We have an Office 2003 installation running that when ever the computer is booted up, and then Outlook opened, the list of folders on the left is fully expanded (even the archive folders) showing all areas. Then if we collapse the folders and exit out of Outlook and turn off the computer, the next time we start the computer and open Outlook, the files are all expanded again.

If we simply close Outlook without turning off the computer, and then reopen Outlook, the folders stay collapsed. Only when the computer is turned off does Outlook open with all the folders expanded.

This computer has several past archive pst folders and personal folders installed (five in all) and so when they all expand, it extends down a screen or two and annoys the owner as he has to scroll down to the bottom and start collapsing all the folders. We are not using Exchange, only POP3, and all updates are installed. We are running Windows XP Pro SP2 and Outlook 2003.

Any one know why this is happening?

Thank you.

This is a setting in the Options dialog box.

We found out that the problem was in the registry and ghost entries. Even though we removed Outlook and re-installed, hoping to remove this behavior, the issue was still there. We deleted the profile section in the registry, reinstalled Outlook 2003, and the issue has gone away.