Corrupt OE Program. Do I need IE OE reinstall?
BrianZ
(message: Address Book failed to load. Outlook Express is incorrectly
configured, please re-install.) OE retrieves new messages and I can
read inbound messages in the preview pane, but cannot launch the
messages. (Message: There was an error opening this message. An
error has occurred). Attempting to Create mail generates the same
message.
I am able to move items between folders and empty my Deleted Items
folder, for whatever that's worth.
>From browsing these posts, I understand that OE is intimately tied to
IE. I am running Internet Explorer 6.00.2800.1106 under Windows ME
4.90.3000. My OE version is 6.00.2800.1123. The OE functions appear
to be running fine.
Is there any reasonable expectation of being able to cure Internet
Explorer in place? Or do I need to wander down the scary path of
uninstall/reinstall for IE/OE? If the former, what is suggested to
attempt a quick fix?
If the latter, can someone direct me to the extensive discussion of
this process that I know is somewhere on the net? I remember seeing a
reference to this process someplace amongst these postings (from Noel
Paton, perhaps?), but cannot find it now that I need it.
Thanks for any assistance.
Regards,
Brian Z
beez...@gmail.com
Noel Paton
A couple of questions -
1) Have you recently reinstalled ME over itself?
2) Have you had 'Compacting in background' enabled?
3) are you using the default Identity in OE?
4) Can you open emails properly from folders other than the Inbox??
Try this
Open OE, and go to Tools | Options | Maintenance and turn off Compacting (
do it manually - and frequently!)
Create a new Identity and see if things work properly in that Identity - if
so, then Import your files to the new Identity.
--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)
Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm
Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beez...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132406015.7...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
BrianZ
Still no progress, but here are the answers to your
questions/suggestions, as well as an added bit of intelligence(?).
1111. I have not reinstalled ME over itself. However, I did recently
add MS Office 2000 Premium to my daughter's User Account. It had
previously been installed to 3 other User Accounts on the WinME system
(see below for info on this.)
2222. I did have Compacting in Background enabled. Check-offs
(Chekhovs?) included (a) delete read messages and newsgroups; (b)
delete news after 30 days; with (c) compact at 20%. I turned this off
and ran manual compacting for all Users on the system.
3333. I was using default identity in OE. In fact, I deleted all
identities in the user profile except one.
4444. I cannot open emails or news messages in folders other than
Inbox, although I can move messages around in the folders easily.
I did create a new identity, but had no better luck with its email.
However, in setting up the OE account, I also encountered my *MS2000
Problem* and wonder if this could be a root cause of both the Address
Book and Create Mail Issues:
I recently added MSWord, MSExcel, MCAccess and Powerpoint to my
daughter's User account. I did this by installing MS2000 Premium from
a CD into her user account. I had long ago loaded these programs onto
the other 3 Users' accounts. My understanding is that running the
install program for a new user is the proper way to add programs
already installed for other Users. I believe that Outlook comes as a
part of this install.
When my daughter opened her User desktop, she dragged the Outlook Icon
from the desktop to the trash.
I now see what I believe to be a residual impact of this install when I
launch OE on the newly established User account. My wife gets the same
impact when she accesses OE in her User account: When we try to open
OE in these accounts (but not in my old User account), the Windows
Installer launches. It asks us to insert the MS2000 Premium disk. We
cancel out of the installer, and OE then opens.
As a corollary: When I set up the new User account, I saw that the
system created both an "Outlook" and "Outlook Express" file in setting
up the User account.
Is it possible that Outlook files and settings are lurking in the
computer and getting in the way of proper operation of OE?
(More Info than you may want:
1)Outlook does not appear on the Start | Programs menu.
2)Under C:Program Files, I see both MSOffice and MSOffice2000 folders:
*MSOffice->Office->Outlook->Backups->Windows is an empty folder.
*MSOffice->Office->Outlook->Setup->Outlook folder has a series of
files, many of which are .inf, as well as a setup.ini file.
3)MSOffice2000->Office fiolder has a Outlook.exe program.)
Hope any of this helps.
