Deleted Junk Email (Unsure)

[R2]

My father-in-law inadvertantly deleted his Outlook "Junk Email" folder. How does he recreate this in a manner that re-establishes its Junk depository function? (I would have guessed that Outlook would not let you delete this!)

Thanks.

[jscher2000]

Usually a deleted folder becomes a subfolder of the Deleted Items folder and can be dragged back up to the main level. Unless, of course, the Deleted Items folder was emptied. You could try just creating a new Junk Email folder (right-click the top-level in the Folder List and choose New Folder. Hopefully it will automatically take on the necessary special powers of the previous Junk Email folder. (As an Outlook 2002 user using SAProxy, I can't confirm one way or the other.)

[R2]

Thanks, Jefferson. Makes sense. I'll have him give it a try.

Rick

[R2]

Ouch, here is the reply...
______________

Actually I don't quite know what happened. I was deleting stuff from the "Deleted Items" folder and my finger or mouse must have slipped. So now the Junk Item folder is now also gone from the Deleted Items folder!
Apparently, I don't have the Junk Item folder "rules" in place because that Windows screen shows up (very briefly) from time to time saying incoming junk mail (like ads) can't go into the folder I newly "created".
____________

OK, I know -- quite pitiful! But he is my father-in-law! So, I have to find a solution. How about an Inbox Repair??

[JohnBF]

I would close Outlook and all Outlook Windows, and then restart Outlook from the command line with the '/resetfolders' switch.

[R2]

I finally made it back East to check this out. I agree, "/resetfolders" is supposed to work, but in this case it does not. Also, the Inbox Repair Tool did not work either.

Outlook Command Line Switches are identified here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistan...0347711033.aspx
-and-
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;296192

Can someone tell me what the exact name of the Folder is?? I believe it is "Junk Email" -- and not "Junk Items", correct? (I am away from home and I am relying on memory -- which ain't so good!)

Thanks.
___________________________

Add: It looks like the correct name is "Junk E-Mail". Is this identified in the registry?

[R2]

OK, for the record this is Outlook 2000. The Registry has two reference to "Junk" that are related to Outlook:

1) "Outlook Junk EMail List Object" -- which does NOT specify the location of the Junk E-Mail folder and seems to be related to that Junk E-Mail List and uses:
C:PROGRA~1MICROS~3OFFICEOUTLAS9.DLL

2) "FiddledWithJunkMail" -- which is an exceedingly interesting value name -- to say the least! (I swear I did not make that value up!) It is at:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice9.0Outlook OptionsGeneral
_________________________________

Now, I made a little mistake and I discovered something erroneous about the way Outlook 2000 works. In my haste I decided to simply create my own Junk E-Mail folder. Oops. Outlook now thinks that there are two of them! I even deleted my new -- plus I deleted my father-in-law's addition (Junk Items). Even though I deleted both of those folders and I rebooted the computer, "/ResetFolders", and said a few chants -- Outlook still thinks the new folders exist -- and it seems to think the old (non-existent) folder exists as well! (see image).

I think I am digging myself a bigger hole! :-}
_________

FYI: www.microsoft.com has no reference to "FiddledWithJunkMail". Same goes for Google.

[R2]

Follow up.

1) "FiddledWithJunkMail" was a dead end, albeit a humorous entry. Deleting that value did nothing to solve my issues.

2) Creating a brand new *.pst file did not fix the problem! It seems that Organize Folder list 'persists' after creating a new file.

3) In the end, I had five separate "Junk E-Mail" folders listed in the Organize Folders drop down box (I kept trying to make new ones to see if the old ones disappeared). Even though none of those folders actually existed -- I had deleted them all -- they continued to appear on the list.

4) Where is this list stored?? I looked at ALL files modified in the past 24 hours and NONE of them look promising -- well, except the *.pst file. So, I created a new *.pst file and the this list has unchanged! The solution HAD to be in the registry - and it was. The list is stored here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows Messaging SubsystemProfilesMicrosoft Outlook Internet Settings

On this box a *Binary* registry value named "101e031e" held the "MRU" list (if you will) for Outlook's "Organize Folder" interface. Once I deleted this value, the Organize Folders drop-down list is wiped clean except for the default "Other folder...".

Because the value has a Binary one and not a String, Searching the registry was useless!

A rather difficult method for most users to use! But... at least my problem is solved. Thanks for the assistance.

[jscher2000]

The Move to... and Copy to... MRU lists are "dumb" -- they do not update dynamically to reflect changed folder names (or deletion of folders). Usually one just lets the bad entries "age out" by being replaced with valid entries. Or you can hasten that process by moving a message around among a bunch of folders. (The list in your image may be a bit longer than the one I'm used to seeing, which drops from a toolbar button.)

I think many MRUs are stored in the registry, but where they lurk often is difficult to uncover.

I don't use the built-in Junk Email features, so unfortunately I can't help with the bigger problem. There may be a brute force solution: If you want to start with a virgin PST, rename the main one and create a new blank one, and then there is a setting somewhere to make it the default delivery point for email. This changed in 2002, so unfortunately I can't tell from my current install where that was. Once the new PST is up and running, you can add the old PST as an additional data file using File>Open>Personal Folders files (PST) and then dragging stuff from old to new. This may not be all that useful if the environment is highly customized...

[R2]

Thanks, Jefferson. I was able to manually re-configure the Junk E-Mail folder using the "standard" user interface controls inside of Outlook 2000. I would not have been able to explain this over an email to my Father-in-Law -- since I now use Outlook 2003 and the process is very different! But once I got in front of the box, it was not that difficult.

Except, I was then left with a rather silly drop-down list that had two "Junk E-Mail" folders listed -- and one of them did not work! The more I tried to fix the problem, the more bogus "Junk E-Mail" folders appeared on the list! So my problem shifted to one of finding where this list was stored, and correcting it.

And that is what I did. This was complicated by the fact that the MRU list was stored as a Binary value (see image above), so that "searching" the registry uses the basic regedit program was unhelpful. Once I found the list, I deleted the value and the erroneous entries were gone. Actually, all entries were gone from the drop-down list, but I would rather have that than one erronous one! As you noted, Outlook will rebuild the list slowly as it is used. Happy Thanksgiving.