Emulate Out of Office Outlook 2007 with SP2

Brian Tillman [MVP - Outl · External Since: Jan 08, 2009 Posts: 981

"Gordon" <gordonbparker.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OqCMrbo4JHA.1092@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> another big flaw is that Outlook may get into a big loop if the rule applies
> to spam, and that may fill your mailbox on your ISPs mail server up very
> rapidly, which would then mean that genuine messages would be bounced....

That shouldn't happen because the rule will reply only once per Outlook
session to any one address.
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

Alisha · External Since: Mar 10, 2006 Posts: 9

I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
the automation back, very carefully, after all.

Dede · External Since: Apr 16, 2007 Posts: 12

Thanks for all your feedback Alisha.
It is funny, the site I quoted above now also has a little blurb on this not
working.
http://am-novice.com/US/Computer/Logiciel/outlook/out_of_office_outlook.html
I haven't been able to find anything through the knowledge base either. I
hope they fix this.

"Alisha" wrote:

> I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
> been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
> times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
> message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
> before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
> to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
> do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
> already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
> messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
> there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
> of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
> and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
> delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
> anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
> fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
> the automation back, very carefully, after all.

Alisha · External Since: Mar 10, 2006 Posts: 9

No problem, Dede, it's something our company relies on right now, so I really
want to have it resolved.

Okay, I've come up with a workaround that is consistent for me. I believe
it will do until they come out with the patch (think positive!). We may need
to turn on our out of office rules 15-30 minutes early to get them working
and make sure they continue to work:

1. Turn on the rule that you've created

2. Send yourself an email (make sure you are on the distribution list
first, if you are using one).

3. When you receive the email (don't open it), you will get the "Rules in
Error - cannot reply to message" error, which will turn off your rule.
You'll need to turn it back on.

4. Close Outlook, then open it again.

5. Quickly go to Rules and Alerts and click Run Rules Now to run the out of
office message on unread emails in your inbox. If you get another email
before this process is complete, it will error out and you will have to go
back to step 4 if you want them to get your out of office reply.

6. After you successfully complete step 5, all subsequent emails should
have the out of office reply automatically applied. You can test this by
having someone else send you an email, or send an email to yourself from
another account.

It looks like a lot of steps, but it's really quick. Let us know if anyone
else tests this successfully.

"Dede" wrote:

> Thanks for all your feedback Alisha.
> It is funny, the site I quoted above now also has a little blurb on this not
> working.
> http://am-novice.com/US/Computer/Logiciel/outlook/out_of_office_outlook.html
> I haven't been able to find anything through the knowledge base either. I
> hope they fix this.
>
> "Alisha" wrote:
>
> > I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
> > been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
> > times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
> > message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
> > before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
> > to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
> > do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
> > already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
> > messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
> > there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
> > of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
> > and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
> > delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
> > anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
> > fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
> > the automation back, very carefully, after all.

Dede · External Since: Apr 16, 2007 Posts: 12

OK I will try these steps this week and let you know how it works for me.

"Alisha" wrote:

> No problem, Dede, it's something our company relies on right now, so I really
> want to have it resolved.
>
> Okay, I've come up with a workaround that is consistent for me. I believe
> it will do until they come out with the patch (think positive!). We may need
> to turn on our out of office rules 15-30 minutes early to get them working
> and make sure they continue to work:
>
> 1. Turn on the rule that you've created
>
> 2. Send yourself an email (make sure you are on the distribution list
> first, if you are using one).
>
> 3. When you receive the email (don't open it), you will get the "Rules in
> Error - cannot reply to message" error, which will turn off your rule.
> You'll need to turn it back on.
>
> 4. Close Outlook, then open it again.
>
> 5. Quickly go to Rules and Alerts and click Run Rules Now to run the out of
> office message on unread emails in your inbox. If you get another email
> before this process is complete, it will error out and you will have to go
> back to step 4 if you want them to get your out of office reply.
>
> 6. After you successfully complete step 5, all subsequent emails should
> have the out of office reply automatically applied. You can test this by
> having someone else send you an email, or send an email to yourself from
> another account.
>
> It looks like a lot of steps, but it's really quick. Let us know if anyone
> else tests this successfully.
>
> "Dede" wrote:
>
> > Thanks for all your feedback Alisha.
> > It is funny, the site I quoted above now also has a little blurb on this not
> > working.
> > http://am-novice.com/US/Computer/Logiciel/outlook/out_of_office_outlook.html
> > I haven't been able to find anything through the knowledge base either. I
> > hope they fix this.
> >
> > "Alisha" wrote:
> >
> > > I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
> > > been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
> > > times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
> > > message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
> > > before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
> > > to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
> > > do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
> > > already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
> > > messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
> > > there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
> > > of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
> > > and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
> > > delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
> > > anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
> > > fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
> > > the automation back, very carefully, after all.

