Noel,

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.maltby@gmail.com


Noel Paton <NoelDPspamless@crashfixpc.com> wrote:

> Urgle!<g>
> 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