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Troubleshoot Unicode-related problems
I upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, but Outlook is still not running in Unicode mode on the Microsoft Exchange server.
There could be several reasons why Microsoft Outlook is still not running in Unicode mode.
- If your profile was configured to run in offline mode before you upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, you are still using the old Offline Folder file (.ost) that does not support Unicode, and this will result in Outlook running in non-Unicode mode on the Microsoft Exchange server. To switch to Unicode mode, disable the use of offline folders, then create a new Offline Folder file (.ost) and synchronize your data.
- If your profile was configured to deliver to a Personal Folders file (.pst) before you upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, you are still using the old Personal Folders file (.pst) that does not support Unicode, and this will result in Outlook running in non-Unicode mode on the Exchange server. To switch to Unicode mode, you should change the delivery location to a Personal Folders file that supports multilingual Unicode data or you should change the default delivery location to the Exchange Server mailbox.
- If your profile was configured to use an AutoArchive Personal Folders file (.pst) before you upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, you are still using the old AutoArchive Personal Folders file (.pst) that does not support Unicode. It is recommended that you create a new AutoArchive Personal Folders file that supports multilingual Unicode data.
- The Exchange Server version or the policies set by your administrator may be preventing Outlook from running in Unicode mode.
If none of the above helped you switch to Unicode mode, contact your Exchange Server administrator.
I upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, but my POP3 account still does not support multilingual Unicode data.
If your profile was configured to deliver to a Personal Folders file (.pst) before you upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, you are still using the old Personal Folders file (.pst) that does not support Unicode for storing items delivered from the POP3 account. To resolve this, you should change the delivery location to a Personal Folders file (.pst) that supports multilingual Unicode data.
The Offline Folders file I selected caused Outlook to switch to non-Unicode mode, and now some items display '?' characters and are unreadable.
When Microsoft Outlook runs in non-Unicode mode on the Microsoft Exchange server, the code page-based system is used for character mapping. In a code page-based system, a character entered in one language may not map to the same character in another language. Therefore, you are likely to see incorrect characters, including question marks. Additional information on scripts and code pages is available in Outlook Help.
For example, consider two people— one is running the English version of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system with the Latin code page and the second person is running the Japanese version of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system with the Japanese code page. The second person creates a meeting request in the Japanese version of Outlook 2002 and sends it to the first person. When the person using the English version of Outlook 2002 opens the meeting request, the code points of the Japanese code page are mapped to unexpected or nonexistent characters in the Latin script, and the resulting text is unintelligible. Therefore, in multilingual environments, it is recommended that Outlook runs in Unicode mode on the Exchange server.
To resolve this, disable offline folders, close and restart Outlook, and then create a new Offline Folder file and synchronize the data.
I want to know how using a non-Unicode data file or running Outlook in non-Unicode mode on the Exchange server will affect me.
If you do not share messages and items with people who use Microsoft Outlook on computers that run in other languages, you can run Outlook in Unicode or non-Unicode mode on a Microsoft Exchange server. A disadvantage of running in non-Unicode mode is that the Offline Folder file used for the profile will be created in the format that does not offer greater storage capacity for items and folders. Therefore, if size limit of the Offline Folder file is a concern for you, then you should run Outlook in Unicode mode on the Exchange server.
However, if you work in a multinational organization or share messages and items with people who use Outlook on systems that run in other languages, Outlook should run in Unicode mode on the Exchange server. This will also ensure that Unicode-capable .pst files are used for the profile that have the capability to store multilingual Unicode data. To switch to Unicode mode, see the I upgraded to Office Outlook 2003, but Outlook is still not running in Unicode mode on the Exchange server. section, above.
When Outlook runs in non-Unicode mode on the Exchange server, the code page-based system is used for character mapping. In a code page-based system, a character entered in one language may not map to the same character in another language and therefore, if Outlook runs in non-Unicode mode on the Exchange server, you are likely to see incorrect characters, including question marks. Additional information on scripts and code pages is available in Outlook Help.
For example, consider two people— one is running the English version of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system with the Latin code page and the second person is running the Japanese version of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system with the Japanese code page. The second person creates a meeting request in the Japanese version of Outlook 2002 and sends it to the first person. When the person using the English version of Outlook 2002 opens the meeting request, the code points of the Japanese code page are mapped to unexpected or nonexistent characters in the Latin script, and the resulting text is unintelligible. Therefore, in multilingual environments, it is recommended that Outlook run in Unicode mode on the Exchange server.
