Microsoft Security Update KB3097877

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Ian Thomas

Senior Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2013 64 bit
Email Account
Outlook.com (as MS Exchange)
The Windows Update KB3097877 has wreaked havoc with my desktop Outlook 2010 on Windows 7.

Apart from the extreme inconvenience of continual crashing of Outlook, before discovering the problem with the security update I had spent some hours testing all PST files and the 2 OST files that are associated with my Outlook.com / Hotmail.com emails (not Exchange, not Office 365).

Worst, I decided to totally rebuild the MAPI (.OST) files associated with my Hotmail.com and Outlook.com (again, before discovering that KB3097877 had to be uninstalled, the computer rebooted, Windows Update checked again, to add the corrected security update). This, after removing and re-installing the Outlook/Hotmail connector, and running the usual integrity checks on all of my desktop's hardware, disks, etc.

That rebuild with a new profile requires 6Gb of mail and attachments to be downloaded - apparently, the .OST are not transportable / reusable / cannot be copied from; and the synchronization and download rate is just a tiny fraction of my internet download rate. I am about 17% done, after 2 days!

It's still not usable. Outlook has stopped responding, folders cannot be viewed. None of this was happening a week ago. Browsing for email at Outlook.com is not a substitute for desktop Outlook, for me. Fortunately my Windows Phone displays Outlook email adequately, for a small device.

Next, I see that all desktop Outlook versions need to be partially de-commissioned and re-commissioned in the next 2 weeks:
email from Outlook <outlook@communication.microsoft.com>
"Important information about your email service"

Hello,


In the next few weeks we’ll be making some updates that will impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live, or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from getting delivered to the Outlook desktop application you use. When you notice that you stop receiving messages, simply follow these two steps:


For Outlook 2010 customers:

1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2010 desktop application

2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2010 desktop application

I can't wait!
 
No, ost can't be reused they are only used by the account that created them.

Did you uninstall that update? That *should* fix the problems.

your Outlook.com account is being migrated to the new server (on office 365 hosting) - it will give you a better experience, with full syncing. When syncing stops using the connect, remove the outlook.com, account and re-add it using autoaccount setup. It'll add it back as an Exchange account. (yes, and you'll need to download everything in that account again. sorry)
 
DP: yes, and you'll need to download everything in that account again. sorry)

Thanks for your input, Diane.

Could I avoid that problem - it is extremely slow = days (for some reason, the download and sync is MANY times slower than my download of large files, for example an ISO from MSDN, typically 2 to 3Gb)?

Although I uninstalled the bad KB, and allowed Windows Update to install the one that is fixed, I am having never-before-experienced problems with my "mixed" .ost and .pst system, which I established from scratch with a new and differently-named profile, after "hiding" all .OST and .PST files from Outlook 2010.

My thought was to establishing an empty .PST file and export everything to it from the current .OST (once it is re-populated and functioning without errors), prior to the Office 365/Exchange infrastructure change - which appears to be imminent (2 weeks?).

Then - when a new (2-weeks hence) profile is created, could I not import the folder structure populated with emails into that .OST, and save the outlook.com synchronization some downloading?

I am surprised that Microsoft Office team hasn't supplied a utility to ease this transition.

I had 6Gb of .OST on 10 November 2015, today (14th) the reconstruction is just at 3.4gb size and the errors (like "cannot see folder", etc) are causing me to lose respect for the Office/Outlook ecosystem.
 
Although I uninstalled the bad KB, and allowed Windows Update to install the one that is fixed, I am having never-before-experienced problems with my "mixed" .ost and .pst system, which I established from scratch with a new and differently-named profile, after "hiding" all .OST and .PST files from Outlook 2010.

Uninstalling the KB didn't affect your profile, but when you rebuilt the profile, it recreated the ost files.

Actually, there is something you can try, if you still have the old ost - replacing the new ost with a pdf file named to the same as the ost then pointing to the old ost (which has the same name as the new ost) might work. It's not a recommended method (and may not work), but the pdf file format tricks outlook into not immediately creating a new ost.
Moving an Outlook Offline Data File (*.ost)

Copy pdf to folder, copy ost name, then add -old to name. Rename pdf, open outlook. When it complains, delete pdf version, point to original ost. I can't guarantee it will work - but it might. If it doesn't, change the first ost back to it's original name. However, because the file types are different after you are migrated and switch to exchange, you'll need to download the mail again. That can't be avoided. However, it should be a lot faster than it is with the connector.
 
Then - when a new (2-weeks hence) profile is created, could I not import the folder structure populated with emails into that .OST, and save the outlook.com synchronization some downloading?

