Problem with WDS Filter

Problem with WDS Filter

• cmathis

  I just came to this thread via a Google search. I am having this same problem. I am running XP Pro, Outlook 2003 and BCM. Is there a consensus on how to resolve this issue or is it still being researched
  

• Glenn N.

  I'll do that this weekend, however I think I really found a fix this time. Around the time of my last post, I found the blog of Microsoft Windows search developer Brandon Paddock (http://brandonlive.com) He commented on this error in his blog and mentioned that it was usually due to people not properly rebooting when uninstalling a previous version of WDS and installing a newer version. I'm pretty certain I rebooted when prompted, but I decided to do another uninstall/reinstall and rebooted twice for good measure. The error messages returned, but this time I did something different. I stubbornly let it index Outlook pressing "Send Report" dozens of times as the error messages appeared. While I was watching it index Outlook folders and generating those error messages, I noticed it only created errors when indexing the personal folders, not archive folders. I thought that was strange, but it gave me an idea.

  When WDS is installed, the default setting is to index Outlook and all databases that open when I open Outlook. That may not be the right way to say it, so I'll try to explain with more detail. What I see when I open Outlook is: (1) the regular .PST file generated by Outlook and which contains the /Personal Folders/ saving all my current e-mails, contacts, calendar entries, tasks, etc..., (2) a separate /Archive/ .PST created by me, and (3) the Business Contact Manager SQL database. When I open WDS "Desktop Search Options," in the Indexing window/tab there is the "Browse" button next to "Custom foldes and e-mail locations". Opening that shows "checkmarks" next to all locations to be indexed. Under My Email/Outlook, I see a checkmark next to Personal Folders, Business Contact Manager, and Archive (in that order). It occurred to me that the Business Contact Manager SQL database cannot be indexed, so why does it have a checkmark next to it and, if WDS is trying to index something it can't, could that be causing the errors. I changed the setting by removing Business Contact Manager but leaving Personal Folders and Archive checked. That fixed my problem!!

  Indexing has run for several hours and it recently completed indexing my entire hard drive, including Outlook, without one error message, so I think the problem has something to do with Business Contact Manager being checked upon the initial installation of WDS. I'm just guessing, but maybe it indexes something in Personal Folders, then tries the Business Contact Manager, which creates the error message but leaves the previously indexed /Personal Folders/... in the Indexing Status dialog box, and then it indexes something in Archive before moving on to something else, thus not creating an error message when /Archive/... shows in the Indexing Status dialog box. While watching it index, I noticed it seems to rotate what it indexes, so that pattern and how the errors appear seems logical (and possibly entirely incorrect).

  I hope this provides some insight into the problem. I'm not sure what Business Contact Manager data you were able to index within Outlook. I'm guessing it's data that gets inserted into the Outlook .PST files. I've only started using Business Contact Manager a few months ago, so I'm still learning how it weaves itself into Outlook and Small Business Accounting. Again, I'll do what you ask and send you the report. If my theory proves correct, I should be able to put a check next to the Business Contact Manager database and start the error messages again.

  
  

• George W Bush

  Hi R. Nargang,

  I’m going to see if I can reproduce this problem and identify the root cause. In the meantime, I’m sure that you want to get rid of those constant error messages. My thought is that your index has been corrupted in some way. When this happens users tend to see error messages every time WDS attempts to update the index. As such, I would suggest that you attempt to rebuild the index. You can do this by doing the following:

  • Right click on the WDS icon in the system tray (magnifying glass)
  • Select “Desktop Search Options”
  • Click on “Rebuild Index”

  I would suggest doing this while Outlook is closed. Once the index has been rebuilt, see if you can open Outlook without running into the error.

  Please let me know if this fixes the problem

  Paul Nystrom - MSFT

  
  
  

• Leonardo Daga

  I think I did that (eg. attempt to rebuild index) but in a different way. While researching, I read on a website that users had the option whether or not to install the Outlook indexing option. I thought I could install WDS without Outlook index and hopefully get rid of the error messages, so I uninstalled WDS and then downloaded and reinstalled it again. However, it went straight from starting the installation to finishing it without giving any option to not install the Outlook portion of the indexing service, so I'm guessing I read comments regarding an earlier version of WDS. Anyway, I started to reindex my hard drive. Again, no problem until I started Outlook 2003. I immediately started getting the error messages again. I then uninstalled WDS and have not attempted a reinstall.

  On thing I have not done yet is attempt to uninstall the Windows Live toolbar and reinstall the MSN toolbar. Since I do research as part of my job, the "Onfolio" research tracking tool in the Live toolbar is what attracted me to upgrade to the Live toolbar. I was curious to see how it would help me organize my research. I'll download WDS again and rebuild the index without openning Outlook and see if that helps. I'll then try to uninstall the Live toolbar and try WDS without it. I didn't run into problems prior to that, so I'm hoping that will fix it.

