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    Weird dates on incoming emails

    Does anyone know why a few of my incoming emails are dated in the distant past? Many, but not all of these are dated 1/1/1601. The problem started a couple of months ago.
    Bill Dunn
    SunCam, Inc.
    http://www.SunCam.com
    [email protected]

    #2
    Interesting you're having this issue. We have another customer who had the exact same issue recently. Any chance you're on Outlook for Mac? In their case it was a corrupt message store, here's how to rebuild it:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...solve-problems

    I found other references to this same date in a Windows Live Mail thread though:

    https://www.sevenforums.com/browsers...thing-els.html

    So perhaps it's some Microsoft programming bug that affects multiple email clients. When we investigated for the other customer, the emails had valid date headers, so there was no explanation for where the weird date was coming from. Rebuilding the email database (if the specific client you're using offers it) would be good start. I'd also investigate any anti-virus/anti-spam software, as some rewrite headers as messages come in, and if they corrupt the date header this could be the result.
    David Hubbard
    CIO
    Miva
    [email protected]
    http://www.miva.com

    Comment


      #3
      I am on Outlook for PC, 2016. I'll give your suggestion a try.
      Bill Dunn
      SunCam, Inc.
      http://www.SunCam.com
      [email protected]

      Comment


        #4
        They certainly don't make this easy but for that version I think you'd use the inbox repair tool, and have to dig around to find the PST file:

        https://support.office.com/en-us/art...4-60458afc5253
        David Hubbard
        CIO
        Miva
        [email protected]
        http://www.miva.com

        Comment


          #5
          Nothing about Office 2016 is better than the 2007 version. I am thinking of going back. Thanks for the link.
          Bill Dunn
          SunCam, Inc.
          http://www.SunCam.com
          [email protected]

          Comment


            #6
            Hasn't that been a theme since Office 97? LOL. The only reason I've upgraded is TLS.
            Thanks,

            Rick Wilson
            CEO
            Miva, Inc.
            [email protected]
            https://www.miva.com

            Comment


              #7
              I feel the same way; Outlook 2010 on PC is still mostly better than Outlook 2016 on Mac, with one big exception, so for one single reason I keep suffering through Mac Outlook and missing all the features I had seven years ago on the PC version. It's like their developers don't talk to each other, and then just add useless 'new features' as they go along so they can say a new version came out.
              David Hubbard
              CIO
              Miva
              [email protected]
              http://www.miva.com

              Comment


                #8
                Bill, were you able to fix it with the repair tool?
                David Hubbard
                CIO
                Miva
                [email protected]
                http://www.miva.com

                Comment


                  #9
                  No, the repair tool froze-up on the 7th of 8 phases. My PST file is huge (25gb) so it takes a long time. I'll try to remember to run it again overnight. Are you getting other reports of the same problem?
                  Bill Dunn
                  SunCam, Inc.
                  http://www.SunCam.com
                  [email protected]

                  Comment


                    #10
                    We have one other customer who has reported the same issue. The emails look fine in webmail but when downloaded, end up with that same 1601 date. He's on Outlook Mac and the tools are different there, but he also could not get a repair to complete; not sure about the size of PST.
                    David Hubbard
                    CIO
                    Miva
                    [email protected]
                    http://www.miva.com

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I let the tool run all night and it was ready to do repairs this morning. First, it wanted to do a backup of the file and that took 2-hours. (I would suggest just making a copy of the file with a new name to save time then uncheck the backup file box). Today, so far, no emails from the seventeenth century so it may have worked. My pessimistic side was certain that the repair tool would break something important just because it's Microsoft but it looks like they did something right for a change. Even a blind squirrel . . .
                      Bill Dunn
                      SunCam, Inc.
                      http://www.SunCam.com
                      [email protected]

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Well, it didn't last. The repair tool seemed to work but I have started receiving emails dated 1/1/1601 again. Also other weird dates and even some undated. They don't appear to be related to the sender because I received back to back emails from the same person, one with an accurate date and one dated 1601.

                        Learning to live with it.<shrug>
                        Bill Dunn
                        SunCam, Inc.
                        http://www.SunCam.com
                        [email protected]

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I had to use the repair tool recently and found that you may need to run it multiple times for it to fix everything (worked for me). I also did a Compact on the PST file to (hopefully) remove any lingering bad records.
                          Gordon Currie
                          Phosphor Media - "Your Success is our Business"

                          Improve Your Customer Service | Get MORE Customers | Edit Any Document Easily | Free Modules | Follow Us on Facebook
                          phosphormedia.com

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Worth a try.
                            Bill Dunn
                            SunCam, Inc.
                            http://www.SunCam.com
                            [email protected]

                            Comment

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