The Read/Unread state of a message is not synchronized from an offline client to a second online client

When you work offline and change the Read or Unread state of a message or a public folder item, and then you synchronize your folders, you may find that the Read or Unread state of the message or the public folder item is not synchronized to a second client. For example, if you open a message by using Microsoft Outlook on one computer (while you are working offline), the Unread state of the message is changed to Read. If you then synchronize your folders, and then view the same folders by using a different computer (while you are working online), you see that the state of the message is still Unread. The second client was not notified about the state change from Unread to Read.

Online clients are not affected by this problem, and offline clients correctly see Read or Unread changes that are made by online clients.

This problem occurs because of a bug in the Incremental Change Synchronization (ICS) import logic that accepts Read or Unread state transitions. Changes to the Read or Unread state in the offline store that are synchronized back to an Exchange 2000 computer or to an Exchange Server computer do not trigger a call to IExchangeImportContentsChanges::ImportPerUserReadStateChange() Exchange Development Kit (EDK) function. This function should be called from the Exchange 2000 computer or from the Exchange Server computer if the Read state of a message has changed.

Cumulative Rollup Information

To resolve this problem, obtain the September 2003 Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 3 (SP3) Rollup. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix Information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Exchange 2000 Server service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question. Component: Store.exe

Exchange 2000 Server

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel. Note Because of file dependencies, this update requires Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3). For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Exchange Server 5.5

Note Because of file dependencies, this update requires Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4 (SP4).

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.