  Thanks for taking the time to research this problem.

  
  

• Denis-D

  Hi again R. Nargang,

  Well, I've spent some time trying to reproduce your issue, but I've been unable to do so. In fact, I was even able to index the Business Contact Manager data that is stored in Outlook (though not the data stored in the SQL database). At this point I'm hoping you can help me out a little bit. I'd like you to turn on MAPI logging in outlook and then send me the file. This should help me nail down the issue. Here's how you turn on the logging.

  1. Go to Start:Run and type “cmd”
  2. At the command prompt type “regedit”
  3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search
  4. Right click in the box on the right and select New:DWORD value
  5. Name the new value “LogLevel.MAPI”
  6. Right click on the new value and select Modify
  7. Set the Value data to “1” and click OK

  You’ve now turned on MAPI logging for Outlook.

  1. Open up Outlook and then start indexing
  2. After you’ve run into a few errors go to Start:Run and type C:\Documents & Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Desktop Search\Logs
  3. Please send the MAPI log from the location above to a-paulny@microsoft.com

  If you wish to turn off MAPI logging you can do so by deleting the key we created in the first paragraph or by setting the Value data of the key to “4” (as opposed to “1”).

  Hopefully this will allow us to figure out what the issue is.

  Thanks,

  Paul Nystrom - MSFT

  
  
  

• HGChrist

  ( answer to issue at the bottom of this vent! sorry!)
  You have to be joking me right give me a BREAK! I have always in my entire Computer Geek Life ( 1994 till now ) have been PRO Microsoft.. I loved Bill Man..
  
  Let me get this straight. A Microsoft Product crashes when used with another Microsoft product You guys (Microsoft) have like… Sally McGhee working with you. Cant you plan this out It is as simple as having a link to issues and list this one on the desktop msn page under :issues I see it now = BCM and WDS issues – DONE, but that’s too simple isn’t it
  well guess what.. Most of us don’t have the time to go to google.com and look for the cause of these errors.
  I have had nothing but grief with ms products lately, (like the inflexibility of outlook to do the simplest things like show a local folder within outlook or try getting business contact manager working if you apply the wrong update etc etc) I cannot wait till openoffice.org creates its version of outlook early next year (which i am sure will port with mysql and then one can create a custom contact manager) when one goes to office updates the NEW updates are like 1-2 years old.. Go to www.majorgeek.com for instance and see how often opensource freeware products are updated. I have disagreed with many but am recently convinced Microsoft is interested in making loads of cash and making college degrees work in real life which they DONT... notice the products are tricky to support (hit the ms kb to find answer and you end up going to google to find a clear answer to the crash or error unless of course you learn the MS lingo - learn it mcse=$$) update or feature requires more $$, most products are closed to everything else but some expensive add on or ms thing... too much time wasted on ms. open source all the way for me. I dont think i will use unix as an OS, i dont have the time to learn that as well, i will purchase VISTA but enough is enough.

  Ok I am venting, I am sorry but i have had it.. Sorry guys..

  by the way, to fix this problem if you use BCM with WDS is to install the older version
  Microsoft Windows Desktop Search (WDS) 2.5.1.1119 make sure its msn search bar
  Don’t ask me how long it took for me to find that one out, and YES I used Google!

  ( FPS for people searching )
  Desktop search crashes outlook | filter desktop crashes outlook | outlook crashing restart filter | outlook sorry for the inconvenience | outlook crashing every help | windows desktop search filter |

  
  
  

• Tom3030

  Thanks for sending me the MAPI log. It looks like you found your own solution to the problem. I was able to recreate your issues when I added Business Contact Manager info to the SQL database (I previously had the BCM data stored locally in a PST file). The problem occurs when WDS attempts to index BCM data in the SQL database. Unfortunately, the only way I was able to remove the error was to turn off indexing of the BCM folder. For now, it looks like that is the solution.

  I'll look into a possible change request that will keep WDS from attempting to index info stored in the SQL database. This might allow it to index the BCM info stored in PST files without choking on the data stored in the SQL database.

  Thanks for keeping us up to date on this!

  Paul Nystrom - MSFT

  
  
  

• algoaddict

  Just want to verify that I was having this exact same problem and the fix above cured it right up. Thanks for your dilligence Nargang!!
  

• Gbobbage

  Thanks for your hard work, I know u must have wasted a couple of days on this one but we all thank you.

  Did not do the old version thing but for me it was OK to just remove BCM from the indexing since I dont realy use it ;-)

  Thanks again.

