Microsoft Outlook Configuration Analyzer 1.0.0

Microsoft Outlook Configuration Analyzer is a free tool which will scan your Outlook profile (2007 or 2010) and report on any issues which might be causing you problems.

To use the program, first make sure Outlook is running, then launch the Configuration Analyzer and start a scan. On our test PC the progress bar estimated a very long scan time (ten minutes or so), but in reality it only took maybe three minutes, so very soon we were browsing the report to see what it had to say.

The first details you'll see are information on your Outlook configuration: your various profiles, all the addins and third-party modules you've installed, the Outlook updates installed on this system, and any settings issues the program thinks might be relevant.

The more interesting details are usually to be found on the All Issues tab, though, where the Configuration Analyzer will highlight any problems it considers to be significant. These can be very specific - you've the wrong version of a particular DLL, or a Registry setting may be incorrect - or a little more vague ("Folder too big"), but either way if you click the issue then you'll find a link to a Microsoft support page which tells you more about the problem and how to resolve it.

This isn't always brimming with useful information, unfortunately - our report had only two items - but fortunately the program does also gather details of any recent Outlook crashes you might have had. And if you switch to the Tree Report format then you'll be able to view those last error messages, including details of the faulting file, which may help you to figure out the cause of the problem.

The Outlook Configuration Analyzer isn't doing anything that surprising, then, but it does do it fairly well, and there is some genuine depth here (the program understands how to retrieve Active Directory Domain Services credentials, for instance, when necessary). So if you're having Outlook issues, give the program a try - it just might be able to help.

Please note, Microsoft also provide a Word document with further information on the Configuration Analyzer, if you need it.

Experienced Windows users will probably find the Outlook Configuration Analyzer doesn't tell them anything they didn't know already. The program is free and easy to use, though, so if you're facing some stubborn Outlook problems then it's probably still worth a try.