Let's take a moment to see what readers are asking. Erik en Mirjam asks:

When I start Outlook, I get the warning that some of my recurrent reminders are corrupted. Select Start->Run. Type "outlook /cleanreminders" does not fix the problem permanently, it helps for the session but next time the problem is back. I suspect it has something to so with reminders generated from birthdays and/or synchronization with Nokia PC Suite v6.

Erik Ciel asks:

For some reason my Outlook reminders are no longer popping up. I followed the advice of MS Office help and went to Options, then to other then to advance and enabled reminders to pop up, but to no avail. Do you have any suggestions you could offer? If so, I would really appreciate it. I even re-installed Office in the hope it might cure the problem.

Breaking our Erik trend, Susan Tagliaferri asks:

I'm having trouble with my Outlook reminders. For some reason they keep disappearing. When I initially set them they save but then at random times they are deleted from my entry as though I had never set the reminder at all. I've checked the Reminder Options and the checkbox is checked to display reminder. Any ideas how to fix this?

Resolving reminder issues can be a process of elimination. The first step that I do is run the "Outlook \cleanreminder" fix to address the issue. This will often resolve broken reminders -- but not always.

Next, I make sure that the Windows and Office are all up to date with the current Service Packs. Typically doing this will resolve corruption issues with reminders.

If that doesn't work, your profile might be corrupted. You may need to create a new Outlook profile and, if necessary, reinstall Office. The thing here is this: if you just reinstall Office, but don't create a new profile, you might not fix the problem.

Finally a third party software add-in can also cause problems with Outlook reminders. I would approach this by temporarily removing the software. If it does resolve the issue, then reinstalling the software may help resolve the issue -- or contacting that vendor may be the next necessary step.

We constantly get questions about problematic reminders and have almost as often written up various tips. If you want, visit our reminders article directory for more tips.

Francine Otterson is the President of the San Diego Outlook User Group and a Microsoft Outlook MVP. She has been in the IT industry for over 10 years, providing technical support, software customization solutions and training in corporate settings, and as a consultant. She balances her work around her daughter and husband in sunny San Diego, California.