  
  
  

• Nycapo33

  To give an update, I reinstalled WDS and allowed it to index completely before starting Outlook. I even pressed the "Index Now" button a few times to make sure it was completely done. Unfortunately, the error messages began again after I started Outlook. I set WDS to not load when I start Windows to prevent future error messages.

  FYI - While browsing the MSN Toolbar and WDS extensions, I noticed there is one thing related to the MSN Toolbar that I didn't uninstall. I kept the MSN Screensaver Beta after I uninstalled the MSN Toolbar (not remembering that they were supposedly related). I really like seeing the pictures scroll on my screen and would rather have the screensaver than WDS. What's interesting is that the Microsoft website says the screensaver requires the MSN Toolbar, but it seems to be running just fine on my computer, even after uninstalling the MSN Toolbar.

  
  

• larowe324

  Another update...

  I think the problem is associated in some manner to the "Outlook Toolbar" component of the Windows Live Toolbar.

  I noticed two features of Windows Live Toolbar interact with Outlook - Onfolio and Outlook Toolbar. I couldn't sit still with the problem, so I uninstalled everything, rebooted my computer, and started experimenting. First, I installed WDS by itself. It ran without any problems after opening Outlook. (I didn't wait for it to finish indexing.) Next, I then installed all of Windows Live Toolbar and again encountered the error messages. I then uninstalled Onfolio and Outlook Toolbar, rebooted, and the problem went away. I then installed Onfolio and made sure the option where it loads the Outlook extension (which is under preferences & other) was enabled. No error messages! I then installed the Outlook Toolbar and rebooted. I now had the error messages again! I uninstalled the Outlook Toolbar, rebooted, and got rid of the error messages. To test it again, I reinstalled the Outlook Toolbar, rebooted, and now, to further complicate matters, the error messages seem to have gone away completely.

  I'm no longer able to cause WDS to generate the error messages, and I have WDS and a complete install of Windows Live Toolbar, which together previously caused the error messages. WDS is not done indexing yet, so there's still a chance it will encounter whatever caused the problem in the first place. I'll post something tomorrow after it's done indexing and comment on whether any of the error messages are encountered.

  
  

• sapaplanus

  I was wrong about any relationship between this problem and the Windows Live Toolbar. As WDS was finishing its indexing this morning, it started indexing Outlook entries and the error messages reappeared. It seemed like the error messages initially appeared "randomly" as WDS was building its index. (I'm positive I saw the error messages as it was indexing files outside of Outlook.) Now, I was seeing them as WDS indexed Outlook folders. I didn't take notes from my earlier observations, so I could have been remembering incorrectly, but I wasn't (see below). Anyway, after I started seeing the error messages again, I completely uninstalled Windows Live Toolbar, and the error messages continued as WDS indexed Outlook folders. I then changed WDS settings to prevent it from indexing Outlook. The error messages went away. I reinstalled Windows Live Toolbar and no error messages. I re-enabled WDS to search Outlook and the error messages returned. I switched that option off, and the error messages went away.

  I'm now certain the problem is with WDS and not the Windows Live Toolbar. I can easily cause the error messages by just turning the indexing Outlook option on or off. The last thing I did was run "detect and repair" for Outlook to make sure something significant didn't change with all this installing and uninstalling. After that completed, I set WDS to index Outlook, and the error messages promptly returned. This time, error messages again started popping up as files outside Outlook were indexed, as I initially noticed after installing WDS 2.6.5. Turning off indexing Outlook caused the error messages to immediately disappear. There appears to be only one cause - WDS.

  Again, I'm running WinXP Home SP2 and Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager. I have downloaded all patches and updates for Windows and Office. I don't have the time to continue debugging this myself, so I'm leaving off the indexing of Outlook since that seems to "fix" the problem. I'll check this forum periodically to see if someone has a resolution for this problem.

  Thanks for any assistance that can be provided!!

  
  

• Mathew Charles

  Thanks for this guys, all those error messages were really beginning to piddle me off. Removed indexing of BCM and now everything is fine.
  

• whyvenky

  I am so glad I found this page (in google) because I have had the same problem for a long time!

  I found it strange that my desktop computer doesn't have that problem while my laptop does.

  Same version of Outlook, same version of Windows Desktop Search.

  I reinstalled WDS many times.

  Guess what the only difference between my laptop and my desktop is

  Right: My laptop has Business Contact Manager and my desktop doesn't.

  So let's see if that will solve the problem!

  Will you (Microsoft) solve the problem in future versions of WDS Or will you at least create a Knowledgebase Article with the workaround

  
  
• Problem with WDS Filter