As always, I am appreciative and in awe of your understanding of this
stuff.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Brian
Noel Paton
It's unlikely that reinstalling Office (which is what you did) would do
this - but it's possible.
Installing Office for a new user is not usually necessary for any Win9x
install, since all files are visible to all users - it's only necessary to
create a new identity for the Outlook client(and only then if you need to).
It's only when you get into secured NT installations that you may need to
reinstall - and then often the option is given on the initial install to
install for all users, or 'only this user'
I suspect that your problem is caused by a corrupted Folders.dbx file - so
let's try it.
Open OE, and go to Tools | Options - click on the Maintenance tab, and the
OE Storage button - make a note of the path to the storage folder
Close OE
Open Explorer, and navigate to the OE storage file, and find the Folders.dbx
file
RENAME it to Folders.OLD
Open OE
try your OE now - you'll have lost any folder structure you had, but with
luck your emails should open normally.
If the symptoms are not gone, then close OE, delete the newly-created
Folders.DBX file - and rename the .OLD file back to Folders.dbx
--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)
Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm
Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beez...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132843720.4...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
BrianZ
I renamed the folder.dbx file, rebooted and tried again -- with the
same results. This was true for both of the User accounts attempting
to use OE. I sense myself edging towards the point where
deinstall/reinstall is the next best option.
Since the deinstall/reinstall of IE/OE seems to be a bit of a high wire
act, I am wondering whether it might be a better solution to load up
Earthlink's MailBox, and move the email traffic over there. Then I can
get back to the issues that were bugging me before OE went gitchy: (1)
Figuring out why the Sound function disappears every time I reboot and
(2) Finding a way (Gasp! Dare I hope?) to resurrect the System Restore
function.
Would this be a viable option from where you sit?
Brian
Mike M
From the original post;
> My Outlook Express program has taken ill: My contacts list is gone
> (message: Address Book failed to load. Outlook Express is
> incorrectly configured, please re-install.)
Is part of the problem that when (re)installing perhaps MS Office, Outlook
has hijacked the OE address book? Being one for whom no barge pole is
long enough when it comes to Outlook you might want to consider this
possibility.
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
Noel Paton
different beasts entirely, and you need to export/import to move data.
--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)
Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm
Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message
news:ubm5etR9...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
Noel Paton
If you decide to go the uninstall/reinstall route with IE, then that may
solve your SR problem along the way. :)
WRT to your Sound issues - try this
Reboot to Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Remove ALL Sound &Multimedia devices
Remove ALL error-flagged devices
Remove ALL entries in the 'Other Devices' branch - if present
Reboot to Normal Mode - Windows will reinstall the required drivers,
hopefully curing your problem.
Only you can make the decision about the address-book issue - I'm happy to
continue working on it, if you want.
--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)
Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm
Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beez...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1133291290.8...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Mike M
> It's very rare that Outlook attacks an OE address book, AFAIK -
> they're different beasts entirely, and you need to export/import to
> move data.
Noel,
I believe you are mistaken. Perhaps hijack is the wrong word but
installing Outlook can on occasion cripple OE and this is due to Address
Book problems. I can't for the life of me put my hands on the details but
I'm sure that if asked PABear could provide the necessary details. I seem
to recall the problem is if the Address Book is configured to share
contacts with Outlook. This can happen when installing Office and I
believe this can then cause all manner of problems with OE including the
inability to open messages.
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
BJ Honeycut
The office install routine asks if you want to import the contents of the
WAB but never caused a problem; they integrate very well, so well that OE
is the newsreader for outlook.
--
"Time will bring to light whatever is hidden;
it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor."
Horace (65 - 8 BC); Roman poet.
Mike
Noel Paton
Jim Pickering
news:Xns971DABF68589...@130.81.64.196...
>
> The office install routine asks if you want to import the contents of the
> WAB but never caused a problem; they integrate very well, so well that OE
> is the newsreader for outlook.
