Outlook Hotmail Connector and dreaded "Server request timed out" error

Hi Bailey,

Please try starting the computer in the Clean Boot and check if any other software is conflicting with the Outlook.

Check this link for more information on starting the computer in Clean Boot mode:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After the troubleshooting, restart the computer in Normal mode as suggested in this article.

Reply with the results to assist you better.

Thank you.

Thank you for your help.

Unfortunately, a clean boot did not change anything about my situation: Outlook 2010 still reports "Limited Connectivity" with the new profile that I built for a new account on Outlook.com. The two errors reported by the Outlook Send/Receive Progress dialog are the same as before:

- "...Error with Send/Receive. There was an error synchronizing your folder hierarchy. Error 80041050.

- "Task '...' report erro (0x80041050) : "Server request timed out'.

I also tried my original profile that was configured for my original MSN account. The "Limited Connectivity" error was still reported but the account did send and receive e-mail.  However, the calendar is still not syncing with Outlook. To be clear, sending and receiving e-mail has not been an issue with this error; just the calendar sync problem.

Thanks for any additional help you can provide.

Hi Baily,

Please refer to the suggestions in the following KB and check if it helps:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2231628

Thank you.

The KB article does NOT apply to my situation. As I said in a previous note, I created a BRAND NEW Outlook.com account and it currently does not have anything in it. So there is nothing with which to sync (e.g., no calendar, folder or contact items) except for the e-mail message that Microsoft placed in the account when it was created. So, this is NOT a sync error caused by calendar, folder or message items not being properly synchronized between the web and Outlook. To reiterate, the problem I am having with "Limited Connectivity" has been present since the very instant this account was created.

Here is the main text of the error message posted in the Sync Issues folder:

*******************

19:13:47 Synchronization error.

19:13:47 Folder Collection Sync Key: 0{8c48dcd4-a06f-4358-8e7b-0c0e6d42e910}1

19:13:47 Message Collection Sync Key: 0{614780c3-be2f-4d2e-835c-02c81a195930}1

19:13:48 Error with Send/Receive.

19:13:48 There was an error synchronizing your folder hierarchy. Error : 80041050.

19:13:48 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Calendar'

19:13:48 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Contacts'

19:13:48

Again, this is Outlook 2010, version number 14.0.7106.5003 (32-bit), running on Windows 7 Professional, Service Pack 1 using Outlook Hotmail Connector version 14.0.6123.5001 (32-bit).

Thanks for any additional information and insight you can offer.

Hi Baily,

Have you tried installing the latest updates for the Office / Outlook?

Install the Service Pack 2 for the Office and check if it helps.

Refer to the following link for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2687455/en-us

Thank you.

I am already running Service Pack 2. The Outlook revision level quoted in my previous reply indicates this: my Outlook 2010 version number 14.0.7106.5003. The KB article you referenced indicates that SP2 version numbers are "greater than or equal to 14.0.7015.1000."

Any other ideas?

Hi Bailey,

Please check if the system time and date settings are applied correctly.

Refer to the following link for more information:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/set-clock#1TC=windows-7

Thank you.

Guruprasad,

Thank you for your assistance. However, the suggestions you are giving me are the common ones for anyone having a synchronization problem with Outlook 2010 and a Hotmail/MSN e-mail account... and I have tried them ALL... to no avail.

My date and time ARE set correctly on this computer, so that is not the cause of the problem. I have also uninstalled and reinstalled the Hotmail Connector. I have created a new profile. I have connected a new profile to a new Outlook.com e-mail account. None of these things have changed the behavior of Outlook 2010 on this PC when it attempts to connect to an account on MSN. The failure is predictable and repeatable: when Outlook starts, it performs a send/receive and after a certain period of time, it throws up the "Limited Connectivity" and "Send/Receive Error" flags in the Outlook status bar. The error messages in the "Sync Issues" folder are just what I reported in a previous message.

Clearly, there is something wrong with Outlook 2010 and/or the Connector on this machine.

I have tried everything but 1) uninstalling/reinstalling Outlook on this PC and 2) reformatting the hard drive, reinstalling Windows 7 Pro and Office 2010 and starting over from scratch. I would prefer not to have do either one of these things. But if no one can figure out why I am having this problem, I will have no choice to but try these things.

Thanks again for all of your help.

I was able to use another computer with Outlook 2010 to access my MSN account. It did NOT have this problem. So I do not think it is a problem on the server (MSN/Hotmail) side. I looked for differences between the two machines that might explain why it worked on one but not the other. So far, I haven't found any. I also uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook 2010 but that didn't help either. I have reluctantly decided to reformat the hard drive and start over. Not something I wanted to do...but I don't see that I have another choice if I want to use Outlook 2010 on this machine to access my MSN account.

I did notice one other anomaly on the problem PC: I can no longer save System Restore "restore points." In addition, all of the restore points that had been created in the past (over two year's worth) are all gone. It may just be a coincidence. Do you have this problem also? If so, maybe that will help to pinpoint the problem in Windows 7 that is causing both symptoms.

Thanks for replying to my post. Happy New Year!