Lotus Notes errors due to Personal Address Book being corrupt
The Personal Address Book in Lotus Notes can occasionally become corrupt causing entries not to be recognized even though they are in the database. The Personal Address Book with the proper location document set up is required for the Lotus Notes client to run. If it has become corrupt, the client may not function properly if at all.
Various Lotus Notes errors may appear as a result from corrupt address books as well. Some of the most common issues or errors are:
To resolve the error in most situations, a new Personal Address Book must be created with new Locations added.
Note: If Lotus Notes will not launch at all due to an error being received, contact Technical Support Operations or try restoring an older version of the Personal Address Book (names.nsf) from Connected Backup. For additional information, see Eureka! document 11233 — How to retrieve files from Connected Backup.
If an error is being received when trying to open folders or the archive within the mail file, a different process should be followed. For additional information, see Eureka! document 26052 — Error when opening folders or archive in the Lotus Notes mail file.
If the persist after creating a new Personal Address Book, creating locations and renaming the file, contact Technical Support Operations for further assistance.
There are three steps involved in creating a new Personal Address Book.:
Note: All three steps must be completed and in order so that Notes can function properly. If they are not done in order, you may be locked out of Notes completely.
Prior to creating a new Personal Address Book and renaming the old one, the database icon must be removed from the workspace:
Open the Lotus Notes workspace by clicking the Workspace bookmark in the Databases folder with the blue book on it.
Find the icon for the
Personal Address Book and single click on it so that it is highlighted.
The icon will say
Last Name's Address Book on Local.
Press the Delete key.
A pop up window will appear that says, "Remove selected icon(s) from your workspace?" Click Yes to remove the database.
The database icon has been removed from the workspace.
To create a new Personal Address Book:
Select File from the menu bar.
Select Database from the drop down list and select New... from the next drop down list.
New Database window:
Click OK.
The new database will be created. The About Personal Address Book window will automatically open. Press the {Esc} key to close the About document.
Locations now need to be added to the new Personal Address Book before Notes will function. There must be at least an Office (Network) location document before Notes can be launched successfully. Other locations may be added as needed. The other location most often used is Island (Disconnected).
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To create the Office (Network) location document:
Open the new Personal Address Book that was just created.
Select View from the menu bar.
Select Advanced from the drop down menu and select Locations from the next drop down menu.
Click the Add Location button to create a new location.
Each tab requires different information:
Internet browser: Click the down arrow and select Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Click the Save and Close button.
The Office (Network) location is now complete. To work offline, an Island (Disconnected) location document must also be created. For information on how to create the Island (Disconnected) location document, click here.
If an Island (Disconnected) location document is not needed, the file names of the existing and new Personal Address Books must now be changed. Prior to changing the file names, exit Lotus Notes so it is no longer open. For information on how to change the file names of the Personal Address Books, click here.
Click here to return to the beginning of this document.
To create the Island (Disconnected) location document:
Open the new Personal Address Book that was just created.
Select View from the menu bar.
Select Advanced from the drop down menu and select Locations from the next drop down menu.
Click the Add Location button to create a new location.
Each tab requires different information:
Internet browser: Click the down arrow and select Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Click the Save and Close button.
The Island (Disconnected) location is now complete.
The file names of the existing and new Personal Address Books must now be changed. Prior to changing the file names, exit Lotus Notes so it is no longer open. For information on how to change the file names of the Personal Address Books, click here.
Click here to return to the beginning of this document.
Change the file names of the Personal Address Books:
Before renaming either address book, Lotus Notes must be closed. If it is open when trying to rename either file, corruption of the entire Notes setup can occur.
Rename the current (old) Personal Address Book:
Right click on the Windows Start menu and select Explore.
Navigate to the c:\apps\notes\data folder.
Scroll down the list of files in the right pane and right mouse click on names.nsf.
Select Rena me from the drop down menu.
Type oldnames and press {Enter} on the keyboard.
Rename the new Personal Address Book.
Right click on the Windows Start menu and select Explore.
Navigate to the c:\apps\notes\data folder.
Scroll down the list of files in the right pane and right mouse click newnames.nsf.
Select Rena me from the drop down menu.
Type names and press {Enter} on the keyboard.
When both address books have been successfully renamed exactly as indicated above, launch Notes. The error messages should no longer be received. If the errors continue after creating and renaming a new Personal Address Book, contact
Technical Support Operations for further assistance.
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Created by the PeopleSoft Knowledge Management Team.
Copyright © 2003
All rights reserved.
Created: ttt 11/25/1996
Revised: dcb 07/15/2004
Reviewed: 08/19/2004