Please always remember, there is NO wireless network connection enabled when Windows is running in "Safe Mode with Networking".
Use a wired network if you want to diagnose the Windows in Safe Mode with Networking.
Maybe I know this a little bit late, as I'm not an Office expert. But I still want to share.
There is a cached exchange mode in Microsoft Outlook 2003. When the connection between Outlook and the Exchange Server is not avaliable, on the client side it would automatically appear "Trying to connect" or "Disconnected". When the connection to the Exchange Server is restored, it will become "Connected" on the client side and all changes made to the client would be synchronized to the Server.
Please read the following KB article for the details of this feature:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870926