Express takes over default from Office Outlook

[Chris]

I purchased Office 2003 (Student and Teacher ed.) and
installed it. I want to use Outlook for email, not
Outlook Express. When I start Outlook it asks if I want
it to be the default email program and I say yes, but
Express seems to take over sometimes. For example, when
I click on an email link in Word or Excel, the new
message opens in Express.

I've tried
1. going in Outlook to Tools>Options>Other and
checking the box to make Outlook the default mail
program. The box stays checked, but Express still takes
over.
2. Control Panels>Add or Remove Programs>Add or Remove
Windows Components and removing Express.

3. Control Panels>Add or Remove Programs>Set Program
Access and Defaults and selected "my email program" as
default.

4. Control Panel>Internet Options>Programs and selected
Microsoft Office Outlook as default program, then OK, but
when I shutdown the computer, it returns to Express.

None of this works. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[George Hester]

This issue of Microsoft Outlook Express taking over the default mail program to use can happen when you repair Microsoft Internet Explorer. I have not seen the issue occur in any other way. Especially not by just rebooting. All I can think of is that upon boot there must be a "repair IE" going on in the background. Check your start up scripts. See if there is any call to iexplore.exe in them or iesetup.

 

[Guest]

A quick fix is to rename "msimn.exe" to something like "oldmsimn.exe" (c:/programs/outlook express/..) this will prevent outlook express from loading. (Delete the shortcut from the startup folder as well)

You may then get the option to open with another program and a tick box to do so everytime.

Undo is easy if it fails.

HTH
8055

 

[George Hester]

You know there is something you should be aware of. I am not sure if renaming msimn.exe will be what you want. It may and if it solves the problem there you go a "solution." But when Windows boots there is a call to your address book and as far as I know msimn.exe is necessary in this call.