Object Reference Not Set to an Instance of an Object - ACT 2010 - Outlook 2007 - Windows 7 - when clicking email address on an Act contact

[veroned]

ACT! 2010 V 12 Hotfix 3 - email integration to Outlook email

Outlook 2007 SP2

Windows 7

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I have had this configuration running for a time.  Recently did a clean reinstall of Windows 7 (unrelated problem) and reinstall of all software.  I believe ACT! behaved for a few days after this as well.

Now when I click on the email address of a contact in ACT!, I get ther error: Object Reference Not Set to an Instance of an Object.  In addition, email merge does not work at all, but there is no error message (I know this worked a week or so before I reinstalled everything).

I have searched knowledge base and forum articles and glean nothing except that this error happens all over the fricken place for a huge variety of reasons and no common fix.  (You'd think perhaps better error handling and diagnostics?).

Editorial comment aside, I have tried various things already:

1) Uninstall ACT!  Reinstall.  Restore database.

2) Remove email integration.  Restore email integration.

3) Run Detect and Repair in Outlook (now called Office Diagnostics).

Any additional suggestions?

[veroned]

I see views on this topic.  Is anyone else having a similar difficulty?  Does anyone have a thought on what I should tinker with?

One new symptom:  If I point the ACT email integration to the ACT email client, it works perfectly.  Even if I point integration to Outlook email but still use the ACT email for editing email, it works fine.  (At least for a single email; I have not tried email-merge).

[magreenfield]

I'm having exactly the same problem with the same configuration. Cannot send emails out of Act through Outlook 2007. Just started happening a couple of days ago. I already have a pretty low opinion of the quality of programming that went into Act, so I don't have any expectations that things just stop working in Act. But I would like to find yet another workaround to this (which is normally the case while you wait for Sage to send you an advertisement for their next version, which they promise will work perfectly).

[veroned]

I paid my $$ and spent multiple days on the phone with ACT support.  We reinstalled, we wiped clean and reinstalled again.  We wiped a bunch of temporary files.  We granted specific administrator rights to sets of files.  Eventually email integration worked but I can't tell you what it was precisely.

I had problems with a second application in the same timeframe.  Either that one or this one had some conflict with DLLs of the same name - some from MS Office 2007 and additional ones from beta MS Office 2010.  I don't know if that is a clue for you or not.

Good luck.

[shootmeimdone]

I've spent my $$ to but would rather not spend multiple days on the phone since I'm trying to fix the problem remotely. How about trying to remember the last few things you did and let us in on it.

[gmartin]

There certainly were multiple steps taken to get Veroned's integration working, but I feel the main step to resolution in that case was the manual cleanup of the Microsoft Office application (and subsequent reinstalls of Office and Act!).

Here are 2 other options to attempt to resolve:

- Vista/Windows7 OS: be sure to run Act! 'As Administrator'.  To do this: close Act! > right click on Act! icon > select 'Run As Administrator' > test

- Recreate your Act! Preference files.  Here is a link to instructions for recreating your Act! Preference files: Rebuild Act! Preferences.  I recommend skipping the Actdiag steps and going straight to the 'Alternate Method - Manually Delete Act! Preferences' section.

[magreenfield]

I have now done all of these things, but I still cannot access Outlook through Act. I have even removed entirely Office and Reinstalled it. With no luck. I found a strange reference to visual C++ and removed that along with Act, but that doesn't work. There is clearly a bug with Act integrating into .Netframework (another one, I'm sure, along with the huge list of previous ones). Does anyone have a solution that works, or a method to figure out what is malfunctioning?

[gmartin]

These errors can be very tough to troubleshoot and it sounds like you have covered the basics.  It is possible that it is either a corrupted database or Outlook profile.  The next steps would be to test this using a different database (create a new database or use the Actdemo).  If it still fails, you will need to create a new Outlook profile to sign into and test with. 

And just to make sure:

- you are running Act! as an Administrator (right click on Act! icon and select 'Run As Administrator')?

- you have deleted/recreated your Preference files (you were presented with the Getting Started Wizard upon reopening Act!)? 

How to create a new Outlook profile

Message Edited by gmartin on 05-14-2010 01:21 PM

[magreenfield]

It's not the database. It doesn't work with the demo either. I'll try creating a new email profile. If that doesn't work, I've already redone the preferences several times...

[magreenfield]

None of these have worked. The new profile was the last step. It didn't work. I realize given how poorly Act! integrates into netframework that it is difficult to determine exactly which of the 101 bugs is the cause, but there must be some sort of logging routine that they have which can determine where the integration fails. From my own knowledge of .netframework I can only figure out that Sage hasn't committed sufficient resources to this problem and that many, many users have similar problems. .NF is constantly being updated for security reasons. All other companies that have integrated into this platform work to keep their programs integrated. Sage does not. It is the only program that I have ever used (of hundreds) that has such constant and pervasive problems. Technical support is very well trained. They have memorized one phrase "You need to uninstall and reinstall Act."

Sage sells new versions that incorporate fixes, but contain new bugs. Since this is a core function of Act, I really need to insist that the problem is addressed. On the "advice" of Sage (and, believe it or not, Microsoft), I have: uninstalled/reinstalled MS Office 2007, Windows 7, Act; I have renewed the Act preferences, run data integrity checks on Act and Outlook, recreated the Outlook profile, etc. all the normal "recommendations" offered by the poorly qualified phone technicians (who probably know less about this system than I do). Finally, I have once again tested the demodase to reconfirm that the dbms has not, once again, damaged the integrity of the actual database. Surprisingly, it has not. This is a fundamental programming bug in the system. The sheer quantity of posted complaints about this problem with Act is astonishing. Before I resort to other measures to receive some compensation for the sheer amount of time I have wasted trying to repair this problem, please have a qualified technician contact me. Thank you.