"An Error Occurred While Trying to Empty the Deleted Items Folder" Error Message When You Try to Empty Deleted Items in Outlook Web Access (822696)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Standard Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you connect to an Exchange 2003 computer by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access and you try to empty the Deleted Items folder, you receive the following error message:

"An error occurred while trying to empty the Deleted Items folder"

CAUSE

This problem may occur when you install Exchange 2003 on a computer that contains nonstandard characters in the computer name, for example, an underscore.

If you do use nonstandard characters in your Exchange 2003 computer name, when you use Outlook Web Access to connect to the mail server, the nonstandard characters may cause your Web browser to not accept or to not generate HTTP cookies. Cookies are required for Outlook Web Access to function correctly. Without the required cookie, you receive the error message that is described in the "Symptoms" section when you try to empty the Deleted Items folder. The error message occurs because the session ID of the request does not match the user context ID.

RESOLUTION

To avoid this problem, it is a good idea to avoid the use of nonstandard characters in your server names.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, you can delete items one at a time from the Deleted Items folder. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Right-click the item that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
  2. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the item.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about nonstandard characters in a computer name, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

228275 Computer Name Setup Allows Invalid Characters in Computer Name


For additional information about Microsoft DNS naming policies, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

222823 Warning Message After Typing DNS Name

For additional information about Microsoft Outlook Web Access, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

125329 Deployment and Troubleshooting Outlook Web Access (OWA)

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:11/8/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB822696 kbAudEndUser
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