Outlook 2007 freezing

[TSQuinn]

I need some help with running Outlook 2007. I have been a Fusion user since 1.1 and like everything except I have not been able to get Outlook to run as I would like. All of this has been the same from Fusion 1.1 through the 2.02 I installed yesterday.

Here is the scenario:

I'm now running a newly updated Fusion 2.02

My VM has 2GB memeory and 1 CPU dedicated to it

Windows XP (updates turned on to update weekly so I am current)

MS Office 2007 (updates turned on to update weekly so I am current)

Outlook is configured to connect to one server

Outlook is an IMAP client

I have several pst (I think this is where the problem begins)

In Fusion 1.x I created a folder on my Mac Desktop that was the contents of "My Documents" in Windows. I mapped My Documents to this drive with in Windows and ran for ~ a year

In Fusion 2.x I am using Mirrored folders to do the same thing and it seems to work fine

What I have tried to do is to place my psts in My Documents so they will be backed up regularly by Time Machine (physically outside the VM). This will also leave the size of my VM fairly static there is no data being save in it.

My psts are nested one level down in My Docs. For example I copied all my psts to My Docs>OUTLOOK PSTs>personal folder(#).pst

My problem is that Outlook consistently locks up in this configuration. If I move the directory OUTLOOK PSTs to my C: drive it all seems to work fine. But then my PSTs are in my VM and I'm saving data in there, I have to back them up manually and my VM is growing 50% per year 40GB-60GB last year. Why does this happen? and can it be resolved?

Oh, and one more issue. Why does my Windows freeze at the "Windows is shutting down" blue screen about 1/3 of the time while shutting down? That maddening too.....

I hope I have provided enough detail. Is there somethin I can do to move my psts to My Docs and out of the VM?

Any help here is greatly appreciated.

Tom

[homli]

A couple others including myself experiencing the same issue. Would be nice to see a resolution for this.

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/180819?start=66&tstart=0

[homli]

Can I get any acknowledgement from VMware on this? I don't see it in the latest release notes, nor do I see any response from VMware staff in any of the related threads.

While I'm a long time VMware userprimarily on the serverthe lack of any response to a freeze issue affecting one of the most popular Windows client apps when running in a VMware guest has me considering Parallels on the client. I'd prefer to stick with one VM platform, but if it doesn't work...

[TSQuinn]

Since I posted this message I have reinstalled EVERYTHING. I am still running Win XP-Pro and Office Extreme 2007. I have not experienced near the level of problems I was. I have found that Outlook will still loose my *.dotm files and that proves disasterous but I have found that I keep windows simple and have a snapshot. When Outlook loses my .dotm file I dont try to fix it. I just roll back to my snapshot.

The other problem I have it outlook not closing my *.pst files properly. Usually I let outlook fix them real time but every once and a while when I have time (like on a call or in a meeting( I will run SCANPST.EXE against all my .psts.It ususally finds some issues and fixes them. Then I'm ok...

One other thing. I did upgrade to Fusion 2.0.2. This is the reason for some additional disasterous problems.The upgrade was NOT smooth. I did get thru to the guys at VMware and they provided some insight but I am staying away from random upgrades. When I see a significant item I need, then I will upgrade. Until then 2.0.2 is runnign just fine.

Hope this helps.

TQ

[WoodyZ]

Okay if I read your posts correctly the issue is when you have the .PST files on a VMware Shared Folder but not when run locally as is the default. Have you tried forgoing VMware Shared Folders, which have been nothing but buggy and problematic since the feature was first implemented over 5 years ago and still remains so in some areas despite the vast improvements that have been made recently with this particular feature, and tried using a mapped SMB/CIFS Share? Also for FWIW even in a normal network environment using physical machines only and the Outlook Database stored on a Server there can/will be issues from time to time.

Also I have to say I have no problems, in general, with Outlook in a Virtual Machine with multiple .PST's opened from my Server when on a mapped SMB/CIFS Share and the only time I do is when I accidentally block network connectivity in one manner or another like engaging the lock on my firewall or rebooting a router without first closing Outlook. Also when closing Outlook it at times has a habit of destroying the GUI yet the executable is still memory resident and this is a Microsoft issue and can be problematic and exists on physical and virtual machines and networks alike.

