Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Resolving Lotus Notes error message: Invalid character in file name

IBM Lotus Notes is one of the most important e-mail application programs in use now-a-days. Like any other e-mail application programs such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express etc, it also performs all the mail operations like e-mailing, calendaring, scheduling, programming etc. IBM Lotus Notes uses NSF files for the storage of all the important data in it. Sometimes while working with Lotus Notes, you may encounter various error messages which disable you to access the database and make use of its features. Corrupt Lotus Notes database is the premier reason for the occurrence of such error messages. Database corruption occurs when Lotus Notes NSF file has gone corrupt and needs to be repaired in order to access the damaged Notes document.

 In addition to database corruption, internal settings are also responsible for the generation of many error messages. In order to remove these errors, Lotus Notes users can opt for various utilities like Fixup, Compact, update. NT Check Disk etc. These tools may result few exceptions in some cases which may result in obtaining improper results. Therefore in order to Repair Lotus Notes database from corruption, Lotus Notes users must opt for a suitable third party Lotus Notes Recovery software.

To illustrate the above problem consider the following example: When you try to archive NSF file in Lotus Notes 6.x using “Archive now” or “Archive selected documents” feature, an error message depicts on the screen. On every attempt to archive NSF file, you receive below mentioned error message:

"Notes error: Invalid character in file name."


Cause:


The reason behind this error message is the presence of an invalid character in the path or file name of the database used to log archiving activity.

Resolution:


In order to resolve the above error message and to access the corrupt Lotus Notes database, following steps need to be followed:

(1)
First launch IBM Lotus Notes 6.x. Now with the inbox open, select the “Actions” option from the Notes command menus.

(2)
Now from the drop down menu, select “Archive” and then select “Settings”.

(3) Click the Advanced tab.

(4)
Make sure the file path under the option “Log all” archiving activity into a log database does not contain any non-alphanumeric characters.

(5)
Since it is possible for non-alphanumeric characters to be part of a file name, the suggested method to correct the error is to click the Browse icon and then select the correct log database file name. This ensures that the correct file name is specified even if there are non-alphanumeric characters that are required as part of the file name.

(6) Exit Lotus Notes database.

However even after performing above steps doesn't solve the problem, then Lotus Notes users must go for a third party Lotus Notes Repair tool. Many softwares are available in the market that are specifically designed and developed to Repair Lotus Notes database and free it from NSF file corruption. Such softwares comes with advanced features which help in efficient repair and recovery of all the data of the Lotus Notes mail components, such as mails, contacts, attachments, appointments, To-do lists, calendar-entries etc. Stellar Phoenix Lotus Notes Recovery v2.0 is one such software.

Stellar Phoenix Lotus Notes Recovery v2.0 is an advanced Lotus Notes Recovery software that repairs corrupt NSF files and restores them in original format in any user desired location. The software supports IBM Lotus Notes 6.x & 7.x and is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, NT4 (SP6). The tool repairs NSF files & recovers lost style sheets, Java applets and OLE objects. It provides the preview of all the recoverable items such as e-mails, contacts etc in two-pane structure. The software comes with a Live Update feature which helps in installing recent software updates.