Troubleshooting the SpamBayes Outlook addin

This is a list of common problems, and hopefully their solutions.  Please feel free to suggest additional topics.  Currently, we have the following problems listed:
Some other resources that may be useful in tracking down any problems:
If you must send someone a mail about SpamBayes, please read this first.

Toolbar items appear, but fail to work

If the toolbar items fail to work, we are facing one of two problems.
First we will try deleting the toolbar, and if that fails, completely reset all Outlook toolbars.  Perform the following steps.
If all else fails, you can completely reset the Outlook toolbars by removing the file \Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outcmd.dat.  Although this is undocumented by Microsoft, we have never heard reports of problems.  If you are paranoid, simply rename this file so that you have a copy.  This has solved all toolbar problems for everyone who has reported one!

Addin loads with an error message

In this case, when you start Outlook you receive a message indicating that SpamBayes could not be initialized.
This means that SpamBayes has loaded, but struck an error during initialization.  If the information in the error message does not indicate the nature of the error, please report a bug (making sure you attach the log file)

Addin doesn't load

If you start Outlook but there was no error message, the SpamBayes toolbar items do not work and new messages have no Spam score or filtering applied, then the plugin has probably become disabled.
    1. Start Outlook, and select Tools->Options to display the main Options dialog.
    2. Select the tab labeled Other, then click on the Advanced button.
    3. Click on the COM Add-Ins button.
    4. If the SpamBayes addin is not listed, then SpamBayes should be reinstalled (Note that running regsvr32.exe outlook_addin.dll or outlook_addin_register.exe from the SpamBayes directory may also solve this problem).
    5. If the SpamBayes addin is listed but not checked, then simply check it and close the dialog.
    1. Go to Help->About Microsoft Outlook. 
    2. Click the Disabled Items button.
    3. Select SpamBayes. 
    4. Click Enable.
    5. Restart Outlook.
If you are running from source code, the addin will not appear in the above steps.  Please re-register the addin, as per the README.txt file. If none of that works, I am stumped!

Messages fail to filter

This is when messages arrive, but have no Spam field.  Note that this is different from a message having an incorrect or unexpected Spam value - that case is covered next.  This is for messages that have a completely blank spam score.  To resolve this:

Messages have incorrect or unexpected Spam values

This is when filtering appears to work OK, except that the spam values are wrong.  To resolve this

Resetting SpamBayes configuration

In some cases, it may become necessary to reset your SpamBayes configuration, especially if your configuration becomes invalid.  SpamBayes attempts to detect this situation, but doesn't always get it right.  This section details where critical configuration files are stored.
SpamBayes stores all configuration data in your data directory.  The configuration information is stored in a file called [profile name].ini, where profile name is the name of your Microsoft Outlook profile.  The default profile name is usually Outlook or Microsoft Outlook  Internet Settings, but Outlook can be configured to use any number of profiles, with any name.
Note that in this directory, you will also find a file named default_bayes_customize.ini - this file is not used to configure the Outlook side of SpamBayes - look for any other .ini files in that directory.
If you delete the configuration file, SpamBayes will be completely reset.  Note you will not lose your training data, only your configuration information.  The next time you start Outlook, the SpamBayes configuration wizard should appear, guiding you through the configuration process
Your training data is also stored in this directory, but in files with a .db extension.  If you ever want to delete your training information, remove the two .db files in this directory.
You may like to consider backing up this directory.

SpamBayes is not available for all users on the machine.

When SpamBayes is installed, by default it is available only for the user who installed it.  This is to allow SpamBayes to appear in Microsoft Outlook's Com-Addin list, and therefore able to be activated and de-activated by the user inside Outlook.
It is possible to register the addin so it is available to all users on a particular machine, which can be useful in enterprise arrangements where users have 'roaming profiles'
To register SpamBayes in this way, you must log on as a user with permissions to modify the system registry, then execute the command (obviously with the correct path substituted):
    "c:\Program Files\SpamBayes\bin\outlook_addin_register.exe" hkey_local_machine
If you check the installation log after performing such an install, you should see the following messages:
    Registered: SpamBayes.OutlookAddin
    Registration complete.
    Registration (in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) complete.
Note the last line, which does not exist when registration is performed only for the current user.  Once you have performed this registration, the Addin will be available for all users - but as noted above, it will no longer appear in Outlook's Com-Addin list.

All other problems

If you are simply unsure about what SpamBayes is doing, please send a mail to the SpamBayes mailing list with as much information as possible.  If you are fairly sure you have struck a bug, then please report it.  Please do not mail any of the contributors directly.

Process Descriptions

This explains some of the processes above in more detail.

Determine your installation type.

If you are running from Python source code, and installed Python, plus SpamBayes as separate components, then you are running the source code version.  If you downloaded an installer .EXE file, then you are running the binary version.

Check the log file

Determine your installation type.  If you are running the source code version, then please see README.txt in the Outlook2000 directory.
If you are running the binary version, then the SpamBayes addin writes a log in your Windows temp directory.  This directory is generally \WINDOWS\TEMP for Windows 9x, or \Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Temp for Windows 2000/XP.

Note that by default, in Windows 2000 and XP, Windows Explorer will not show the Local Settings directory, as it is hidden.  You can convince Windows Explorer to show this directory (and therefore allow you to see the Temp directory under it by doing either:
or The log file for the most recent execution of Outlook is named spambayes1.log, the second most recent is named spambayes2.log, and so on for the four previous runs.  You can view this file with notepad.  Usually, you will simply see messages which indicate that SpamBayes is doing its job; however in some cases there will be errors in this file.  If there are errors, please report a bug.

If the log file is very large

This probably means that SpamBayes failed to process a large number of (or a few, large) emails.  In that case, please perform the following steps:
You should have a new log file containing the error when classifying the test message.  If no error occurs processing the test message, the previous large log file will still exist (see above).  Either edit the file using a text editor to extract just the error information, or zip it up.  If you don't know what that means, please send a mail.

Locating your Data Directory

SpamBayes stores all configuration and database information in a single directory.  By default, this directory is located under the user's Application Data directory.  You can locate this directory by using the Show Data Folder button on the Advanced tab of the main SpamBayes Manager dialog.
If you need to locate it by hand, on Windows NT/2000/XP, it will probably be C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Spambayes, or on other versions of Windows it will probably be C:\Windows\Application Data\Spambayes.  Note that the Application Data folder may be hidden, so Windows Explorer may not show it by default, but you can enter the path into the Address Bar and Explorer will open it.
Note that by modifying the configuration files, you can tell SpamBayes to store this data in any directory, so it is possible your data is being stored elsewhere - contact your network administrator if this appear to be the case.

Report a bug

All SpamBayes bugs are maintained in this page at sourceforge.  Please have a check of the bugs already reported to see if your bug has already been reported.  If not, open a new bug, making sure to set the Category to Outlook.  Please ensure you attach the log file to the bug.
If you are unsure about the bug, or need any assistance, please send a mail.

Send a mail

If all else fails, you may want to send someone a mail.,  Please make sure you have read this document thoroughly before doing do.
Your mail should be sent to the SpamBayes mailing list (spambayes@python.org)  Please do not mail any of the contributors directly (see "good karma" below).
Please ensure this mail contains:
If you also mention that you read this trouble-shooting guide and are still stuck, then you will be more likely to get answered!  (And if you can subscribe to this mailing list and help answer other questions, good karma will come your way!)