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Microsoft quietly patches Windows Live OneCare to fix Outlook problems

Microsoft is not going to patch the latest version of its Windows Live OneCare service on March 13 to remedy Outlook compatibility issues, as a number of news and blog sites are reporting. The reason? Microsoft already issued the required OneCare patch with no fanfare on March 11.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Microsoft is not going to patch the latest version of its Windows Live OneCare service on March 13 to remedy Outlook compatibility issues, as a number of news and blog sites are reporting.

The reason? Microsoft already issued the required OneCare patch with no fanfare on March 11.

As noted by various Microsoft watchers, the OneCare-Outlook problems are not new. A number of customers have been reporting "OneCare ate my e-mail" problems since late January.

On March 12, I asked a Microsoft Windows Live spokeswoman whether Microsoft was still intending, as at least one official had stated in a recent posting on a OneCare user group thread, that Microsoft planned to issue a fix for OneCare-Outlook compatibility problems on March 13.

Her response:

"On Sunday March 11, the Windows Live OneCare team released a new anti-malware engine that will fix the issue of OneCare erroneously quarantining certain Outlook .pst or Outlook Express .dbx files when infected files were detected within them. Windows Live OneCare customers whose PCs are connected to the Internet will automatically get this fix. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers.

"Again, OneCare will automatically update for this fix and customers will not need to take action to update themselves, but any customers who wish to manually confirm that they have received the most recent anti-malware engine can do so via the following steps:

1. Click “Change OneCare Settings” in the Main OneCare user interface

2. Click the “Logging” Tab

3. Click the “Create support log” button

4. Scroll down to the “Virus and Spyware Versions:” section and check your AM Engine version number. If the text says the numbers “2306” after the 1.1. number – such as AM Engine:(1.1. 2306 .0) – your engine has been updated already. If “2306” does not appear, your engine may still need updating. To update, ensure your computer is connected to the Internet, then click the “Check for updates” link in the main OneCare user interface and OneCare will download and install the fix.

"For customers whose Outlook .pst and Outlook Express .dbx files had been quarantined prior to this fix and engine update, we continue to recommend the following steps to recover their email:

1. Close Outlook or Outlook Express

2. Click Change OneCare Settings in the Main OneCare user interface

3. Click on the Viruses & Spyware Tab

4. And then click on the Quarantine button and then select the pst or dbx file and then click on Restore."

Anyone out there tried out the OneCare Outlook patch?  

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