OLEXP: Error Message When You Start Outlook Express After Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 Installation (296969)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows 2000 SP 1

This article was previously published under Q296969

For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257824 OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express

SYMPTOMS

After you install Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1), when you attempt to start Outlook Express, you may receive the following error message:

Outlook Express could not be started. The application was unable to open the Outlook Express message store. Your computer may be out of memory or your disk is full. Contact Microsoft support for further assistance. (0x8007007E,126)

That error message is followed by the following error message:

Outlook Express could not be started because MSOE.DLL could not be initialized. Outlook Express may not be installed correctly.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if you have changed the ProgramFilesDir value in the following registry key to install programs on a different drive than the operating system:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

If you change this key before you install Windows 2000 SP1, Outlook Express no longer functions. A new, empty folder named Outlook Express is created in the folder that the ProgramFilesDir value points to; however, the program is still located in the C:\Program Files\Outlook Express folder. The shortcuts to start Outlook Express point to the empty folder.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, modify your shortcuts to point to the correct location.

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	10/2/2002
Keywords:	kberrmsg kbprb KB296969