Error message when you try to modify your out of office settings in Outlook 2003: "ERROR Your AutoReply message could not be displayed. The client operation failed"

Consider the following scenario. You open the mailbox of another user in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. Then, you click the Out of Office Assistant option in this mailbox. In this scenario, you receive an error message that is similar to the following error message:

This problem occurs, when the following conditions are true:

• You are running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2).
• Outlook 2003 is running in Cached Exchange Mode.
• Your mailbox and all the additional mailboxes in your MAPI profile are located in different mailbox stores.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

You must install Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) before you install the hotfix.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply the hotfix. However, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store Service and all dependent services will be restarted.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfix.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

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

To work around this problem, disable Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2003. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
2. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
3. Make sure that Microsoft Exchange Server is selected in the Name area of the Outlook processes for these accounts in the following order section of the E-mail Accounts dialog box, and then click Change.
4. In the E-Mail Accounts dialog box, click to clear the Use Cached Exchange Mode check box, and then click Next.
5. Click OK, and then restart Outlook 2003.

For more information about a similar issue in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: