Here's a challenge. I somehow or another messed up one of my recurring calendar entries and now get the following error when I start Outlook. It gives no indication as to which entry it is. Have the experts got any idea where I might be able to find out which one it is so that I can remedy the situation.

Unfortunately, the screenshot Steve sent was in pretty bad shape. But by magnifying the image, we were able to make out the error message, which reads:

There was a problem reading one or more of your reminders. Some reminders may not appear. Cannot locate recurrance information for the appointment.

First off, this is another in a long list of the same class of questions: my reminders are broken. We did a great article recently that goes over some of the best steps for fixing reminder problems. It's called "What to do when reminders go kapooie" and you can find it at http://www.outlookpower.com/issues/issue200605/00001768001.html.

Basically, there's no easy way to find the exact reminder that's gunking up the works. But by using some of the steps in the above article, you might be able to clear out the offending item. Since we published the article, we've come upon one other step you might want to take.

We talked about using the command line switch /cleanreminders in that article (if you're not sure what I'm talking about, go, read that article. Come back when you're done.

I'll wait... I could use some pie... I wonder if the homeowner's association would be cranky if I built a trebuchet out back... Man, if only I'd bought those Reeses when I was out...

Yeah, that's why you don't necessarily want to make me wait. My stream of consciousness is scary. Anyway, now that you're caught up and know about /cleanreminders, here's another option if that didn't work.

Be sure Outlook is closed. Check your Windows Task Manager (the Processes tab) and be real sure Outlook isn't running. Then, at a command prompt (you can also select Run from the Start Menu), type in:

Hit return and pray. Hey, it might help.

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.