Word Mail Merge with Outlook Address Book Fails with Error (200134)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 97
  • Microsoft Outlook 98
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
This article was previously published under Q200134

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to use Microsoft Word Mail Merge with an Outlook Address book, you may receive an error similar to the following:

Word was unable to open the data source.

CAUSE

The error occurs because of the order in which the Outlook Address Book was added to the profile selected during the data source selection process.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, create the user profile manually, making sure the "Outlook Address Book" is added first.

To configure the Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Outlook Windows NT client so that more than one person can use the client on the same computer, perform the following steps:

  1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Mail. Click the Show Profiles button if it appears in the dialog box that is displayed. If a Show Profiles button does not appear, proceed to step 2.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Click Manually Configure Information Services, and then click Next.
  4. Type a name for the profile in the Profile Name box, and then click Next.
  5. Click Add, click Outlook Address Book in the list of available information services, and then click OK.
  6. Click Add, click Microsoft Exchange Server in the list of available information services, and then click OK.
  7. Type the name of the Microsoft Exchange Server computer to which you want to connect in the Microsoft Exchange Server box, type a mailbox name in the Mailbox box, and then click Next. Note that you can click Check Name before you click OK to verify the server and mailbox names.
After the Outlook Address Book and Microsoft Exchange Server services are added, additional services may be added to the profile by selecting Add and selecting other services in the list of available information services, and then click OK.

After the profile is created, start Outlook and ensure the Contacts folder(s) is included in the Outlook Address Book. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. On the View menu, click Folder List.
  2. In the Folder List, right-click the Contacts folder, and on the context-sensitive menu, click Properties.
  3. Click the Outlook Address Book tab, and click to select "Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book." NOTE: Your Contacts should appear in the "Name of the address book" box.
  4. Click OK.
Your Contacts are now available as part of the Outlook Address Book.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

Component: Word Converter

   File Name     Version
   -----------------------
   WWPAB.CNV	2.0.3410.1

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, export the "Outlook Address Book" to a .PST file and use it as input into the Mail Merge, or apply the hotfix.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

When a new profile is created in the Control Panel Mail tool and the profile generation wizard is used (default), there is no option of adding an Outlook Address Book; the first dialog box includes the Exchange Server service and other services and the Outlook Address book is automatically added to the profile. A Microsoft Word Mail Merge with Outlook Address Book using this type of profile may fail with the error above.

The original Wwpab.cnv file was limited in the amount of information it read from the profile. When it reached the limit without finding the Contacts Address Book, it reported that the data source could not be found. This is corrected in the newer Wwpab.cnv file.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/19/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix KB200134
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