Identities option missing in File menu
 

Can anyone help with troubleshooting when the 'Identities' option is missing
in the File menu.

I am using Outlook Express v 6.00.2900.21800 on WindowsXP SP2 with all
patches etc.

thanks,

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Unable to create or change an identity in Windows XP.

Open Start/Run and type: gpedit.msc
Open User Configuration.
Open Administrative Templates.
Open Windows Components (right hand pane).
Open Internet Explorer (right hand pane).
Scroll to Identity Manager (usually 3rd from bottom) and click Disabled and
Apply.


Prevents users from configuring unique identities by using Identity Manager.

Identity Manager enables users to create multiple accounts, such as e-mail
accounts, on the same computer. Each user has a unique identity, with a
different password and different program preferences.

If you enable this policy, users will not be able to create new identities,
manage existing identities, or switch identities. The Switch Identity option
will be removed from the File menu in Address Book.

If you disable this policy or do not configure it, users can set up and
change identities.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.


"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with troubleshooting when the 'Identities' option is
missing in the File menu.

I am using Outlook Express v 6.00.2900.21800 on WindowsXP SP2 with all
patches etc.

thanks,

Identities option missing in File menu
 

"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
Unable to create or change an identity in Windows XP.

Open Start/Run and type: gpedit.msc
Open User Configuration.
Open Administrative Templates.
Open Windows Components (right hand pane).
Open Internet Explorer (right hand pane).
Scroll to Identity Manager (usually 3rd from bottom) and click Disabled
and Apply.


Prevents users from configuring unique identities by using Identity
Manager.

Identity Manager enables users to create multiple accounts, such as e-mail
accounts, on the same computer. Each user has a unique identity, with a
different password and different program preferences.

If you enable this policy, users will not be able to create new
identities, manage existing identities, or switch identities. The Switch
Identity option will be removed from the File menu in Address Book.

If you disable this policy or do not configure it, users can set up and
change identities.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.


"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with troubleshooting when the 'Identities' option is
missing in the File menu.

I am using Outlook Express v 6.00.2900.21800 on WindowsXP SP2 with all
patches etc.

thanks,



Jim, thanks for the quick reply, but changing the setting from 'Not
configured' to 'Disabled' has not helped. Is this setting in Group Policy
Editor relevant for standalone PCs ?

Identities option missing in File menu
 

"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Jim, thanks for the quick reply, but changing the setting from 'Not
configured' to 'Disabled' has not helped. Is this setting in Group Policy
Editor relevant for standalone PCs ?

In your case, it should be changed to Enabled if it's not working since the
example I posted showed how to "disable" it. But a simpler fix might be
just to do a simple registry edit if you're up to that.

Look in the registry under this key: (click Start/Run and type regedit):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\CurrentVersion\Identities
In the right-hand pane, delete the value "Locked Down". If it does not
appear, create it as a new DWORD value and give it a zero (0) value.

--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.

Identities option missing in File menu
 

"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
In your case, it should be changed to Enabled if it's not working since
the example I posted showed how to "disable" it. But a simpler fix might
be just to do a simple registry edit if you're up to that.

Look in the registry under this key: (click Start/Run and type regedit):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\CurrentVersion\Identities
In the right-hand pane, delete the value "Locked Down". If it does not
appear, create it as a new DWORD value and give it a zero (0) value.

--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express

Jim, I do not have a 'Identities' key under
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Wi ndows\CurrentVersion\'

Is your PC networked ?

Identities option missing in File menu
 

How many accounts have you created on this computer? Do you find an
Identities key in the registry at this location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{numeric ID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\5.0

Is this your personally owned computer? Or is it one you've been using at
work? If at work, you should always consult with your IT personnel prior to
making any changes. The options we recommend in these newsgroups are
generally only related to the home user.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.




"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...

"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
In your case, it should be changed to Enabled if it's not working since
the example I posted showed how to "disable" it. But a simpler fix might
be just to do a simple registry edit if you're up to that.

Look in the registry under this key: (click Start/Run and type regedit):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\CurrentVersion\Identities
In the right-hand pane, delete the value "Locked Down". If it does not
appear, create it as a new DWORD value and give it a zero (0) value.

--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express

Jim, I do not have a 'Identities' key under
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Wi ndows\CurrentVersion\'

Is your PC networked ?

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Jim, I only have 1 account on this PC (name: 'Kevin Bean' - administrator
account), which is my personal/home PC. The only other account is the Guest
account, which is turned off.

There is no 'identities' key at 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{numeric
ID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0'.

I suspect that the problem is caused by a configuration error, but have not
been able to establish how to rectify the problem.

Kevin.



"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
How many accounts have you created on this computer? Do you find an
Identities key in the registry at this location:
Is this your personally owned computer? Or is it one you've been
using at work? If at work, you should always consult with your IT
personnel prior to making any changes. The options we recommend in these
newsgroups are generally only related to the home user.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.

