OLEXP: Error Messages About Opening the Address Book After You Upgrade to Outlook Express 5.0 (310873)

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade from Outlook Express 4.x to Outlook Express 5.0, you may receive the following error messages when you try to open the address book:

Unable to open address book. The address book is not installed correctly.

-or-

An error occurred while attempting to open the address book file.

-or-

The address book failed to load. Outlook Express is incorrectly configured. Please reinstall.

When you open a new message, you may receive the following error message:

There is an error opening this message. An error has occurred.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this behavior, follow these steps:

Use the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel to remove Outlook Express 5.
Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate the {7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02} value under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\
On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.
Reinstall Outlook Express 5.