.

I'm aware of that; that's why I tried excluding PST from the File Types list.

I guess that the inclusion of Outlook in the included Locations overrides the PST exclusion. You need to change the indexing to exclude Outlook.

That's what I just found out the hard way, and I have to remember to do that every time I restart the PC.

Every time I restart the PC, something (I fervently wish I knew what) is adding Outlook Files back into the list of Included Locations in Indexing Options. However, it does NOT cause the box in the File Types list to be checked for PST files. I had hoped that simply unchecking PST in the File Types list would resolve the issue (or at least not require me to manually mess around with Indexing Options every time I restart the PC). That's not enough; even with PST files remaining unchecked in the File Types list, as long as the Outlook Files entry is forced back into the Included Locations list after a PC reboot, Outlook sooner or later throws up the errors. I'm getting tired of having to reset it every time I reboot the machine.

--Larry

[JoeP517]

I've never seen the search locations automatically reset on a home PC. Do you have some third party software that prevents permanent registry changes?

Joe

[larryc43230]

I've never seen the search locations automatically reset on a home PC. Do you have some third party software that prevents permanent registry changes?

Joe

This is what mystifies me. I don't have any sort of third party software that would block that sort of thing, and I certainly didn't install anything like that around the time this issue began to appear. All I can think of is that some automatic update or another (Windows? Office? Webroot? totally-obscure-and-otherwise-ignored-software?) at about that time is causing a conflict. And I seem to be the one person bitten by it, which I find very strange.

Curiouser and curiouser.

--Larry

[jeffreywsmith]

Just a wild thought from someone with a similar problem. I got the same message about "Outlook.pst cannot be accessed because another workstation has modified it" and am running OL 2010 on a local computer without Exchange where I am the only user, so, on the surface, the message didn't make sense.

The wild thought I had was wondering if, depending upon how gMail users might have configured their relationship with Outlook, might changes made from the gMail client, once migrated to OL, be considered to be modifications made by "another workstation"? A case in point (perhaps) might be why I started receiving this message: I was travelling for a week or so and wasn't going to have my desktop with me, so rather than setting an OL calendar reminder for a task I wanted to stay on top of, I set up a repeating Google Calendar item, which, with my settings, eventually got pushed to OL whenever I got back home.

I haven't verified any of this - just throwing it out for consideration.

Jeff

[kmk]

This thread has gone pretty quiet. Has anyone found a solution? I have developed exactly the same problem in the past month.