OutlookIsTiknMeOff · External Since: Jun 19, 2009 Posts: 3

So here it is June and there doesn't seem to be an answer for this. Clearly
something has been modified in Outlook that is preventing auto replies with a
template. Seems that MS is not doing anything about communicating it, not
unusual. I would like to see a solution to this. But if you are interested I
did find a not-so-great workaround. Here is the quick version:

Open Outlook
Turn the rule on
Receive and email (which will fail and turn the rule off)
Don't do anything other than close the message and close Outlook
Open Outlook again
Open your Rules
Turn the rule on
Manually run the rule
Close the rules interface
Hmmm, now magically any following receipts will successfully be replied to.
Ain't that some BS.

So, that leads me to believe that MS has probably once again gone APE S@#%
with some security addition.

YAY

"Dede" wrote:

> You are correct, however there is a way to use the Automatic reply function
> of outlook without an exchange server. This is explained on the Microsoft
> Outlook Website here:
> http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102487481033.aspx
> This is done by turning on a rule that uses a template that you create. In
> other words, this rule that you create simulates the out of office assistant.
> Like I tried to explain before, after installing SP2, when this rule is
> turned on, it produces an error, and the rule is automatically unchecked.
> So it is something in the Rules that has perhaps been changed?
>
> "Gordon" wrote:
>
> >
> > "Dede" <Dede DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:2C0C9EBE-EA7C-4CFC-9D38-3265EEBF78E2@microsoft.com...
> > > I agree as well, however, it would be nice to know for sure if this
> > > function
> > > has in fact been disabled with SP2,
> >
> > Out of Office is an Exchange function, not an Outlook function. If you don't
> > have Exchange Server then you don't have an Out of Office function. Period.
> > Nothing to do with Office SPs at all.
> >
> > --
> > Asking a question?
> > Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
> > your OS, Service Pack level
> > and the FULL contents of any error message(s)
> >
> >

OutlookIsTiknMeOff · External Since: Jun 19, 2009 Posts: 3

Whoops. Someone already shared this workaround later down the thread. Ok, so
now changing my ID to "TryingToReadTheseThreadsAreTicknMeOff". Still not as
much as Outlook.

"OutlookIsTiknMeOff" wrote:

> So here it is June and there doesn't seem to be an answer for this. Clearly
> something has been modified in Outlook that is preventing auto replies with a
> template. Seems that MS is not doing anything about communicating it, not
> unusual. I would like to see a solution to this. But if you are interested I
> did find a not-so-great workaround. Here is the quick version:
>
> Open Outlook
> Turn the rule on
> Receive and email (which will fail and turn the rule off)
> Don't do anything other than close the message and close Outlook
> Open Outlook again
> Open your Rules
> Turn the rule on
> Manually run the rule
> Close the rules interface
> Hmmm, now magically any following receipts will successfully be replied to.
> Ain't that some BS.
>
> So, that leads me to believe that MS has probably once again gone APE S@#%
> with some security addition.
>
> YAY
>
> "Dede" wrote:
>
> > You are correct, however there is a way to use the Automatic reply function
> > of outlook without an exchange server. This is explained on the Microsoft
> > Outlook Website here:
> > http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102487481033.aspx
> > This is done by turning on a rule that uses a template that you create. In
> > other words, this rule that you create simulates the out of office assistant.
> > Like I tried to explain before, after installing SP2, when this rule is
> > turned on, it produces an error, and the rule is automatically unchecked.
> > So it is something in the Rules that has perhaps been changed?
> >
> > "Gordon" wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > "Dede" <Dede DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > > news:2C0C9EBE-EA7C-4CFC-9D38-3265EEBF78E2@microsoft.com...
> > > > I agree as well, however, it would be nice to know for sure if this
> > > > function
> > > > has in fact been disabled with SP2,
> > >
> > > Out of Office is an Exchange function, not an Outlook function. If you don't
> > > have Exchange Server then you don't have an Out of Office function. Period.
> > > Nothing to do with Office SPs at all.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Asking a question?
> > > Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
> > > your OS, Service Pack level
> > > and the FULL contents of any error message(s)
> > >
> > >

Dede · External Since: Apr 16, 2007 Posts: 12

LOL.
I know what you mean.
I haven't found any more permanent solution than the one posted by Alisha or
yourself.
I guess for now we will have to live with it until Microsoft comes up with a
fix. Indeed, not everyone uses exchange server, but many would still like to
use outlook for all the other features it offers.

