OFF97: Remove All Breaks WordMail Option in MS Exchange (165018)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Exchange client version 4.0, if you click New Message on the toolbar, or if you click New Message on the Compose menu, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Microsoft Exchange
The item could not be opened. MAPI Error.

-or-

Microsoft Exchange
The item could not be displayed. MAPI Error.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

You install the following programs on your computer, in the following order:
Microsoft Exchange client version 4.0
Microsoft Word 97 (the stand-alone version, in its own folder)
Microsoft Office 97 (without Microsoft Word 97, in a another folder)
-and-
You configure the Microsoft Exchange client to use Microsoft Word as the e-mail editor (WordMail).

-and-
You remove all of Microsoft Office 97 (except for Microsoft Word 97) from the computer.

-and-
When you are prompted to remove shared components, such as Windows Messaging, you click Keep.

This problem occurs because the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program removes the registry settings that are used by WordMail when you click Remove All to remove all of Microsoft Office 97. The registry settings are removed even if they are used by other programs, such as Microsoft Exchange.

After the Setup program removes registry settings, Microsoft Exchange cannot use WordMail, even though Microsoft Word 97 is installed on the computer.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, reinstall Microsoft Word 97. To do this, use the following steps:

On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Then, click the Install/Uninstall tab.
In the list of installed programs, click Microsoft Word 97. Then, click Add/Remove.
In the Microsoft Word 97 Setup dialog box, click Reinstall.

The Setup program recreates all of the registry settings that are used by Microsoft Word 97, including the WordMail registry settings, which are required by Microsoft Exchange.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Exchange, you can use the following two methods to edit and read e-mail messages:

You can use the built-in editor.

-or-
You can use Microsoft Word as the e-mail editor. (This method is also called WordMail.)

To make WordMail available, click WordMail Options on the Compose menu. Click to select the "Enable Word as e-mail editor" check box, and then click Close.

If you remove all of Microsoft Office 97 from the computer, you may not be able to use the WordMail option in Microsoft Exchange unless you first reinstall Microsoft Word.