The e-mail address of a recipient is displayed as "SMTP:????????" when you use recipients from the nickname cache to address an e-mail message in Outlook 2003 (921584)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SYMPTOMS

When you send an e-mail message in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 to a recipient that is selected from the Outlook nickname cache, the e-mail address of the recipient is displayed as SMTP:????????.

Note This problem may spread to other recipients when the recipients reply to your e-mail message.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the Outlook nickname cache file is corrupted on the sender's client computer.

Specifically, this problem may occur if the recipient's e-mail address is stored as an ANSI string in the Unicode PR_SMTP_ADDRESS_W (0x39fe001f) property field in the Outlook nickname cache file.

This kind of Outlook profile corruption generally occurs when the Exchange Profile Update tool (Exprofre.exe) is not run after a cross-site mailbox move. You must run this tool after cross-site mailbox moves. For more information about Exprofre.exe, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

873214 The Exchange Profile Update tool

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, perform the following actions:
  1. Apply hotfix 921582.
  2. Enable the hotfix.
  3. Reset the Outlook nickname cache file.

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 2 Hotfix Package that is dated July 18, 2006. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

921582 Description of the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: July 18, 2006

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.

After you apply the hotfix, you must enable it. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Exit Outlook 2003.
  2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Options\General

  4. After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
  5. Type ValidateSmtpAddressForNNC, and then press ENTER.
  6. Right-click ValidateSmtpAddressForNNC, and then click Modify.
  7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
  8. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

How to reset the Outlook nickname cache file

For more information about how to reset the Outlook nickname cache, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

287623 How to reset the nickname and the automatic completion caches in Outlook

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/23/2006
Keywords:kbExpertiseInter kbemail kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbhotfixserver kbpubtypekc KB921584 kbAudITPRO
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