"I want outlook the way it was"
Posted by Middle_Dangerous@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 45 comments
Hi, resident tech guy here. I'm called to fix outlook 2007 on a Win10 for a old family friend (no professional, just a guy with basic knowledge), like 80 years old man. I start. First I check if I can access the mail by browser app and I can so I continue to outlook. I understand that the problem is something like a corrupted file of the software itself (no register files) or an incompatibility with the last windows upgrade. I tried to restore the software but even being admin I can't give authorization for the restore (chat gpt says that is because office and modern windows can't comunicate well because of the age gap). So I was stuck with an old man with functioning email (browser web) that insist to restore a 20 year old software "the way it was before". Because "fk o" was not an option I contacted the original IT guy with the product key of the original office package that installed it 15 years ago hoping that he can restore the corrupted files without damaging the outlook users files. Now I'm waiting.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
[SOLVED]
After a month the IT guy that installed Outlook 2007 came and solved the problem. He just unistalled and reinstalled the software from a flashcard. Easy as that.
What I don't know is why when I tried the "restore the software" from what the pc already have, it alwasy gave me "you are not the admin" instead like "I can't" or "I don't have the files".
But now all is good.
Thank all of you for your detalied suggestions.
asmcint@reddit
Holy lack of paragraph breaks, Batman!
"chat gpt says that is because office and modern windows can't comunicate well because of the age gap"
ChatGPT says a lot of things. A lot of them also aren't true. LLMs do not have a concept of "truth" as their entire function is to recomposite the words from their training data into decent-sounding salad. Whether it was correct this time or not, do not rely on ChatGPT or any other LLM for information, it will eventually mislead you.
Citizen_Nemo@reddit
Yeah. OP, please don't rely on ChatGPT to give you a reason why something isn't working, or a reliable way to fix it. The latest models are basically all set up to be sycophants, and attempt to appease you, rather than actually produce accurate information. They literally can't say, "I don't know".
For example, in your story you mentioned ChatGPT feeding you a line about the restore failing because Outlook 2007 and Windows 10 are too far apart. The real reason why this failed? I don't know.
I do know that's the reason why Outlook 2007 can't connect to Office365 anymore. Because MS end of lifed it, and they wouldn't keep pushing updates so it could negotiate O365's security anymore. ChatGPT likely conflated these two problems, so that it could produce a solution that would appease you.
Finally, you probably didn't have to run a restore against Outlook to get what this guy wanted. He probably just needed his view in Outlook reset so his email would "show up right" again.
P5ychokilla@reddit
AI just regurgitates whatever word salad it finds
Naf623@reddit
Gullible Predictive Text is never to be trusted
Aln76467@reddit
Alcoholic intern
option-9@reddit
Actually, Indians.
techy804@reddit
as someone who uses Outlook 2007 and Windows 11 25H2, I can tell ya it’s not this, except for Calendar Sync, but that can easily be fixed with an extension that still gets updates.
This may seem obvious, but have you tried to make a new “app password” on their Gmail or Outlook.com account and reconnect their account? Usually that’s the issue if you have a problem with IMAP.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thank you for your info sharing about the windows update thing.
I wish I could try but the owner don't trust an attempt, is an old man that ask a bunch of question while I work and always watch.
If he ask: "what are you doing? Why are you doing it? What POP3 means?" and I can't answer he became very anxious and my working condition suddenly get worse.
It's a: "Bring me a Coke but it have to be Pepsi" kinda situation.
Luckily it's not urgent and I can wait for the OG IT Guy that made it.
techy804@reddit
That sounds like my average user, and personally I don’t blame him considering what happened.
Also I recommend staying on IMAP, don’t switch to POP3. The difference in the most basic terms is IMAP keeps a copy of the email on the server after sending it to a device, POP3 does not.
But anyways here’s a step by step guide on how to reconnect an account if it refuses to connect (assuming it is not an issue with the pst file):
Follow https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en#zippy=%2Cfix-problems-with-microsoft-outlook%2Cwhy-you-may-need-an-app-password%2Cforgot-your-app-password for Gmail, or https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-get-and-use-app-passwords-5896ed9b-4263-e681-128a-a6f2979a7944 for Outlook.com to make a new app password, which is needed if the password was changed or set since 2015 and the app does not have OAuth (which Outlook 2007 does not, but there is a way to add it yourself but that requires either an Azure or Google Cloud account and is a whole different process). IDK where you go for app passwords for Yahoo or AOL if he uses one of those. Write the app password down or keep the page up in the background while working through the rest of these steps.
In Outlook, go to File -> Data File Management, and click the “E-mail” tab on the top of the window that pops up.
Hit the one associated with his email if there is multiple, and then hit “change”
First make sure everything relating to server information is correct, as an example I will use Gmail’s (with an IMAP account), but make sure it matches what his mail provider uses.
Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
Outgoing mail server: stmp.gmail.com
Under “more settings”: Outgoing server: Check “My outgoing server requires authentication” and “Use same settings”
Under “Advanced”:
Incoming: 993, SSL
Outgoing: 587, Auto
Server Timeouts: At minimum 5 minutes
On logon information, enter his email and the app password you created in step 1, check “remember password” and uncheck “Require logon using SPA”.
Hit “Test Account Settings”. It should go through if connection was the issue and you did everything correctly. If not go back and make sure you entered everything correctly.
Hit next, then “finish”. Then either close the tab with the app password or shred the paper you wrote it down, depending on what you did for step 1.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thank you. I'll use it when the time will come.
itiscodeman@reddit
Is xp mode still a thing? I think the military gets to have supported windows xp still
krennvonsalzburg@reddit
"resident tech guy"
"chat gpt says"
oh lord
tellmesomeothertime@reddit
To be fair, resident tech guy is often whomever knows how to reboot a modem and that a monitor is not called "the CPU"
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Like: "Ehi, I need to add a text on a jpeg, change the background, print it on this Wi-Fi printer that I never installed, buy a new smartphone with these key traits and estimate the cost for a trip to Prague, can you do it?"