"OutlookIsTiknMeOff" wrote:

> Whoops. Someone already shared this workaround later down the thread. Ok, so
> now changing my ID to "TryingToReadTheseThreadsAreTicknMeOff". Still not as
> much as Outlook.
>
> "OutlookIsTiknMeOff" wrote:
>
> > So here it is June and there doesn't seem to be an answer for this. Clearly
> > something has been modified in Outlook that is preventing auto replies with a
> > template. Seems that MS is not doing anything about communicating it, not
> > unusual. I would like to see a solution to this. But if you are interested I
> > did find a not-so-great workaround. Here is the quick version:
> >
> > Open Outlook
> > Turn the rule on
> > Receive and email (which will fail and turn the rule off)
> > Don't do anything other than close the message and close Outlook
> > Open Outlook again
> > Open your Rules
> > Turn the rule on
> > Manually run the rule
> > Close the rules interface
> > Hmmm, now magically any following receipts will successfully be replied to.
> > Ain't that some BS.
> >
> > So, that leads me to believe that MS has probably once again gone APE S@#%
> > with some security addition.
> >
> > YAY
> >
> > "Dede" wrote:
> >
> > > You are correct, however there is a way to use the Automatic reply function
> > > of outlook without an exchange server. This is explained on the Microsoft
> > > Outlook Website here:
> > > http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102487481033.aspx
> > > This is done by turning on a rule that uses a template that you create. In
> > > other words, this rule that you create simulates the out of office assistant.
> > > Like I tried to explain before, after installing SP2, when this rule is
> > > turned on, it produces an error, and the rule is automatically unchecked.
> > > So it is something in the Rules that has perhaps been changed?
> > >
> > > "Gordon" wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > "Dede" <Dede.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:2C0C9EBE-EA7C-4CFC-9D38-3265EEBF78E2@microsoft.com...
> > > > > I agree as well, however, it would be nice to know for sure if this
> > > > > function
> > > > > has in fact been disabled with SP2,
> > > >
> > > > Out of Office is an Exchange function, not an Outlook function. If you don't
> > > > have Exchange Server then you don't have an Out of Office function. Period.
> > > > Nothing to do with Office SPs at all.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Asking a question?
> > > > Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
> > > > your OS, Service Pack level
> > > > and the FULL contents of any error message(s)
> > > >
> > > >

OutlookIsTiknMeOff · External Since: Jun 19, 2009 Posts: 3

This appears to be the fault of the update for Outlook 2007 (KB969907). That
went on SP1 and is included in SP2. All is good with SP1 excluding (KB969907).

"Dede" wrote:

> OK I will try these steps this week and let you know how it works for me.
>
> "Alisha" wrote:
>
> > No problem, Dede, it's something our company relies on right now, so I really
> > want to have it resolved.
> >
> > Okay, I've come up with a workaround that is consistent for me. I believe
> > it will do until they come out with the patch (think positive!). We may need
> > to turn on our out of office rules 15-30 minutes early to get them working
> > and make sure they continue to work:
> >
> > 1. Turn on the rule that you've created
> >
> > 2. Send yourself an email (make sure you are on the distribution list
> > first, if you are using one).
> >
> > 3. When you receive the email (don't open it), you will get the "Rules in
> > Error - cannot reply to message" error, which will turn off your rule.
> > You'll need to turn it back on.
> >
> > 4. Close Outlook, then open it again.
> >
> > 5. Quickly go to Rules and Alerts and click Run Rules Now to run the out of
> > office message on unread emails in your inbox. If you get another email
> > before this process is complete, it will error out and you will have to go
> > back to step 4 if you want them to get your out of office reply.
> >
> > 6. After you successfully complete step 5, all subsequent emails should
> > have the out of office reply automatically applied. You can test this by
> > having someone else send you an email, or send an email to yourself from
> > another account.
> >
> > It looks like a lot of steps, but it's really quick. Let us know if anyone
> > else tests this successfully.
> >
> > "Dede" wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks for all your feedback Alisha.
> > > It is funny, the site I quoted above now also has a little blurb on this not
> > > working.
> > > http://am-novice.com/US/Computer/Logiciel/outlook/out_of_office_outlook.html
> > > I haven't been able to find anything through the knowledge base either. I
> > > hope they fix this.
> > >
> > > "Alisha" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
> > > > been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
> > > > times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
> > > > message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
> > > > before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
> > > > to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
> > > > do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
> > > > already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
> > > > messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
> > > > there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
> > > > of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
> > > > and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
> > > > delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
> > > > anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
> > > > fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
> > > > the automation back, very carefully, after all.