>
That depends on the version of Office being installed. Newer versions take
over default mail assignments and sharing of contacts. Earlier versions of
Address Book gave you the option of using your Microsoft Outlook Contacts
folder in Outlook Express. If you accepted this option, Address Book became
a front end to Outlook, visible in Outlook Express and any other
applications that used Address Book. Contacts added via Outlook thus became
accessible to Outlook Express, and contacts added to Address Book by means
of Outlook Express options (such as Outlook Express’s option to add the
names of people you reply to via e-mail) became usable in Outlook.
This integration with Outlook is still available in Address Book 6 (the
version shipped with Windows XP), but only via an undocumented registry
edit. To share contact information between Outlook and Address Book, open
Registry Editor, and go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4. Add the DWORD
value UseOutlook to this key (if it isn’t already present), and set it to 1.
To return to the unintegrated state, return to this registry value and
either delete it or set it to 0.
The tradeoff for integration between Outlook and Address Book is that it
precludes your using identities in Address Book. If you are using Outlook
integration and you display the Folders And Groups pane in Address Book, you
see the subfolders of your Outlook Contacts folder instead of your shared
contacts and personal contacts.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=F9F51EF1-4AE3-4D23-B2D8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.
Thanks.
Mike M
> The office install routine asks if you want to import the contents of
> the WAB but never caused a problem; they integrate very well, so well
> that OE is the newsreader for outlook.
The problem relates to sharing contacts, not importing the address book.
See http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/wab.htm#share. With shared
contacts the user is sometimes unable to access their messages in OE and
sees the message "Unable to open address book, Outlook Express may be
installed incorrectly" when starting OE. This is very similar to the
message seen by the original poster.
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
BJ Honeycut
news:u0d6gET9...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
> The tradeoff for integration between Outlook and Address Book is that
> it precludes your using identities in Address Book. If you are using
> Outlook integration and you display the Folders And Groups pane in
> Address Book, you see the subfolders of your Outlook Contacts folder
> instead of your shared contacts and personal contacts.
>
Thanks for the clarification Jim. I never ran into that one because every
user has a separate PST, but good to know.
Shane
> "Jim Pickering" <jim.pi...@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:u0d6gET9...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
>
>> The tradeoff for integration between Outlook and Address Book is that
>> it precludes your using identities in Address Book. If you are using
>> Outlook integration and you display the Folders And Groups pane in
>> Address Book, you see the subfolders of your Outlook Contacts folder
>> instead of your shared contacts and personal contacts.
>>
>
> Thanks for the clarification Jim. I never ran into that one because every
> user has a separate PST, but good to know.
>
I don't run into that problem, I guess, 'cos I still use Outlook 2000! I've
got the one address book shared between the two across three systems, it's
great. Much better to do one's importing/exporting from OE though.
What's the advantage of Office XP anyway?
Shane
Mike M
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=269777).
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
Mike M
> I don't run into that problem, I guess, 'cos I still use Outlook
> 2000! I've got the one address book shared between the two across
> three systems, it's great. Much better to do one's
> importing/exporting from OE though.
>
> What's the advantage of Office XP anyway?
Office XP - Bloat
Office 2003 - Even more bloat
Office 12 - Extreme bloat, how much yet to be decided.
--
Mike
Noel Paton
"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message
news:%23VyeYRT...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> See KB269777 - "OLEXP: Error Message: Address Book Failed to Load"
> (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=269777).
> --
> Mike Maltby
> mike....@gmail.com
>
Well done, Mike!! Nice catch!
(I'll make sure the OP sees it)
Noel Paton
<quote>
See KB269777 - "OLEXP: Error Message: Address Book Failed to Load"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=269777).
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)
Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm
Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beez...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1133291290.8...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
BJ Honeycut
news:#1ABxOT9...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl:
None to me, still on 2000 also. When I change it will be to open office or
something similar. I just don't see the need for MS integration anymore.
Mike M
> Well done, Mike!! Nice catch!
> (I'll make sure the OP sees it)
Noel,
I'm not sure that is the answer but I knew I had seen something about the
address book, shared contacts with Outlook and being unable to open
messages in OE. Hopefully one of the OE guys who has come across this
will now be able to help the original poster. I've never experienced it
and have next to zero experience of Outlook which although I have
installed on a couple of boxes is never used.
