Outlook 2002 will no longer run

[Robert Stokes]

Since around midday this afternoon, I have been unable to
use Outlook. Keep getting a message saying "No profiles
have been created. To create a new profile, use the Mail
icon in Control Panel". I've had mail on this m/c for a
number of months without problems.
Have tried removing profiles and also un-installing and
re-installing Outlook but get same error message. Have
even un-installed any add-ins such as Activesync and
Plaxo.
has anyone got any suggestions what can be causing this
and, more importantly, how I can fix it? Is there
something in the registry that is not being removed on un-
installation?

 

[*Vanguard*]

Robert Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Since around midday this afternoon, I have been unable to
use Outlook. Keep getting a message saying "No profiles
have been created. To create a new profile, use the Mail
icon in Control Panel". I've had mail on this m/c for a
number of months without problems.
Have tried removing profiles and also un-installing and
re-installing Outlook but get same error message. Have
even un-installed any add-ins such as Activesync and
Plaxo.
has anyone got any suggestions what can be causing this
and, more importantly, how I can fix it? Is there
something in the registry that is not being removed on un-
installation?

Did you ever reboot? I don't recall if the installation of just Outlook
requires a reboot. Did you ever check to see if there was a remnant
outlook.exe process left in memory when you thought you had exited all
instances of Outlook (and, if you are using Word as your e-mail editor,
have you checked to see there are no remnant instances left in memory
for winword.exe)? Microsoft hasn't fixed this yet through several
version of Outlook (and Word). You exit the application but it doesn't
complete its shutdown and leaves a remnant stub of code in memory that
can interfere with subsequent loads of the program and can even screw
over Windows operations, like file handling within Explorer.

You said you removed your old profiles (plural which means you had more
than one). Did you then create a new profile (and in which you define
e-mail accounts)?

When was the last time you updated your anti-virus program and performed
a full scan of your computer? Have you ran Adaware and Spybot to check
for malware?

Can you load Outlook in its safe mode ("outlook.exe /safe")? If so, you
probably have an add-in that is screwed up (and some got screwed up by
the latest service pack for MS Office and require a new version). If
safe mode works to load Outlook, go to Tools -> Options -> Other ->
Advanced and check what add-ins you have installed.

 

[Robert Stokes]

Yes, restarted the computer after the uninstallations.
Installation doesn't normally require a reboot. Not
using Word as email editor either.

No, only one profile but have deleted it and recreated
new ones but still get same error message. Have tried
creating POP3 and IMAP email accounts as my mail server
accepts both. Even deleted PST files in case its a
problem there.

AV software up to date and checked, have Adaware on
system and that detects nothing. Have also used my
System Mechanic software to clear out junk files,
unrequired reg files and also used that to check for
spyware, malware etc. All is clean.

Haven't tried safe mode on it yet, will giive that a try
when I'm with the machine on Monday. Have also tried
running with and without service packs installed.

The bit I don't understand is why it's suddenly just
gone. It's been working fine for ages. Have got a iPaq
running ActiveSYnc off it as well and thats been fine.
It just went. Can't give exact time as just noticed I
wasn't receiving emails that were showing as ready for
download on my mail server. Shut down Outlook, tried to
restart and thats when error came up. Been that way ever
since.

Have never come across a problem like this in all the
time I've been doing Office and Outlook installations
(I'm an IT techie for my sins!).

Anyone from MS read these groups and come across similar
problems?

 

[Oliver Vukovics]

Hi Robert,

to delete outlook profiles sometimes are not enough. In the registry the
settings of the profiles sometimes are not deleted also if you deinstall or
delete the profiles/outlook.

Please start outlook with the parameter:

/CleanProfile

A list of parameters are on this site:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/preview.aspx?AssetID=HP010031101033&C
TT=4&Origin=CH062556271033

and how to insert this parameters.

I hope this helps.

 

[Robert Stokes]

Thanks Oliver.

Tried the cleanprofiles, safe, firstrun, nocustomize
command switches but still no joy. same error message.

This is wierd with a capital 'W'! I'm almost at the
point of thinking I'm going to have to wipe the whole
system and rebuild from scratch but don't want to have to
spend a couple of days backing everything up, rebuilding
and then re-installing everything.

Microsoft - any suggestions?

 

[*Vanguard*]

Robert Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Thanks Oliver.

Tried the cleanprofiles, safe, firstrun, nocustomize
command switches but still no joy. same error message.

