Error Communicating with CRM Server

I recently worked on an issue with a client running CRM 3.0 that received the dreaded generic "There is an error communicating with the CRM server" message when starting Outlook. The user was still able to access the CRM web client, however.

After looking at the user's record in CRM and checking the setup logs, I found that there was the following error when the CRM desktop client was re-installed a few days prior: "Setup cannot connect to the Microsoft CRM server. This might indicate that the server is down".

I did some standard connectivity stuff (ping, accessing the web client, etc) that seemed to work just fine. I did notice that the web client kept prompting for credentials even though the CRM server was added to the Local Intranet zone. On a crazy hunch (and a very vague google search result), I checked out the local Stored User Names and Passwords on the user's machine. I found an entry for the CRM server, deleted it and restarted Outlook. CRM worked just fine after that.

Although this error was on an XP machine with CRM 3.0, you might encounter the same issues on Vista and/or CRM 4.0. This by no means is the solution to every connectivity error, but it should be added to your routine CRM troubleshooting steps - it only takes about a minute to eliminate this option. Here's what to do:

For Windows XP machines, the procedure below will be what you follow. For Vista users, this article offers a great how-to.

1. Open the Control Panel and open User Accounts.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Manage Passwords:
   
3. This will bring up the Stored User Names and Passwords dialog:
    
4. If you see an entry for your crm server, highlight it and click Remove.