Me: "Hold my beer..."
These kind of stuff
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Yes, that's me.
krennvonsalzburg@reddit
Sadly, you're entirely right.
P5ychokilla@reddit
That and the fact that it wasn't making sense got me..."no register files" Que?
ThingNumberPi@reddit
> chat gpt says
Hand over your "Resident tech" tech, it must be confiscated permanently.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
That's not very fair. It can very helpful if I'm stuck with a very specific problem. To find the solution to a very specific situation can be hard, even if the the solution is there like in a reddit post or HP website thread.
ThingNumberPi@reddit
C'mon, using Google can't be that hard.
Coworkers and I have found guidance for more complex problems with Google.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Yeah..... It's that with outlook I was WAY out of my element so I was in a situation in where it was difficult to formulate the right question to Google. Chat gpt many times helped me with question like: "I want this to happen, I tried this and didn't work, suggestion?
LupercaniusAB@reddit
Username checks out.
idontlikehats@reddit
I had a Co worker do similar. They're 60+, one day typing away, they start tutting, and huffing, and pick up their phone, onto our poor unfortunate IT group.
They (turned Karen mode on high) went into rant about that they're not happy about the layout of their Outlook, they want it turned back, they're going to the higher ups to lodge a complaint (yadda yadda..), after about 10 minutes of this, the poor innocent tech person at the end of the phone, had to explain to them that the email list display changed because Karen pulled the display column over too far and couldn't open their messages on the window, as they basically put the display window too small 😑
This is the same Co worker who called them complaining the that tech guy that was called out to help them set up their dual monitor display must of swapped their laptop for someone else's as they can't find their files on the desktop. What could have happened? They had forgotten to turn the external monitor on.... 🙄 This person is paid close to 6 figures. 😥
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Damt, that's too bad. The tales that I'm reading in this subreddit, the tales....
dustojnikhummer@reddit
Yes, oldest Outlook that can talk to Exchange is 2016 right now.
paulcaar@reddit
I don't know why there is immediate hostility on here when gpt is mentioned.
Yeah, if you're specialized then you'll know it's giving incorrect of incomplete answers that don't really take into account the context very well.
But it's a very useful tool and a great search engine for anyone that wants to have just a bit of information on a lot of different subjects, including tech support. Just don't expect everything to be the full truth every time. Just like you don't expect every 10y old post on a Microsoft forum to be the definitive answer. But it does give you a direction to try stuff.
option-9@reddit
It objectively isn't a search engine.
That's the problem, isn't it? It also gives incorrect answers tp those who cannot tell. It's treated with a ridiculous level of trust by most folks, which compounds the issue. If something incorrect can't be wrong because the chatbox said so it might just be a net negative for problem solving.
LupercaniusAB@reddit
I’m not in IT at all, just a stagehand that does networking for lighting control systems. I have seen AI answers give wildly wrong information. Is it usually correct? Sure. But is it sometimes horribly wrong, also yes.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
One other thing for which AI has been very helpful to me is Blender. Asking for Blender Instructions has been immensely helpful for 3d modeling (basic stuff).
LupercaniusAB@reddit
Whatever you do, do NOT ask it for information about electrical wiring. That’s where I’ve seen some dangerously hinky stuff. It tries to make a synthesis of the information it finds online. So it mixes wrong info with correct info for North America and correct information from other parts of the world. So you get the right voltage, but the wrong way to wire it, and vice versa.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the tip. I'll remember it.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thank you very much. I agree.
alanwbrown@reddit
I've just installed Office 2003 Pro Office 2007 Enterprise on a Win10 machine and both versions work fine.
Both require a valid serial to start the install. You should be able to recover the original serial from the machine. All you should need is a copy of Office/Outlook 2007.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thank you, knowing that is possible will be helpful.
Bubbly-Confidence724@reddit
Tbf, just wanting to "have it the way it was before" is a very understandable ask from someone who doesn't understand how this stuff works. Thank you for trying to help them.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Thank you. Your comment is very nice and much appreciated.
ryanlc@reddit
If the software was from 15+ years ago, chances are you ran into an issue with Basic Authentication vs. Modern Authentication.
Microsoft started removing the ability to use Basic Auth back in 2021. By now, all ability to use Basic Auth should be removed. So I actually wonder how recently it has been working, and what the settings were.
I suppose it's possible that you're not connected to an Office 365, so the timing could be weird. But other systems have been slowly deprecating Basic Authentication, too. You probably ran into that.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
I think you are right.
amorningofsleep@reddit
ChatGPT couldn't tell you that you can say "fuck no" on here?
option-9@reddit
The bolding suggests double asterisks and the letter O is also bold. Fuck no becomes fck o while "fuck off" is fk o.
Middle_Dangerous@reddit (OP)
Yes, that's excactly what I was trying to write, thank you.
tinersa@reddit
You should work on your writing skills
lantech@reddit
"chat gpt says"
turn in your tech card to be shredded, burned and the ashes launched into the sun
Ferro_Giconi@reddit
I've dealt with outlook plenty. In a situation where it's totally hosed and won't work in safe mode (not Windows safe mode, Outlook has a safe mode), I would back up the user's data file, uninstall and reinstall outlook, then set it back up with the user data. Outlook will have to be reconfigured to look how they want it to look.
Chat GPT is just saying random nonsensical garbage because it doesn't know the answer. I advise not trusting anything Chat GPT says without using other sources to verify. Outlook 2007 is old, but it works fine in Windows 10.