Identities option missing in File menu
 

I find that response hard to accept. When you open the Registry Editor, try
first navigating to the root folder (called "My Computer") and then click on
the menu, Edit followed by Find and insert as search criteria "Identit"
without the quotation marks. Be aware it may take some time to complete,
but you should be able to find the key(s) involved. (F3) will take you the
next key meeting the same criteria since there are several. Please reply
with a listing of the key(s) you are able to find.

Of course if you have used some type of registry cleaner, then all bets are
off since no one can tell what damage you may have done to your computer
that you might only be able to repair by a complete format and reinstall of
your operating sytem.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.


"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Jim, I only have 1 account on this PC (name: 'Kevin Bean' - administrator
account), which is my personal/home PC. The only other account is the
Guest account, which is turned off.

There is no 'identities' key at 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{numeric
ID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0'.

I suspect that the problem is caused by a configuration error, but have
not been able to establish how to rectify the problem.

Kevin.



"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
How many accounts have you created on this computer? Do you find an
Identities key in the registry at this location:
Is this your personally owned computer? Or is it one you've been
using at work? If at work, you should always consult with your IT
personnel prior to making any changes. The options we recommend in these
newsgroups are generally only related to the home user.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Do you find an Identities key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER?

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/


"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Jim, I only have 1 account on this PC (name: 'Kevin Bean' - administrator
account), which is my personal/home PC. The only other account is the
Guest account, which is turned off.

There is no 'identities' key at 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{numeric
ID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0'.

I suspect that the problem is caused by a configuration error, but have
not been able to establish how to rectify the problem.

Kevin.



"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
How many accounts have you created on this computer? Do you find an
Identities key in the registry at this location:
Is this your personally owned computer? Or is it one you've been
using at work? If at work, you should always consult with your IT
personnel prior to making any changes. The options we recommend in these
newsgroups are generally only related to the home user.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Jim,
The following 'identities' keys were found:

My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities
My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Identities
My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.S-1-5-18\Identities
My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.S-1-5-19\Identities
My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.S-1-5-20\Identities
My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.S-1-5-21-lots of numbers\Identities

Kevin.

"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
I find that response hard to accept. When you open the Registry Editor,
try first navigating to the root folder (called "My Computer") and then
click on the menu, Edit followed by Find and insert as search criteria
"Identit" without the quotation marks. Be aware it may take some time to
complete, but you should be able to find the key(s) involved. (F3) will
take you the next key meeting the same criteria since there are several.
Please reply with a listing of the key(s) you are able to find.

Of course if you have used some type of registry cleaner, then all bets
are off since no one can tell what damage you may have done to your
computer that you might only be able to repair by a complete format and
reinstall of your operating sytem.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Frank,
yes, I do have a 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities' key (see reply
to Jim's message for other keys).

Kevin.


"Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE" wrote in message
...
Do you find an Identities key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER?

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

Identities option missing in File menu
 

OK. Now we're getting somewhere. Under My
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities, you should see several strings of
big, long numbers as shown in the attached graphic. Each of those big, long
numbers is called a GUID (Globally Unique IDentifier) and when clicking on
the number will display the "name" of the account involved in the right hand
pane. Each is for a specific Identity in Outlook Express.

Now, how many do you have? And what names are associated with each one?
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6

Identities option missing in File menu
 

Jim,
I have just the one GUID, with Username "PIPEX (Giganews)"

Kevin.


"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
OK. Now we're getting somewhere. Under My
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities, you should see several strings of
big, long numbers as shown in the attached graphic. Each of those big,
long
numbers is called a GUID (Globally Unique IDentifier) and when clicking on
the number will display the "name" of the account involved in the right
hand
pane. Each is for a specific Identity in Outlook Express.

Now, how many do you have? And what names are associated with each one?
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6

Identities option missing in File menu
 

It sounds like somewhere along the line, something in Outlook Express became
corrupted. You might want to try an uninstall/reinstall of Internet
Explorer/Outlook Express as outlined in this KB article:

How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows
XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q318378

To do so, you will have to uninstall SP2, then do the registry edit outlined
in the article. But before doing anything that drastic, try creating a new,
" dummy" email account, i.e., just use an email address that is bogus such
as and save the entry also making invalid entries for a
POP3 and SMTP server. Then reboot and see if you can now create a new
identity using Outlook Express menu, File/Identities/Add New Identity. Let
us know if that works to fix the problem before attempting a reinstall.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6





"Kevin Bean" wrote in message
...
Jim,
I have just the one GUID, with Username "PIPEX (Giganews)"

Kevin.


"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
OK. Now we're getting somewhere. Under My
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities, you should see several strings of
big, long numbers as shown in the attached graphic. Each of those big,
long
numbers is called a GUID (Globally Unique IDentifier) and when clicking
on
the number will display the "name" of the account involved in the right
hand
pane. Each is for a specific Identity in Outlook Express.

Now, how many do you have? And what names are associated with each one?
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6