Peg · External Since: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 12

This work-around doesn't work for me since many of our attorneys have
hundreds (some thousands) of emails left in their inbox - probably another
problem I should address.

Has there been another solution for this?

"OutlookIsTiknMeOff" wrote:

> This appears to be the fault of the update for Outlook 2007 (KB969907). That
> went on SP1 and is included in SP2. All is good with SP1 excluding (KB969907).
>
> "Dede" wrote:
>
> > OK I will try these steps this week and let you know how it works for me.
> >
> > "Alisha" wrote:
> >
> > > No problem, Dede, it's something our company relies on right now, so I really
> > > want to have it resolved.
> > >
> > > Okay, I've come up with a workaround that is consistent for me. I believe
> > > it will do until they come out with the patch (think positive!). We may need
> > > to turn on our out of office rules 15-30 minutes early to get them working
> > > and make sure they continue to work:
> > >
> > > 1. Turn on the rule that you've created
> > >
> > > 2. Send yourself an email (make sure you are on the distribution list
> > > first, if you are using one).
> > >
> > > 3. When you receive the email (don't open it), you will get the "Rules in
> > > Error - cannot reply to message" error, which will turn off your rule.
> > > You'll need to turn it back on.
> > >
> > > 4. Close Outlook, then open it again.
> > >
> > > 5. Quickly go to Rules and Alerts and click Run Rules Now to run the out of
> > > office message on unread emails in your inbox. If you get another email
> > > before this process is complete, it will error out and you will have to go
> > > back to step 4 if you want them to get your out of office reply.
> > >
> > > 6. After you successfully complete step 5, all subsequent emails should
> > > have the out of office reply automatically applied. You can test this by
> > > having someone else send you an email, or send an email to yourself from
> > > another account.
> > >
> > > It looks like a lot of steps, but it's really quick. Let us know if anyone
> > > else tests this successfully.
> > >
> > > "Dede" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Thanks for all your feedback Alisha.
> > > > It is funny, the site I quoted above now also has a little blurb on this not
> > > > working.
> > > > http://am-novice.com/US/Computer/Logiciel/outlook/out_of_office_outlook.html
> > > > I haven't been able to find anything through the knowledge base either. I
> > > > hope they fix this.
> > > >
> > > > "Alisha" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I got a little further. For the two employees we've installed sp2 on, I've
> > > > > been having to manually apply the rule to all messages in the inbox a few
> > > > > times a day. On Friday, I was doing this for one employee. I saw the error
> > > > > message, closed and re-opened outlook and turned it back on (which I've done
> > > > > before). I moved all her read messages to another folder and applied the rule
> > > > > to her unread messages, then filed those away as well. When I came back to
> > > > > do the same thing later, I discovered that the new messages that had come in
> > > > > already had the out of office rule applied to them. I moved all the old
> > > > > messages back into the inbox, but did not open ANY messages, and left it
> > > > > there. I came back later and more new messages had come, all having the out
> > > > > of office rule applied. It worked ALL WEEKEND. The employee came in today
> > > > > and opened her messages to read them, then the very first message that was
> > > > > delivered had the "rules in error" message. I thought I'd post it to see if
> > > > > anyone else wants to give that a shot (whatever THAT is). It's still not
> > > > > fixed, I didn't see any new patches as of Friday. But we might be able to get
> > > > > the automation back, very carefully, after all.

Tom Willett · External Since: May 28, 2009 Posts: 29

"Peg" <Peg.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:157B7D94-0EC6-4F6E-8E7C-EC90D8C73FC4@microsoft.com...
: This work-around doesn't work for me since many of our attorneys have
: hundreds (some thousands) of emails left in their inbox - probably another
: problem I should address.

A crash waiting to happen. Then, they'll have no emails. Hope they're doing
backups.