Out of Memory and network disconnections with many PST files loaded in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook clients

Symptoms

This problem may manifest itself with multiple symptoms or any one of the symptoms listed below.

1.  Frequent disconnections from Microsoft Dynamics CRM Servers.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM client system tray icon will show "There is a problem communicating with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server. The Server might be unavailable. Try again later. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator"

2.  Frequent disconnections from Microsoft Office Communicator (if installed)  to the Microsoft Exchange Server(s).  This will often show up with Microsoft Office Communicator showing in a disconnected state and will show messages like "Trying to connect"

3.  Disconnections inside Microsoft Outlook to the Microsoft Exchange Server(s).  This may show up as "Folder last updated x day and time" in the lower right hand corner of Microsoft Outlook where x day and time is a day and time that is not current or possibly an hour or two older than the current day and time.

4.  The Microsoft Outlook process may have more than 10,000 handles open (can be seen with Windows Task Manager or the Microsoft Sysinternals utility, Process Explorer).

5.  If Microsoft CRM Dynamics Client platform tracing has been enabled (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979085.aspx), the additional errors may be seen in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform trace files.  Typically the errors noted below will be seen in the files named MachineName-OUTLOOK-Client-YYYYMMDD-#.log where YYYY = the year, MM = the month, and DD = the date the log file was created.  Note that some of these messages will also be logged in the Application event log from the client computer having the issues.

a.  The Microsoft CRM Outlook add-in failed to initialize the user's language setting. Restart Microsoft Outlook and try again. HR=0x8007000e. Context=. Function=CEnableState::Activate. Line=169.

b.  An error occurred retrieving data from the Microsoft CRM server for processing Microsoft CRM-related e-mail messages. Not all CRM-related e-mail messages may be marked appropriately. Verify that the current user has appropriate permissions and server connectivity and try the action again. HR=0x80131534. Context=. Function=CEmailTagger::Run. Line=414.

c.  Exception occurred during outlook interop: System.Net.WebException: The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized.

d.  Exception occurred during outlook interop: Microsoft.Crm.CrmException: Resource not found(301).

e.  Exception occurred during outlook interop: System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine 192.168.1.1:443

f.  Exception occurred during outlook interop: System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable host 192.168.1.1:443

g.  Exception when trying to check if the user is authenticated System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable host 192.168.1.1:443

h.  LoadMetadataForRichClient() got exception: System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.

Note that the following steps for capturing a memory dump are optional as the symptoms seen should be captured with event log errors or Microsoft Dynamics CRM client platform trace error logs.

If a memory dump has been captured of the Microsoft Outlook process using these steps:

---------------------------------------------------
Add the registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework
Key: GCBreakOnOOM
Type: DWORD
Value: 2

Setting the above key causes a DebugBreak within the process when a System.OutOfMemoryException is encountered. Configuring Debug Diagnostic Tool (available to download at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26798 )
1. Download and install DebugDiag to a drive with at least 4-5 GB of disk space.
2. Open DebugDiag. If prompted to select a rule, select Crash. Else click on Add Rule button and select Crash.
3. Click Next & select “A specific process”
4. Select the process name, in our Case Outlook.exe. Click Next
5. Under Advanced Settings, click on Exceptions, then click on Add Exception
6. From the list of exceptions, select 80000003 Breakpoint Exception
7. Set Action Type to Full userdump & Action limit to 1. Click OK
8. Click Save & Close button
9. Click Next and provide a name for the rule and location where the dump files must be saved.
10. Click Next and then Finish button.

You may see a System.OutOfMemoryException listed in the managed threads when analyzing that memory dump with Windbg and the SOS !threads command.  You may also see a System.Net.WebException error listed.

Cause

This problem occurs because Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 allocate more memory for caching .pst files than earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook. After you enable this registry key, Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 will allocate the same amount of memory as earlier versions of Outlook for caching .pst files.  This is typically only seen with having larger numbers of open PST files loaded in Microsoft Outlook such as 50 or more PST files loaded. 

Resolution

The primary resolution is listed here:

If using Microsoft Outlook 2003:

This problem was first fixed in a hotfix that is now contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

870924 How to obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003


After you install the service pack, follow the steps that are listed in the "How to enable the hotfix" section of the article to set the UseLegacyCacheSize registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 2 Hotfix Package that is dated December 6, 2005. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

899340 Description of the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: December 6, 2005

 

How to enable the hotfix

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Quit Outlook 2003.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\PST
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type UseLegacyCacheSize , and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click UseLegacyCacheSize, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1 , and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

If using Microsoft Outlook 2007:

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Quit Outlook 2007.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\PST
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type UseLegacyCacheSize , and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click UseLegacyCacheSize, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1 , and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

If using Microsoft Outlook 2010:

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Quit Outlook 2007.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\PST
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type UseLegacyCacheSize , and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click UseLegacyCacheSize, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1 , and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Secondary Resolutions that should be applied and may need to be applied in addition to the primary resolution:

a.  Network disconnections or an inability to connect to Microsoft CRM Servers may be due to not having enough open WinInet Connections available.  This can be automatically fixed by using the FixIt functionality in this KB article, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402 or by implementing the corresponding registry changes manaully. 


b.  We can also increase networking related performance and minimize networking problems by setting the following two registry keys on your client machine. These keys would need to be created as DWORD keys if not already set. I can assist you in creating these keys and setting the correct values.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrectControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\MaxUserPort
Value: 65000 decimal

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrectControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\TCPTimedWaitDelay
Value: 30 decimal

 

More Information

When you try to add lots of .pst files to your e-mail profile in Outlook 2003, some of the .pst files may not be added
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;907651

Generating Platform tracing files for Support: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979085.aspx

How do I configure Internet Explorer to download more than two files at one time?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;282402

Debug Diagnostic Tool (available to download at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26798 )

Windbg downloads are available here for both 64-bit or 32-bit Windows (typically the 32-bit Windbg is used for Microsoft Outlook client debugging since there's only a 32-bit version of Microsoft Outlook available with both Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Outlook 2007).  http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx