Send/Receive to synchronize folders may take longer than you expect to complete in Outlook 2002

When you are using Microsoft Outlook 2002 Connector and you click Send/Receive or press F9 to synchronize with your Domino mailbox, the process may take longer then you expect to complete.

Note The severity of this problem may increase as the number of folders in your Domino mailbox increases.

This problem occurs because Outlook 2002 Connector performs a folder by folder comparison with your Domino mailbox when you click Send/Receive.

When Outlook 2002 Connector performs background synchronization with your Domino mailbox, the following information is reported by the Domino server and then retrieved from the Domino server:

• Modifications that are made to messages.
• Message deletions from the database.
• New message additions to the database.

Note Because the Domino Server only reports these three types of information to Outlook 2002 Connector, when Outlook 2002 Connector retrieves this information it also performs a folder by folder comparison to retrieve the following additional information. This folder by folder comparison makes sure that a complete synchronization between the Domino server and the local replica occurs.

• Information that you must have to note a "copy- as-reference" of an item from one folder to another.
• Information that you must have to note the move of an item from one folder to another.

How to Obtain the Hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Outlook 2002 Connector Hotfix Package October 14, 2003. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the StopDetailedSync registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Quit Outlook.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Outlook 2002 Connector\
5. After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type StopDetailedSync, and then press ENTER.
7. Right-click StopDetailedSync, and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
9. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Changes to Outlook 2002 Connector Behavior After You Install the Fix

The manner that Outlook 2002 Connector behaves in will depend on the connection type that you use to connect to the Domino server.

When You Use a Local Access Network (LAN) Connection

After the StopDetailedSync registry key is set to 1, Outlook 2002 Connector behavior will change in the following manner:

• When you click Send/Receive or when background synchronization occurs, Outlook 2002 Connector no longer performs a folder by folder comparison.
• When you click Send/Receive, Outlook 2002 Connector makes sure that the local message store is complete. This means that it checks to see if the local message store needs to retrieve the bodies of message, when previously only the headers were retrieved.

Note When you want Outlook 2002 Connector to perform a folder by folder comparison, click Synchronize Domino Mailbox. For more information about why you might want to perform a folder by folder comparison, see the "Cause" section of this article.

When You Use a Remote Access Service (RAS) Connection

If you are using a Remote Access Service (RAS) connection and you apply this fix, the following behaviors are applied by default regardless of whether you set the AutoMessageDownload registry key to 1.

• When you click Send/Receive, Outlook 2002 Connector no longer performs a folder by folder comparison.
• When Outlook 2002 Connector performs background synchronization, Outlook 2002 Connector no longer performs a folder by folder comparison.
• Outlook will not download the full messages in the automatic background Synchronization thread when Outlook is restarted.
• Outlook will not download the full messages in the background Synchronization thread when creating a fresh local replica, for example when a new Outlook profile is created.
  
  Note Only the headers of the new messages are downloaded. To obtain the body of the messages where only the headers are downloaded you must do one of the following:
  • To obtain the body of a single message, click the message.
  • To obtain the bodies of all messages, click Send/Receive.
• Outlook 2002 Connector no longer tries to retrieve the body of an e-mail when Outlook 2002 Connector is idle.
• For incremental mails, new mails that come in when Outlook 2002 Connector is running, both the header and the body is retrieved.

Important Considerations

If you are using two profiles to access the same Domino mailbox, for example you use a laptop computer and a desktop computer, consider the following important scenarios:

• While you are using Outlook 2002 Connector on your laptop computer, you move a message from folder A to folder B and you do not synchronize your folders.
• On your desktop computer, you locate the same message in Folder A. The message would still appear in Folder A on your desktop computer because you still have not Synchronized your folders on your laptop computer.
• On your desktop computer, you move the same message from Folder A to Folder C. The result of this action is that you will have two copies of the same message in two different folders.

Without special considerations for this scenario, if you modified or deleted the message from Folder B or Folder C, both folders would reflect the change. To resolve this potential conflict, the most recently synchronized profile will override changes that are made in the other profile.

Note When you plan to move from one profile to another, for example you are using the same laptop to access mail from home and from work, click Synchronize Domino Mailbox before you change profiles. This is especially recommended when you plan to move from an office network profile to a remote profile, and should be performed after you log on to your local network and before you leave your office.

For more information about Outlook 2002 Connector, visit the following Microsoft Web site: