"This form requires Word as your e-mail editor but Word is either busy or cannot be found" error message when you create a new message or reply to a message in Outlook 2002 (319796)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
This article was previously published under Q319796
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

When you try to create a new message or reply to a message in Microsoft Outlook 2002, you may receive the following error message
This form requires Word as your e-mail editor but Word is either busy or cannot be found. The form will be opened in the Outlook Editor instead.
and Outlook 2002 may stop responding.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur when both of the following conditions are true:
  • You are using Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor.
  • You upgraded Microsoft Office from an earlier version to Microsoft Office XP.
You may also notice that there are two instances of Microsoft Outlook listed in Windows Task Manager.

This behavior occurs because some registry entries from an earlier version of Microsoft Office were not correctly removed during the upgrade to Microsoft Office XP.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Back Up Outlook Data Files (Personal Folders (.pst) File)

To back up the Outlook data files (.pst), copy the PST file at the file system level or use the Personal Folders Backup add-in. If you export a PST file, you will lose view definitions, forms, and field registries. Only export a PST file for backup as a last resort if you cannot copy the existing PST file.

Edit the Registry

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 remove registry entries from a previous version of Microsoft Office, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. On the File menu, click Export.
  3. In the Export Registry File dialog box, under Save in, click the folder that you want to save the file in, and then in the File name box, type RegBackup.
  4. Under Export range, click All, and then click Save.
  5. Locate the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0

  6. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
  7. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the following keys:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0

  8. Quit the Registry Editor.

Repair the Office Installation

To repair the Office installation, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs.
  3. In the list of currently installed programs, select Microsoft Office XP suite with FrontPage, and then click Change.

    Note This label can vary depending on your version of Office XP
  4. In the Microsoft Office Setup wizard, click Repair Office, and then click Next.
  5. Click Detect and Repair errors in my Office installation, and then click Install.
  6. Follow any on-screen instructions to complete the repair operation.
Note If the Outlook user profile is not present when the operation is complete, rebuild the Outlook user profile by using the original data files (.pst).

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

278214 Outlook appears to hang when you use Word to create new e-mail message

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

238782 OL2000: How to automatically backup your personal folders file

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:5/12/2006
Keywords:kbstoprespond kbemail kbnewfile kbregistration kberrmsg kbprb KB319796
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