--
Mike
PA Bear
newsgroup.
Your thread so far: http://snipurl.com/kcg2
I understand MS Office (or MS Outlook) also installed.
Do you have this Registry key?...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software
\Microsoft
\WAB
\WAB4
If not, STOP; If so, is there a DWORD named UseOutlook (NB: no space) and is
its value set to 1 (one)?
If not, STOP; If so, Address Book is configured to share contacts with
Outlook, even if you don't use it (can happen with the install of Office or
Office/Outlook Updates). Change the value to 0 (zero), Address Book should
be available to you and all should be well. (If that DWORD is not present,
don't create it, and don't alter any other DWORD values.)
Note that any changes (additions, deletions, edits) made while sharing was
enabled will not be available (displayed) in Address Book when sharing is
disabled.
cf. http://www.insideoe.com/files/wab.htm#share
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=191946
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Security, Shell/User)
Shane
"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message
news:Ow83GTT9...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
And yet it still doesn't make the coffee?
Cheers Mike, guess I'll stick with 2000 a while longer!
Shane
Shane
> "Shane" <shaneb...@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:#1ABxOT9...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl:
>
>>
>> "BJ Honeycut" <fr...@dontgothere.us> wrote in message
>> news:Xns971DAF9416E9...@130.81.64.196...
>>> "Jim Pickering" <jim.pi...@gmail.com> wrote in
>>> news:u0d6gET9...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
>>>
>>>> The tradeoff for integration between Outlook and Address Book is
>>>> that it precludes your using identities in Address Book. If you are
>>>> using Outlook integration and you display the Folders And Groups
>>>> pane in Address Book, you see the subfolders of your Outlook
>>>> Contacts folder instead of your shared contacts and personal
>>>> contacts.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for the clarification Jim. I never ran into that one because
>>> every user has a separate PST, but good to know.
>>>
>>
>> I don't run into that problem, I guess, 'cos I still use Outlook 2000!
>> I've got the one address book shared between the two across three
>> systems, it's great. Much better to do one's importing/exporting from
>> OE though.
>>
>> What's the advantage of Office XP anyway?
>>
>>
>>
>> Shane
>>
>>
>
> None to me, still on 2000 also. When I change it will be to open office or
> something similar. I just don't see the need for MS integration anymore.
>
Right!
Shane
BrianZ
After long delays and much frustration, I have tried your solution to
the issue of disappearing sound:
(I've been pinged for not quoting prior text. Apologies, because I
thought using the Google Groups "reply" feature kept the provenance
alive. You suggested:)
>WRT to your Sound issues. - try this
>Reboot to Safe Mode
>Open Device Manager
>Remove ALL Sound &Multimedia devices
>Remove ALL error-flagged devices
>Remove ALL entries in the 'Other Devices' branch - if present
>Reboot to Normal Mode - Windows will reinstall the required drivers,
hopefully curing your problem.
I did all of above. Sure enough, when I rebooted, the system went and
reloaded the drivers I needed and the sound worked fine. Logging in
and out of various user accounts didn't disturb the sound function.
However, when I restarted, the sound was gone again.
Without going to Safe Mode, I removed the "SoundMax Integrate Digital
Audio" device from the "sound, video and game controllers" category of
the Device Manager. When I rebooted, the system found the sound
drivers and I had my sound again. But restarting WinME again caused
sound to disappear.
This makes my (unsophisticated) mind think that there is something
going on during the Start Up sequence that disables the sound. I can
still see the SoundMax device in Properties, I am being told the device
is working properly, and I see a slew of drivers loaded. But no sound.
Does this raise any possibilities of where the gremlin might be?
Thanks for your continuing interest.
Brian
Mike M
damaged in some way and that when rebooting an older version is being
loaded. Out of curiosity could you look in the folder
C:\windows\sysbckup and see if it contains a file with a name something
like RBBAD.CAB and if so does either the last modified or create date
match the time when you last booted?
Note that C:\windows\sysbckup is a hidden system folder and to view this
folder using Windows Explorer you will have first to use Tools | Folder
Options | View and check "Show hidden files and folders" and perhaps also
uncheck "Hide protected operating system files", and then click Apply and
OK.
