Outlook 2007 desktop Alerts Don't Work

After installing SP2 for office 2007 my outlook desktop alerts no longer work. The first time I launch outlook and get new mail my desktop alerts don't work. If I drill down though the menus and click the preview button nothing happens. I have added the "And show a desktop alert" to all my rules for sorting mail. Even if I get mail dropped in my "default inbox" it doesn't work. However If I then close outlook it doesn't close properly. I end up with a gray outlook icon with an x on it in my notifications area. Clicking it does nothing. After what seems like a random interval it will disappear. I can open outlook again and the icon goes back to normal. Also now if I hit the preview button I see the test desktop alert. Still haven't seen a desktop alert for new mail though. Outlook will close properly now too. I've disabled all add-ins and Googled till my eyes hurt and haven't seen anything except other people with the same problem looking for an answer. Something else I've noticed is if I change my UAC settings and reboot the desktop alerts work first time outlook is opened, but next reboot they don't again. It doesn't matter which way I move the UAC slider just moving it fixes it for one session. The new mail envelop icon seems to be MIA too.

Very simple option first...

• When Outlook is open, right-click the Outlook icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.
• Is the "Show New Mail Desktop Alert" checked?
• If so uncheck it and close Outlook.
• Now restart Outlook and check the box again and wait to see if it works.

Ya know, I did that already, and it did seem to work at first, but a reboot latter and the desktop alerts weren't working again. It was one of the first things I tried. I just did it again and they seem to be working even after a couple of reboots. The desktop alert test works, and I sent myself a couple of test messages and got the alerts and the new mail envelop icon. I'm not making this thread solved though till I run it like this for a couple more days to be sure it doesn't stop on its own again. Thanks for the reply though. It seems to have fixed it.

Excellent, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Stopped working again and I have no idea why, other than my PC has been off for a couple of hours. It back to the same deal as before. First time you launch Outlook no alerts and the preview button doesn't work. Close outlook and launch it again and the preview works again. Just did a test message and the alerts work now.:banghead:

No!!!

Have your tried Diagnostics?

http://www.sevenforums.com/&app=ZOL&ver=12Outlook

1. On the Help menu, click Office Diagnostics.
2. Click Continue, and then click Start Diagnostics.

I ran them the other day from the office tools folder. It found one problem in the last check,setup diagnostic, and fixed it. I just ran them again and it found no problems.

It looks like they stop working after a certain amount of idle time. I turned on my PC this morning, launched outlook, closed it again and launched it again. Desktop alerts were working. I closed outlook but left my PC on. Came back a couple of hours later, launched outlook and they didn't work again.

I gave up trying to get them working and went back to office 2003.

does this help..??

Turn Desktop Alerts on or off - Outlook - Microsoft Office

I turned them off, rebooted and turned them back on. Turned them off, closed outlook, opened outlook and turned them back on and it didn't seem to matter. I've un-installed office 2007 and installed office 2003. Outlook 2003 found my PST file and my rules and now everything works the way it should. Desktop alerts work and outlook closes properly when I shut it down. I tried two different office 2007 DVDs using my product code and they both had the same problems once SP2 was installed.

Hi, Alphanumeric, have you checked your add-ins for an incompatibility in 2007 that might be causing the behavior you see in that version?

Most of them were from Microsoft but I disabled them all anyway and it didn't affect anything. I had to run Outlook as an administrator to kill the Adobe Contribute toolbar. Outlook was messed up before I installed CS5 so I don't think it had anything to do with my Outlook 2007 problems. This last time around I did a clean install of windows 7, did all the updates for 7, and then installed office 2007 right after that. Patched it and setup Outlook. From what I have seen looking for a fix for this problem, it's SP2 for office 2007 that causes it, Microsoft is aware of the problem, but hasn't done anything about it. Right now I'm running Office 2003 and outlook is working normally.