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 Microsoft Outlook 2003 Auto-Archive feature won’t archive email
.OST files, Email archiving, Exchange Server, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook, Outlook 2003
I'm trying to set up a user workstation to use the Auto-Archive feature in Microsoft Outlook 2003. We are using .OST files with Exchange Server. After setting the parameters for Auto-Archive and rebooting the computer, Outlook created the Archive folder structure. I tried archiving the entire Outlook mailbox and individual folders, with no luck. Outlook .OST files can be manually dragged and dropped into the archive folders. We are also running the Instant Messenger (IM) tool, Microsoft Communicator 2005. I don't know if this program interferes with the email archiving process. Shutting the IM program down on the client computer had no effect. I've removed the Archive file and structure and tried the setup a couple of times with the same results. I suspect that after the preset time interval the "auto" feature will also fail. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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ASKED: February 11, 2008  6:37 PM
UPDATED: July 29, 2010  7:23 AM
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Here is a little known issue with archived folders and the .OST file. I learned this when addressing the same issue for an administrator. When you set up an outlook email account on a PC for the first time and set it to use cached mode, then the "modified" date of ALL emails in that account changes to the date that outlook created the .OST file. Unfortunately the auto-archive feature of Outlook is based on MODIFIED date, not RECEIVED date. So if this account was set up recently, say within the last week or so, and the auto-archive feature is set to archive monthly or more, then nothing will archive until that time period has passed from the date the .OST file was created. Fun, huh?
Last Wiki Answer Submitted:  April 30, 2010  7:08 pm  by  Technochic   56,975 pts.
All Answer Wiki Contributors:  Technochic   56,975 pts.
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Not an ideal solution, but, it does work.
Turn off the cache, re-start outlook.
Do your archiving.
Turn the cache back on, re-start outlook.
It is a little long winded but is the only way (apart from buying software) that I have found and there are a lot of people on different boards that have this problem.
The modified date is still changed on the server if you move the mail to a different folder, but usually users do this moving fairly close to the time of receiving the email.

Ispsteve
 10 pts.