Massive Outlook Problem: OLE Registration Error

J

Jim Speiser

My daughter's lame excuse of a boyfriend got into
my 'puter and messed it up somethin' fierce. I've got it
almost straightened out, except for one very scary problem
with Outlook: I get an OLE Registration Error when I try
to run Outlook.

System: Pentium IV 1.2 GHz, 256 MB RAM, Windows ME.
Outlook 2000 Small Business. Don't know if it's SR-1.
Internet Mail mode.

Brief History:
"Boyfriend" attempted to set up his own login under
Windows ME so that he wouldn't disturb my data, but messed
with my dial-up networking icon, trying to copy it to his
newly-created desktop. That, of course, doesn't work. He
also did something to Internet Explorer, and while it
works OK, it gives me an error upon starting up the
computer, saying that it can't set itself up because it's
already set up, or something.

Upon wresting control of the computer, I launched
Outlook. It worked OK at first, except that it would not
get my mail. Clicked SEND/RECEIVE, the submenu said "No
mail accounts" and that was grayed out. Clicked TOOLS |
ACCOUNTS, got a long-winded error about OLE Registration,
and to re-run setup. All other functions in Outlook
seemed to work.

Steps taken so far:
Searched for two days for original install disks, finally
found them. Backed up *.pst files. Uninstalled previous
Office installation. Re-ran Office setup from scratch from
Disk 1. Install completed "successfully" (hah!).
Attempted to run Outlook, now I get the following error:
"An OLE registration error occurred. The program is not
correctly installed. Run setup again." At which point the
program exits completely, so now I have no Outlook
functions. Ran Office repair utility, which basically just
re-runs the previous installation. No effect. Searched
Windows Knowledge Base on "OLE REGISTRATION ERROR," no
returns.

I've GOT to get this fixed, I depend on Outlook. Any
suggestions? Besides skinning "boyfriend"?

Thanks,
==JJS==
 
R

Robert Crayk

What did he do to Internet Explorer as there were problems a while ago with
Outlook and Internet explorer in particular concerning upgrading and then
downgrading.
 
J

Jim Speiser

I don't know what he did, exactly, but it no longer
matters. I finally took the d*mn thing in to Data Doctors
and told them to upgrade the whole thing to XP.

I guess I should tell you what happened since I posted
that message. I went back to the Knowledge Base and typed
in the search term "OLE Registration." I immediately got
several hits, the first of which contained "OLE
Registration Error," which is what I had typed in the
first time. Oy vay. So it tells me that this can be
corrected by re-installing Internet Explorer AND Outlook
EXPRESS, for some reason. So I pop in my Office 2000 CD
and re-install IE5 (after removing IE6) and Outlook
Express. Reboot, and immediately a sign of trouble: The
IE install wizard wants to run again. I cancelled out of
it, thinking, been there done that, and I log into my user
profile. I get my desktop background and my opening
music, and an error saying "Explorer has caused an error
in SHELL32.DLL. Explorer will now close." And that's the
end of that. Happens every time I log in. End of Windows
ME.

I am a computer professional with 20 years experience, and
I had to take the thing into a shop, because I'm TIRED of
it all. I HATE these d*mn things!
 

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