OL97: Exchange Server Limits Cause Task Requests to Fail (185930)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 97
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
This article was previously published under Q185930

SYMPTOMS

You receive the following message in Microsoft Outlook 97 when attempting to Accept or Decline a Task Request:

You cannot accept the task "<Task Subject>" because it has already been accepted.

CAUSE

This occurs when the storage limit of the Microsoft Exchange Server has been exceeded and a Task Request is Accepted, Declined, or Replied to as Tentative and the reply message cannot be sent to the assignor of the Task.

RESOLUTION

Nothing can be done about this task request; ask the organizer to send you another invitation to the meeting. To dismiss the message, Outlook will need to be forced to close.

To force Outlook to close, follow these steps:

Windows 95

  1. Close all unsaved messages.
  2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Close Program window.
  3. Click to select Microsoft Outlook, and then click End Task.
Outlook will close and the message will disappear.

Windows NT 4.x

  1. Close all unsaved messages.
  2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Windows NT Security window and click Task Manager.
  3. On the Applications tab, click to select Microsoft Outlook, and then click End Task.
Outlook will close and the message will disappear.

MORE INFORMATION

There are two things that can be done to keep this problem from happening:
  • Retrieve the task request from the Deleted Items folder and make enough room in the store so that replies are sent.
  • Deliver mail locally to a Personal Folder (PST) instead of to the server (Mailbox - <username>), then problem should not occur.

Retrieve Task Request

If the limits of the server store (Mailbox - <username>) are exceeded when replying to a Task Request, the item will be moved to the Deleted Items.

To move the message back to the Inbox after you have created enough space on the server (Mailbox - <username>), follow these steps:
  1. On the Folder List, click the Deleted Items folder, and then move the item from the Deleted Items folder back to the Inbox.
  2. Move enough items out of your Mailbox to reduce the size to below the limit for the mailbox. You can move items to a Personal Folder (PST).
  1. Empty the Deleted Items folder.
  2. Open the Task Request and click Accept, or Decline.
  3. Select the appropriate response and click Send.
The message will now send.

Deliver to a local store (PST)

To change the delivery location of your mail, follow these steps:

NOTE: if you already have a PST that you'd like to deliver your mail to, instead of leaving it on the server, skip steps 2-5.
  1. On the Tools menu, click Services.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Click to select Personal Folders and then click OK.
  4. Type a name for the new Personal Folder (PST). Click Open.
  5. Click OK to accept and close the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box.
  6. In the Services dialog, click the Delivery tab.
  7. Click to select the PST under "Deliver new mail to the following location" and then click OK.
New mail will be delivered to the new Inbox in the Personal Folder rather than the server (Mailbox - <username>). Existing messages on the server will slowly be copied down to the Personal Folder. Other folders on the server would need to be copied down to the Personal Folder manually.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/20/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbpending KB185930
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