This is wierd with a capital 'W'! I'm almost at the
point of thinking I'm going to have to wipe the whole
system and rebuild from scratch but don't want to have to
spend a couple of days backing everything up, rebuilding
and then re-installing everything.

Microsoft - any suggestions?

The MAPI profiles are found under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles

Since you have already tried deleting (and recreating) your MAPI
profiles, try deleting them again and check if the subkeys (named the
same as the MAPI profile) disappear after they have been supposedly
deleted. If these subkeys (for each profile) disappear after deleting
the profiles, make sure you define an e-mail account within the profile
before trying to use it within Outlook (don't remember if Outlook will
prompt you to define an e-mail account for a new mail profile). You can
use the Mail applet in Control Panel to add an e-mail account to the
profile before loading it into Outlook.

As always, you are expected to backup (export) your registry data before
editing it.

 

[Robert Stokes]

Thanks Vanguard.
Just checked and there is nothing listed in the afore-
mentioned Profiles section of the registry after deleting
Profiles from Mail applet.

Still same error even after recreating profile.

 

[*Vanguard*]

Robert Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Thanks Vanguard.
Just checked and there is nothing listed in the afore-
mentioned Profiles section of the registry after deleting
Profiles from Mail applet.

Still same error even after recreating profile.

Have you tried running Detect and Repair (under the Help menu)?
Although you cannot start Outlook, the Detect and Repair is the same
function under any of the Office apps, so use it under the Help menu in
Word.

 

[Robert Stokes]

Only Outlook 2002 is installed.
Came bundled with my iPaq.

 

[*Vanguard*]

Robert Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Only Outlook 2002 is installed.
Came bundled with my iPaq.

You already mentioned doing an uninstall and reinstall. After the
uninstall but before the reinstall, did you clean out the registry of
references to Outlook, especially that listed the path to outlook.exe?
Did you wipe out any remnant files and subdirectories for Outlook?

Before doing that again, have you tried using msconfig to disable all
startup programs and checking if Outlook will load okay? Have you
restart Windows in its Safe mode to see if Outlook will load okay?

 

[Robert Stokes]

Appreciate all the help you're giving on this Vanguard.

Yup, afer un-installing Outlook on occasion 3 or 4(!) I
cleared out any references to Outlook from Program Files
and Documents and Settings. Also checked registry for
any signs of Outlook showing.

haven't tried Windows in safe mode or by using msconfig,
will give it a try and let you know...


<removenospam-> from email address to reply directly.

 

[Rob Stokes]

Just tried running Outlook in safe mode and disabled all
startup programs. Still nothing doing.

 

[*Vanguard*]

Rob Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Just tried running Outlook in safe mode and disabled all
startup programs. Still nothing doing.

You never mentioned what version of Windows you are running. If
NT-based, have you tried creating a new user account and running Outlook
under it?

 

[Rob Stokes]

Windows XP Pro. All required service packs and updates
installed to both O/S and Outlook (have also tried
installing Outlook without adding on service packs
without any joy).

Can't even get support direct from Microsoft as the
software came with my iPaq so Microsoft tell me to go to
HP for support. HP tell me to contact Microsoft as it's
their software. And so the loop begins again....!

 

[*Vanguard*]

Rob Stokes said in news:[email protected]:

Windows XP Pro. All required service packs and updates
installed to both O/S and Outlook (have also tried
installing Outlook without adding on service packs
without any joy).

Can't even get support direct from Microsoft as the
software came with my iPaq so Microsoft tell me to go to
HP for support. HP tell me to contact Microsoft as it's
their software. And so the loop begins again....!

But, as suggested, have you tried to create a NEW user account and tried
using new mail profiles defined under THAT new user account? You could
try defining a new account that has admin-level privileges and another
non-admin account to see if it works in one or both. I'm wondering if
your Windows profile might not be screwed up, so create a new one under
a new account and test Outlook over there.

If Outlook is an OEM version then indeed it is up to whomever sold you
that OEM version to provide the support. Since Outlook came bundled
with the iPaq, it is very likely an OEM version. If it is HP that is
bundling Outlook with the iPaq then HP must provide the support. If
someone else other than HP bundled Outlook with the iPaq then you need
to go to them for support.

 

[Rob Stokes]

Vanguard,

Sorry for not getting back sooner. Suggestion of
creating a new user profile worked so all if fine again
now.

Thanks tons for your help with this.


Rob