When Outlook Refuses to Start

If you are lucky, Outlook will never refuse to start.  If you are not so lucky, here is how to fix it.  Hold down the Ctrl key and click on your Outlook icon. Click Yes.



That should get it to start in Outlook's safe mode, with all of it's add-ins temporarily disabled. Next, you will click on File -- Options -- Add-ins.  At the bottom of the screen, you should see this:



Click on Go, then deselect unnecessary add-ins.  Make sure to make a list of the add-ins that you deselected, just in case you need them.  If you use Microsoft Exchange, you will need the Microsoft Exchange Add-in, and probably need to keep the mail scanner add-in, if your security software has one. When you are done, click on Ok, then close Outlook.  You should now be able to open Outlook normally.  For me, this trick works about 95% of the time.  Hopefully, it will work for you as well.

Why I Like Firefox

Frequently, a client will lament how long it takes Internet Explorer to load, and I will suggest that we check out Firefox. Almost all mention immediately that Firefox is much faster. Speed alone is ample reason to prefer Firefox. Recently, however, I encountered another compelling feature of Firefox.

A client suddenly started getting certificate errors when attempting to access web email. IE cheerfully states the web site's certificate is expired or not yet valid, and when you click on "More information," it does warn about entering private information, but does not give a clue regarding the cause of the problem. One could logically conclude that the web site probably had an expired certificate, based on the information at hand.

Conversely, Firefox cut right to the chase, and stated that the certificate was set to become valid on a "future date," and displayed the date/time to which the client's computer itself was currently set. As it turns out, the client's computer was set to three years earlier. No wonder the certificate was not yet valid! Thanks to Firefox, the problem was easy to diagnose and fix. This is just another reason I like Firefox.

Update on AT&T Closed Cell Phone Network

On a whim today, I put my AT&T SIM card in my old unlocked Blackberry, just to see if it could make and/or receive calls. This is the same phone that previously worked on the AT&T cellular phone network, then mysteriously became unable to operate as a phone around December 1. At the same time, two brand new unlocked Motorola V3 phones also refused to work with AT&T service. At first AT&T insisted that all three phones were defective, then later stated that they had shut their cellular phone service to unlocked phones. Perhaps they changed their minds? I guess this will remain a mystery.

Craig Herberg personal blog: AT&T Blocks Unlocked Phones

Craig Herberg personal blog: AT&T Blocks Unlocked Phones

AT&T Blocks Unlocked Phones

UPDATE DECEMBER 14, 2007

After replacing a brand new unlocked Motorola V3 [GSM] phone with another brand new unlocked Motorola V3 [GSM] phone, I put my wife's AT&T SIM card in it, and had the exact same result as in my previous post. The phone would send and receive text messages, but could not make nor receive phone calls. I spent about an hour with a very helpful person in AT&T Technical Support. He very patiently tried numerous experiments to attempt to coax telephone service out of the new unlocked phone. After trying everything he could think of doing, he escalated the issue to Engineering for resolution. I could expect a call within three business days. Before hanging up, I asked if AT&T had started blocking unlocked phones to prevent fraudulent access. He thought that would not be necessary, because AT&T has to program the SIM card with their customer's account information to work in a compatible cell phone. No phone -- AT&T branded or unlocked compatible -- without a valid account and SIM card would be able to use AT&T wireless service.

Less than an hour later, my wife received a call from AT&T explaining that AT&T DOES NOT ALLOW UNLOCKED CELL PHONES ON ITS CELL PHONE NETWORK, in order to prevent fraudulent access. Unfortunately, paying AT&T Wireless customers no longer have freedom of choice. Caveat emptor.

Did AT&T/Cingular Disable Unlocked Phones?

Recently, I purchased a new unlocked GSM cell phone for my wife to use on the AT&T/Cingular wireless network. After inserting her SIM card, the phone recognized the Cingular network, and displayed five bars. As long-time Cingular customers, we expected the phone to recognize the network and make and receive calls. Unfortunately, it was unable to send nor receive phone calls. It was, however, able to send and receive text messages. Thinking that AT&T needed to enter the phone's IMEI number, I brought the phone to the local AT&T Wireless store. They looked at the phone and verified there was no problem with the account, and suggested that I call their technical support to resolve the problem, after mentioning that they had received many calls about unlocked phones being able to send and receive text messages but unable to send/receive phone calls, due to a recent network change.

After I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with AT&T customer service and technical support, provided IMEI number, swapped SIMs and power cycled several times, they made some changes on their end, all to no effect. When I mentioned the network changes cited by the local AT&T store employee, the customer service rep stated that he had no knowledge of any such change, and stated that tests they conducted on their side indicated that I had a defective phone.

Today, on a hunch, I put my wife's SIM card in an old unlocked Blackberry that had worked the last time I tried it a couple of months ago. Guess what? Same symptoms as the new "defective" phone -- it would not make nor receive phone calls!

Is anyone aware of a change to the AT&T wireless network to disable unlocked phones? As hard as it is to build customer goodwill and easy as it is to destroy it, one would think that they would not intentionally do this to their paying customers. As always, comments are welcome.

Vista's Blocked Startup Programs

One of the complaints I frequently hear about Vista involves the message "Windows has blocked some startup programs."


Unfortunately, clicking to view the blocked programs just leads to more frustration. Vista does show a list of startup programs, but does not tell which ones are blocked from starting! What to do? Well, you can at least make this annoying and uninformative message go away. Here's how. Right-click on the Blocked Startup Program icon in the System Tray.



Next, scroll to "Run blocked Program," and
click on "System Configuration Utility."

Lastly, check the box labeled, "Don't show this message or start System Configuration when Windows starts," and click "OK." Voila! At last, you should not have to see that annoying message again. And. . . if it ever does rear it's ugly head again, you know how to fix it.