As far as the Windows Shutdown Screen is concerned this may not really be a Fusion issue per se as much as it is a Windows issue although that's not to say there is not a correlation. In other words Windows the OS not Fusion is preforming normal shutdown routines like stopping services, etc. and it may well be having to wait while timing out stopping VMware Tools related services and or communications between the Host that deal with Application Sharing and or the Printer passthrough. In any event this would have to be diagnosed in the same manner as if it was a physical machine and you could use MSCONFIG to help with that. I'd start by disabling all features in the target Virtual Machine Settings sheet that could affect this, namely Application Sharing, Shared Folders, Printing and remove the Serial Port used for it. Now reboot/shutdown the Virtual Machine a couple of times and compare timings then if no different us msconfig to start troubleshooting.

[gordox07]

Same problem here. I've got pretty much the same setup - XP Pro and Office 2007 - the only differance is that I have truecrypt mounts in my host OS and then share those mounts (folders) within my VMs. I have 3 mounts in all - VM images, Personal Data, and work data. My outlook pst file is in the personal data mount/folder and seems to be the root cause of the freezing. If I don't open Outlook and just work using my work mount/folder I have no problems. When outlook is open it will freeze atleast 3-4 times a day. Once it freezes I can't access not only the Personal Data mount/folder but also my work data mount/folder - end result is that everything in my VM is frozen and I've got to kill it and restart it again to get everything working again. With the previous Fusion version I was having problems with just the shared folders just dropping off completely - unmounting at random - this version it appears to only happen when Outlook if open and accessing the pst file from a mount/shared folder. Really frustrating!!

[hkhwong]

I've had this discussion before -- the issue is that Microsoft does not support using .pst files on shared network drives, which basically VMware mimics is my understanding. This is not a VMware issue -- this is a Microsoft issue. If you want to back up your psts using Time Machine, the best route is to use the Outlook plug-in that backs up .pst files on a regular basis to where Time Machine can pick it up.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019

[WoodyZ]

I've had this discussion before -- the issue is that Microsoft does not support using .pst files on shared network drives

I'm well aware of this and supported and will it work can be two different things. While fully aware of the risks nonetheless one of the companies I maintained over the last 5+ years has a 15 User LAN in which they used Outlook without Exchange Server and have the Outlook.pst and Archive.pst files on the File Server and in all that time have not lost a .pst due to it being unsupported so unsupported doesn't mean it will not work however I will agree it not my first choice but when the client doesn't what to pay for implementing and maintaining Exchange Server and is aware that the alternative is not supported and carries risks... well sometimes you have do what the customer wants.

, which basically VMware mimics is my understanding. This is not a VMware issue -- this is a Microsoft issue.

There is no doubt the VMware Shared Folders feature has been greatly improved since it inception yet for 5+ years I've refuse to use it on any regular basis because it still has issues that I don't have when using SMB/CIFS and while I totally agree that this is a Microsoft issue, because it's not supported, nonetheless if one wants to not have the .pst stored in the Virtual Machine then my point is I'd use SMB/CIFS over VMware Shared Folders and while I didn't mention it before I do have all systems configured to not automatically hibernate, sleep or suspend so as to never break network connectivity in that manner and that may in part be why I don't have any issues using .pst's on the File Server.

If you want to back up your psts using Time Machine, the best route is to use the Outlook plug-in that backs up .pst files on a regular basis to where Time Machine can pick it up.

I think that for most users this is probably the better course to take and unless one has a good understanding of the issues/risks and have a good recovery protocol in place then this is what should be done.

I'd also just like to mention that in all of my years in this industry I have had to preform more advanced and detailed recovery on standalone systems then networked ones in relation to user data issues so while something my not be officially supported that doesn't mean it still can't be done and reasonably in spite of the risks.

The bottom line though is if something is supported or not and is problematic then stop doing whatever it is one doing and find an acceptable alternative.

[hkhwong]

Go for it. If you're willing to take on the risks, then who am I to say that you shouldn't do it? That being said, what might (and I say MIGHT) be happening is that using Office in VMware may be triggering the corner case that makes this fail. Who knows, but if something isn't supported, no one in VMware or Microsoft is going to spend any time (and $$) on troubleshooting it.

Here's another link on networked pst files

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2007/01/21/network-stored-pst-files-don-t-do-it.aspx

[WoodyZ]

Look you're preaching to the choir and will I totally agree that it not the best practice and neither VMware or Microsoft should lift a finger to help and all I'm saying is if one is going to go against it then try using SMB/CIFS over VMware Shared Folders and if one or the other doesn't work then store the .pst locally as it's supposed to be. In spite of the fact that it's not supported I see no problem for a single user when using Fusion and wanting the .pst to be on the Host's filesystem at all times to give it a try and one has two choices in this respect, SMB/CIFS and VMware Shared Folders and if one or the other doesn't work for you then store the .pst locally as it's supposed to be!