Outlook 2002 uses all available memory on startup and then hangs/crashes

[soupersnake]

I've browsed dozens of threads looking for a solution to my problem with Outlook, but nothing I've tried so far has done it.

When I try to run Outlook, it immediately uses up all available memory (over 1.5 Gigs) and gives me various error messages before it simply closes. The most common error message I get is "Unable to open default email folders." The second most common message is "Microsoft Outlook not installed for the current user. Please run Setup to install the application." There are several others, and I don't know why I get some one time and others a different time. Ultimately, they all lead to the same thing, the program uses all available memory and then suddenly exits.

I can get Outlook to run in safe mode. But no matter what I do, it won't run in normal mode.

I had a trial version of Office 2003 already installed when I bought the computer. It expired and I installed Office 2000 and used it for the last couple years. Outlook suddenly quit working a couple days ago. I don't know why, but I think it may have been after the latest Windows Automatic Update. Since then, I have installed Office XP but I still can't get Outlook to run in anything but safe mode.

I tried the following, to no avail:

Uninstall previous Office versions
Install Office XP
Uninstall and then Reinstall Office XP (several times)
Ran Scanpst.exe on my Personal Folders .pst file (fixed a few minor inconsistencies)
Disabled all Add-ins (there were only 3) and removed the only COM addin item
Ran Installation Repair several times
Installed Office SP3
Deleted Office 8 and 9 and 11 "current user" and "local machine" registry key entries (8 and 9 keep coming back)
Deleted all profiles and backed up and deleted all files in the Outlook settings folder
Created a new email profile
Tried running Outlook with the /cleanviews command (still uses all memory and then crashes)

Nothing has worked. I'm at a loss of what to do. I really need to get Outlook up and running again because I have dozens of important messages from clients and others that I need to respond to and otherwise take care of. I've spend the last 48 hours trying to get Outlook working again, and I'm at my wits end.

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition SP2, with Office XP SP3. I have Symantec Antivirus, and disabling it hasn't helped solve the problem. Any suggestions? Your help would be very much appreciated.

 

[soupersnake]

I found a fix that worked. It was really quite simple. I just wish I had learned about it a couple days ago. Oh well, maybe it can help someone here if they come across this thread.

First, I had to reset the content of the OUTCMD.DAT file. In Windows XP, this file is located in the Documents and Settings\<USER>\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. I just changed the file extension to ".old".

I then reset the extend.dat file by changing its extension as well (you could just rename the file if you want). In WinXP this file is located in the Documents and Settings\<USER>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder.

After I had changed the extensions/renamed both files, I started Outlook in normal mode and it started up and ran as if nothing was ever wrong. Hopefully this helps someone else who's having the same problem I was.