I am surprised that Microsoft Office team hasn't supplied a utility to ease this transition.

I had 6Gb of .OST on 10 November 2015, today (14th) the reconstruction is just at 3.4gb size and the errors (like "cannot see folder", etc) are causing me to lose respect for the Office/Outlook ecosystem.

They'll move the mail as part of the migration and the exchange sync should be a lot faster. Importing would be just as slow. If you want a backup, then yeah, export to a pst - it might be a good idea for calendar and contacts.

They do everything on the backend during the server migration - end users don't need to do anything but reconnect.

On the ost file size - that is not an issue. Most likely, the old folder had a lot of deleted messages using up white space and needed compacted. Outlook does it when there is about 20% white space, which is huge when the file is large, and there is some idle time.
 
Diane, I'm contemplating abandoning the ultra-slow re-synchronization via the new profile, having just read your compilation of .ost to .pst tools. However, I could export everything in it to a .pst (though this "new" .ost has lost contacts, etc I think).

There hasn't been an increase in size of the "new" .ost file in the last 12 hours, from about 3.4Gb - I was expecting around 6Gb, and assume that the "cloud" store (my outlook.com) would "create" the disk / offline data package (new .ost) of that larger size. Surely white space in the 13/11 .ost couldn't be as high as 45% to 50% ?

I haven't checked out the cost of purchasing one or other tool, or using the service - but my larger .ost file is near 6Gb so the free tool is not an option.

Perhaps the PDF trick is worth a try. I need to read your link ( Moving an Outlook Offline Data File (*.ost) ) to understand it fully. If I recall, renaming .ost files is not possible (? some internal info, or something in the registry?).

I have placed my 13/11 .ost files in a separate folder, and they have names il_thomas_hotmail1.ost (111Mb) and il.ost (5.78Gb).
 
Correct, renaming to a completely new name is not possible, you need to use the data file name the profile created - i can't recall if the pdf method will let you change the name. It only tested it to see if it worked with an account. I'd definitely copy the ost file before you do it, so you always have a copy. (Ctrl+C, V to copy in place.)

Are you missing data in the new file? Is it receiving new mail? Log into outlook.com - does the banner say outlook.com or Outlook Mail (and look different)? It's possible (depending on when you got the email) that the account was moved already.

White space is usually maxed around 20% - because at that point, Outlook works on compacting it. But it depends on your habits too. If you open and close outlook instead of leaving it always open, it won't have time to compact. If you deleted huge message, it can take a while for it to compact - a client had a 50 GB pst and had an RSS feed that downloaded a 45GB video automatically. He shift+deleted the RSS message (and more junk) and called me a couple of weeks later because the pst was still 50 GB and Outlook appeared to hang if he did a manual compact. I told him to leave manual compact running over the weekend - it took 3 days for outlook to compact it to 3 GB. It seemed stuck until it got the 45GB space compacted. An automatic compact probably would have taken weeks as the process stopped and started. His case is obviously an outlier, but I've seen 12GB psts drop to 8GB and a 15GB one drop to 9GB.
 
Are you missing data in the new file? Is it receiving new mail? Log into outlook.com - does the banner say outlook.com or Outlook Mail (and look different)? It's possible (depending on when you got the email) that the account was moved already.

I believe that I am missing data. I had some searches, including on 'mail on or after 9Sept2014', and the count was about double that I see now (tens of thousands; would include a lot of RSS notifications).
It's possible that a large count of 'missing' items is the RSS. They are now housed in a PST that reflects the (new) profile name that I created 2-3 days ago. As I recall, they would have been in another PST - which I haven't attached in this new profile.

[after-thought: but the count / search would only have been in the outlook.com .ost file - so I'm not sure what's reality now ]

Logging in to Outlook.com remains the same (Outlook banner). On other devices / desktops running Windows 10, Mail reflects the lesser # of items - so it may be that I have become concerned about old RSS, and they very likely have been removed from their source.
So I don't believe my account has been migrated.

It's likely this desktop will be unattended when the migration is scheduled by Microsoft. I will be away for weeks from 30/11. I'm assuming that I can migrate this desktop at a later time.

Currently, what is concerning is that I have (Outlook 2010, this desktop only) out of memory errors, often cannot view folders, and send/receive is never-ending. all this is since that bad security fix. Never (repeat never) have these problems occurred in this machine.

To double check system and hardware integrity I will do a sfc and chkdsk. Then I will try the PDF trick.
(again, thanks for the suggestions)
 
[after-thought: but the count / search would only have been in the outlook.com .ost file - so I'm not sure what's reality now ]
It depends on the search default - if you are searching all mailboxes, it would be everything in your profile. (Default is all mailboxes.)