Note Since Outlook 2000, the body of Outlook items has been Unicode, and the body can be read irrespective of the language in which the item was created. However, Outlook data, such as the To and Subject lines of messages and the ContactName and BusinessTelephoneNumber properties of contact items, will be limited to characters defined by your code page if Outlook runs in non-Unicode against an Exchange server.
I get an error message when I try to add a Personal Folders file (.pst) as the default delivery location for items. Outlook says the format of the specified Personal Folders file (.pst) does not match the Unicode Offline Folder file that I am using.
In Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, the format of the Offline Folder file and the data file used as the delivery location need to match. To resolve this issue, you can specify a Personal Folders file (.pst) that supports
Unicode as the default delivery location for items or disable the use of offline folders.
Change the default delivery location for items to a Personal Folders file (.pst) that supports Unicode
Do one or more of the following:
Identify an existing Personal Folders file (.pst) that supports Unicode
- On the Tools menu, click Options.
- Click Mail Setup, and then click Data Files.
- Click the data file whose format you want to check, and then click Settings.
- Check the Format field to see if it contains the string Personal Folders file or Personal Folders file (97-2002). The string Personal Folders file indicates the new format that supports Unicode data and offers greater storage capacity for items and folders.
Create a Personal Folders file (.pst) that supports Unicode
- On the
File menu, point to
New, and then click
Outlook Data File.
- Click OK to create a Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) that offers greater storage capacity for items and folders and supports multilingual Unicode data.
- In the
File name box, type a name for the file, or
leave the default, and then click
OK.
- In the
Name box, type a display name for the .pst folder,
or leave the default.
- Select any other options you want, and then click
OK.
The name of the folder associated with the data file appears in
the Folder
List. By default, the folder will
be called
Personal Folders.
Disable the use of offline folders
- Manually synchronize your Offline Folder file (.ost) to copy
new items from the offline folders to the
server folders.
How?
Do one of the following:
- To synchronize the selected folder, click the
Tools menu, point to
Send/Receive, and then click
This Folder.
- To synchronize all of your folders that are set up for
offline use, click the
Tools menu, point to
Send/Receive, and then click
Send/Receive All.
- To synchronize a Send/Receive group of folders, click the
Tools menu, point to
Send/Receive, and then click the
name of the Send/Receive group.
- On the
Tools menu, click
E-Mail Accounts, click
View or change existing
e-mail accounts, and then click
Next.
- In the list, click
Microsoft Exchange Server, and
then click
Change.
- Click
More Settings.
- Click the
Advanced tab, and then click
Offline Folder File
Settings.
- Click
Disable Offline Use.
- When you set up Outlook for working offline, if you specified Outlook to prompt you whether to work online or offline, you should change setting so you are no longer prompted.
How?
- On the Tools menu, click E-mail accounts, select View or change existing e-mail accounts, click Next, select Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
- Click More Settings, then click the General tab.
- Under When starting, select Automatically detect connection state.
Notes
- To restore the .ost, right-click
Inbox, and then click
Properties on the shortcut menu. Click the
Synchronization tab, and then under
This folder is available, click
When offline or online.
- To permanently remove the .ost from your hard disk, you must delete
it.
I imported items to a Personal Folders file (.pst), but some items display '?' characters and are unreadable.
The file you imported to does not support
Unicode. Therefore, any items containing characters in any language other than those supported by the system code page in text fields other than the body of
items, such as the
To and
Subject lines of messages, or the
ContactName and
BusinessTelephoneNumber properties of contact items are being interpreted incorrectly. Therefore, this results in the display of '?'s and other unintelligible text. You should not import items created in multiple languages or in a language that is not supported by your system code page to a file type that does not support Unicode. For example, if you have items created in multiple languages in a Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders file (.pst), you should not import the items to a Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders file (.pst).
I exported items to a Personal Folders file (.pst), but some items display '?' characters and are unreadable.
The file you exported to does not support Unicode and therefore, any items containing characters in any language other than those supported by the system code page in text fields other than the body of
items, such as the
To and
Subject lines of messages, or the
ContactName and
BusinessTelephoneNumber properties of contact items are being interpreted incorrectly. Therefore, this results in the display of '?'s and other unintelligible text. You should not export items created in multiple languages or in a language that is not supported by your system code page to a file type that does not support Unicode. For example, if you have items created in multiple languages in a Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders file (.pst), you should not export the items to a Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders file (.pst).