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
BrianZ
WE HAVE A WINNER! Changing the UseOutlook Value to Zero in the
registry key seemed to do the trick. I am back in business, and remain
in awe of the knowledge you, Noel and Mike bring to the table.
Thanks for the boost,
Brian
Mike M
your OE address book error but thought I'd let PA Bear explain it in full
since I didn't want to steal his thunder. :-)
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
BrianZ
Under C:\Windows\Sysbckup, there is a file names RBBAD.CAB. It's
modified date updates every time I reboot the machine. This cabinet
file is about 3.7MB in size.
The sysbckup folder also has files labeled: rb000.cab, rb002.cab,
rb003.cab, rb0004.cab and rb005.cab. These are all in the 4.7MB range
and have modified dates during a single week in late June 2005 (which
may have been about the time the sound issue arose.) The final item in
the sysbckup folder is a NT1003.sys file of 32KB, last modified in the
June 2000.
Any food for thought?
Brian
Mike M
> Thanks for jumping in, Mike.
>
> Under C:\Windows\Sysbckup, there is a file names RBBAD.CAB. It's
> modified date updates every time I reboot the machine. This cabinet
> file is about 3.7MB in size.
Brian,
OK, that is what I expected to see. What is happening is that each time
you boot your PC Win Me attempts to load a copy of the registry you were
using when your system shutdown. This fails and that bad copy of the
registry is saved as RBBAD.CAB and a backup good copy of the registry
loaded using the most recent of the rb00?.cab files. When this loads you
lose all the updates to the registry since that date including your newly
reinstalled soundcard drivers.
> The sysbckup folder also has files labeled: rb000.cab, rb002.cab,
> rb003.cab, rb0004.cab and rb005.cab. These are all in the 4.7MB range
> and have modified dates during a single week in late June 2005 (which
> may have been about the time the sound issue arose.) The final item
> in the sysbckup folder is a NT1003.sys file of 32KB, last modified in
> the June 2000.
Its very interesting that the size of the bad cab file is so much smaller
than the backup copies. If you double click a CAB file it should open.
Try comparing an rb00? file with rbbad. Which of classes.dat, system.dat
or user.dat is the one that is much smaller in rbbad? I suspect that it
might be system.dat.
The first question now has to be why is the most recent rb00?.cab file
dated June 2005? A new copy should be created the first time you boot
each day [not each time you boot] but not, I think, if you have the
problems I described above, with this being done by the ScanRegistry
scanregw entry that should be MSConfig | Startup. Forget about the
nt1003.sys file, that is as it should be. The second question has to be
what is corrupting your registry each time your system boots. This could
be due to defective RAM or even a damaged hard drive.
So what next? As I haven't been following this thread I've no idea what
you might have already tried but attempting to repair the registry would
be a place to start. Boot your system, don't start any applications, and
then click Start, Run and enter
SCANREG /FIX
and click OK. Scanreg should now run and hopefully will find and
hopefully fix the problem. The system should now reboot. Now fix your
sound driver problem using your tried and tested method and now reboot.
Does you sound work without having to reinstall the drivers? Was a new
backup copy of the registry created (rb00?.cab file).
If scanreg /fix doesn't resolve the problem you need to think about
checking your memory and hard disk. As a start, run scandisk (Start |
Programs | Accessories | System Tools) and run first a quick check and
then a full surface check.
> Any food for thought?
You want more? <vbg>
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com
PA Bear
--
~PA Bear
PA Bear
enable sharing of (Address Book) contacts with Outlook, causing the problem
about which BrianZ first posted on 19 Nov-05: http://snipurl.com/kwtl
Thanks to Noel for crossposting BrianZ's thread to OE6 newsgroup. (Why no
one in that newsgroup didn't pick up on it till the 29th is anybody's
guess.)
--
~PA Bear
Mike M wrote:
> Thanks for that feedback Brian. I suspected that that was the cause of
> your OE address book error but thought I'd let PA Bear explain it in full
> since I didn't want to steal his thunder. :-)
>