Thanks. I just learned that through another channel, and uninstalled them this morning. The function is indeed back running. I had to remove the KB updates from 3 places. I removed both KB2837618 and KB 2837643.

It's really a pity to see Microsoft behaving like that and delivering problems and not solutions. I know things are very complex, but still...

You can mark the issues as solved (solution is to remove the two KB patches for now) and close it.

Hi, can I ask you where is this two places?

I have the same problem, but I'm not sure if the KB were installed or not. I try to find them into "Program and features -> See update installed" but I didn't find them.

Thank you very much,

Alessandro

Hi,

I didn't say two but three places.

Actually, my wording is a bit confusing. In terms of where you go to remove them, it is indeed "Program and features" and "see installed updates". Now within there, I had the KB listed several times (3) under different products (like "Microsoft Outlook 2013" and "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013") and I had to uninstall the KB from all three entries.

Note that, as per Robert Sparnaaij (http://www.howto-outlook.com, http://www.msoutlook.info) : "Im aware of the issues but they are not as black and white as the article(s) suggest(s) and not that widespread either to do a general recommendation to uninstall a security update. In case of the IMAP issues, they are actually wrong.", and "It was said to be fixed with Path Tuesday for December (December 10) but unfortunately somehow the Outlook 2013 update missed the cut. It got published on December 13 after all but only was approved a little over 24 hours ago as KB2850061. However, at the moment, only the downloads are available but not yet the KB article nor are they currently being offered via Microsoft Update so unfortunately, the issue will drag on a bit longer. Ive just published an article about it here: http://www.howto-outlook.com/news/update-2013-12-ol2013.htm". Lastly, "The KB article of the November update confirms that it fixes the Autodiscover connectivity issues with Exchange 2007:  

If you are using Outlook to connect to a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 mailbox:

• You receive an error message that resembles either of the following when you try to configure Automatic Replies (Out of Office): Your automatic reply settings cannot be displayed because the server is currently unavailable. Try again later.
• You cannot retrieve Free/Busy data for calendar scheduling.
• Add-ins that use the Account.SmtpAddress property no longer work.

These features rely on an underlying Autodiscover technology. After you install this security update, Autodiscover may fail for Exchange 2007 configurations. Therefore, Outlook features that rely on Autodiscover will also stop working. To resolve these issues, install update 2850061."

Hope this helps.

I have removed all KBs mentioned in this thread but the problem remains.

I tried this step and many of the others in this article. The only thing that worked for me to resolve this issue was to run a repair on office. 

Run -> Appwiz.cpl -> Office 2013 standard -> Change -> Repair -> Reboot -> Open Outlook and verify. 

Hello, yes, the solution was to apply latest Microsoft updates, but you need to search the update from Microsoft Word or Excel: File -> Help -> Update.

I tried it and seems worked for me!! :) The update can be apply 24 hours later the upgrade, so, you can see the real effect the day after.

I hope this help you!

Alessandro

I have tried all the above, including removing the KB's and installing the SP1 for office 2013. I still have this problem. Very frustrating that simple functionality stopped working.

Hello,

did you try to update the Office from Word or Excel?

Alessandro

It's normal. One time you updated the Office, only after 24/48 hours the update corrects the problem, not immediately.

Bye,

Alessandro

I have been suffering with the same problem since installing Office 2013/365.  My co-workers can not see my free/busy info, they can't see shared resources like conference rooms.  I still had Office 2007 installed and our hosted exchange server is 2007.

What worked for me was:

1. Uninstall Office 2007
2. Perform a repair on Office 2013
3. Reboot
4. Start Outlook normally

I will say, the link for the command-line switches is not updated to the new Office 2013.  From Windows 8.1, I clicked Win-R  to open the Run box, then this is exactly what I put in there:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\Outlook.exe" /cleanfreebusy

And I get the same error everyone else does that "cleenfreebusy" is not a valid command-line switch.

When I opened Outlook normally after the repair it seemed to temporarily fixed the problem, but after a subsequent reboot the issue is back again.

I don't have either of the 2 KB updates installed on my machine, my machine is newer and only recently setup a few weeks ago.

My version of Outlook comes from 365 subscription, version 15.0.4615.1002

• Edited by cfdude Tuesday, May 27, 2014 3:26 PM

I have been suffering with the same problem since installing Office 2013/365.  My co-workers can not see my free/busy info, they can't see shared resources like conference rooms.  I still had Office 2007 installed and our hosted exchange server is 2007.

What worked for me was:

1. Uninstall Office 2007
2. Perform a repair on Office 2013
3. Reboot
4. Start Outlook normally

I will say, the link for the command-line switches is not updated to the new Office 2013.  From Windows 8.1, I clicked Win-R  to open the Run box, then this is exactly what I put in there:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\Outlook.exe" /cleanfreebusy

And I get the same error everyone else does that "cleenfreebusy" is not a valid command-line switch.

When I opened Outlook normally after the repair it seemed to temporarily fixed the problem, but after a subsequent reboot the issue is back again.

I don't have either of the 2 KB updates installed on my machine, my machine is newer and only recently setup a few weeks ago.

My version of Outlook comes from 365 subscription, version 15.0.4615.1002

• Edited by cfdude Tuesday, May 27, 2014 3:26 PM