x-posted to a more expert OE group, for a more exact response!

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

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beezer000@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132406015.759988.237710@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> 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.) 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
> beezer000@gmail.com
>

Noel:
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

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

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beezer000@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132843720.401277.190060@g14g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> Noel:
> 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,
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

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

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 Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

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:ubm5etR9FHA.3544@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> 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
>

Ah - SR - now you're on home territory! (for both Mike M and myself!)
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

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"BrianZ" <beezer000@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1133291290.827882.232700@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> Noel,
> 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
>

Noel Paton <NoelDPspamless@crashfixpc.com> wrote:

> 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.maltby@gmail.com

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in
news:#6SI8jS9FHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl:

> Noel Paton <NoelDPspamless@crashfixpc.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.

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

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message
news:%236SI8jS9FHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Noel Paton <NoelDPspamless@crashfixpc.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.maltby@gmail.com
>
>
I've pinged PABear - hopefully he'll appear like the 7th Cavalry......

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's