Hide from Address List taking AGES to update GAL 3

[AndyNZ]

Anyone here have problems with the Global Address List updating the clients on Exchange 2003 - outlook 2003?

Example:
I have a user I want to hide from the GLobal Address list.
I tick the Hide from Address Lists property on the user account and wait.

I open outlook and create a new e-mail. Hit the TO button and I can still see the user in the Global Address List.

I replicate AD via Sites and Services.
Still can see the user.

I click recipient update service in the Exchange console and click update.
Still can see the user.

I manually download address lists via the Outlook sendto menu.
Still can see the user.

I've waited for an hour.
Still can see the user.

The server is brand new and tuned with the Exchange Best Practices tool. E-mail connectivity is fine and fast.

What am I doing wrong?
Where should I look?

 

[markdmac]

I am willing to be that the problem is not that you are doing something wrong but that are unaware you are probably not looking at the GAL.

I'm going on the assumption here that you are using Outlook 2003 in Cached mode. As such, what you believe to be the GAL is really a copy of it called the Offline Address Book.

Turn off Cached mode to verify what I am saying is correct.

What you need to know is that the Offline Address Book takes about 24-48 hours to update. If you force a rebuild it should go faster than that but still will not be immediate.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[AndyNZ]

Thanks for that.
Yes I was using Outlook 2003 in cached mode.
I had to delete my *.oab files before it would fully resync though, and then all was fine.

Forcing a download address book didn't seem to work until I deleted the cached copy of the GAL.
Maybe if I waited for a few more hours it would have updated.
Thanks for your post.

 

[markdmac]

Glad to be of service.

This seems to be a very common problem, I am hoping Microsoft will address it soon.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[dyarwood]

Just having a similar problem with the GAL. Read the first line of your post markdmac and knew exactly what I had done wrong.

Star for the help cheers

dyarwood