It's likely this desktop will be unattended when the migration is scheduled by Microsoft. I will be away for weeks from 30/11. I'm assuming that I can migrate this desktop at a later time.
Yeah, you can update Outlook at any time.

Currently, what is concerning is that I have (Outlook 2010, this desktop only) out of memory errors, often cannot view folders, and send/receive is never-ending. all this is since that bad security fix. Never (repeat never) have these problems occurred in this machine.

I'd remove the updated security update and 3101746. Hide KB3097877 in Windows update so its not installed. When you get back, unhide it.
 
I'd remove the updated security update and 3101746. Hide KB3097877 in Windows update so its not installed. When you get back, unhide it.

Yes, I think that is wise. Though this Windows 7 desktop is not my only machine, it had the emails etc for 2-3 years and I don't want to trash it. Windows 10 Mail isn't as good as Outlook.com on the web, but neither is as convenient for me as Outlook 2010. Possibly I will go Office365 in future (these days, Exchange isn't a part of my life).

I am still having out of memory / can't open folder / can't view folder in Outlook 2010 on this machine, so I am not confident about the revised KBs, and will uninstall then hide both from installation when Windows Update detects their absence.
 
Possibly I will go Office365 in future (these days, Exchange isn't a part of my life).
I assume you mean office 365 software... one of the biggest advantages to the subscriptions is the licensing. On all but the personal plan, you can install it on up to 5 computers and can sign in to the office apps on up to 5 phones and tablets (to enable premium features).

As long as your version works with office 365 exchange, you can keep using it - and i expect it will work for at least a few more years (outlook 2007 will be supported for a while yet). I usually recommend getting a new version when you get a new computer.
Does the pst open & work ok if you copy it to one of your other computers?

Try restarting outlook using the /cleanviews switch. It will wipe out any custom views you have, but might fix the problem. If you have custom views you don't want to lose, make a copy of the pst first - that way if this doesn't fix it, you can use the copy.
 
I have downloaded and used Kernel Data Recovery's free OST Viewer and PST Viewer (2 separate utilities), and in the 13/11/2015 6Gb .OST I can see many more items than in my current profiles' equivalent. But it is difficult to make a meaningful comparison, since it discovers Lost/Deleted items, and they often appear to be emails that were moved by a rule or by me, manually.
What these utilities do not reveal are the Search folders. I thought they might be under Views, but I don't see them.

I'm not sure that I would gain from purchasing their OST to PST utility ($US99 for the 'Home' version - the Corporate License seems much more appropriate, but $US199 is a lot). I expect that my online Outlook.com and Hotmail.com accounts will be intact - missing only my Sent Items, Calendar, Views, Search (??) from the desktop Office 2010 - so it might be worth the time investment to install Microsoft Office 2010 entirely to another hard drive/computer ( transfer my license), and await the new synchronization engine for Outlook.com/Hotmail.com/Live.com.

What do you think?
 
I'm running with /cleanviews, it appears to incorporate some sort of check of the data file(s). Perhaps I should have turned off the Send/Receive before running with that switch.
 
Search folders are a virtual folder and the results you see in it point to the original message in whatever folder it's in, so they won't be found in the recover software.

If everything is in outlook.com web access, then it's just a matter of syncing it to the desktop - if messages are missing in outlook.com, then you would need recovery software.
[DOUBLEPOST=1447686634][/DOUBLEPOST]
I'm running with /cleanviews, it appears to incorporate some sort of check of the data file(s). Perhaps I should have turned off the Send/Receive before running with that switch.
Cleanviews just runs once - deletes all the views and reset the default views.

Opening it in the recovery software probably triggered the data file checks.
 
I have taken the plunge, leaving the .ost and .pst debris on the Windows 7 hard disk and have set up Outlook 2013 on a Windows 10 SSD.
I will take this gradually: initially, I will set up only the 'main' email account which is the Outlook.com one.
On its creation, I see that the server is Exchange ActiveSync, and I see a single .ost file (my email, with .ost at the end) and a EasCache folder in the AppData location. the population of my Outlook folders is slow, but smooth (no problems).
But I am reminded now why I never installed later Office versions,, and why I prefer Visual Studio 2010 rather than the later versions (on design and UX basis).
I think I can "close this issue" - I am blaming that security update fro Windows 7, but it has been resolved without real resolution though I'm happy to be near the end of time-wasting.
Thanks for all the help and insights into the Outlook "ecosystem", Diane.
 
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