You receive the "A recently installed program may cause Microsoft Office or other e-mail-enabled programs to function improperly" error message when you start Outlook 2003 (820865)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager

SYMPTOMS

When you start Outlook 2003, you may receive the following error message:
A recently installed program may cause Microsoft Office or other e-mail-enabled programs to function improperly. Outlook can resolve this conflict without affecting the program that originally caused the problem. Do you want Outlook to resolve this problem?

CAUSE

This problem occurs if there is a file conflict with the MAPI core files on your computer. The file that is in conflict is the Mapi32.dll file. The Mapi32.dll file is in the following location in Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000:

C:\Windows\System32

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, click Yes or click No in the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

Scenario 1

If you click Yes in the error message, the Fixmapi.exe utility starts and tries to fix the file conflict with the MAPI core files by installing the correct version.

If a currently running program is using the Mapi32.dll file, the Fixmapi.exe utility may not fix the file conflict. In this case, you receive the following error message:
Outlook was unable to resolve the conflict between a recently installed program and Microsoft Office or other e-mail-enabled programs. Outlook needs to modify a system component that another program is currently using. To fix this problem, please restart Windows.
If you click OK in this error message, Microsoft Windows does not restart. However, an entry for the Fixmapi.exe utility is placed in the RunOnce registry key. The next time that you start Windows, the Fixmapi.exe utility tries to correct the Mapi32.dll file conflict.

Scenario 2

If you click No in the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section of this article, a change is not made to the MAPI core files. Because Outlook 2003 uses the Mapi32.dll file in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\SYSTEM\MSMapi\1033 folder, clicking No does not affect the operation of the program.

WORKAROUND

If the Fixmapi.exe utility does not work, follow these steps:
  1. Quit all programs.
  2. Rename the Mapi32.dll file in the C:\Windows\System32 folder to "Mapi32.old" (without quotation marks).
  3. Locate the Fixmapi.exe file in the C:\Windows\System32 folder, and then double-click Fixmapi.exe to run the program.
  4. Restart your computer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

The Microsoft Windows Messaging Subsystem (WMS) installs the MAPI core files in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook access the MAPI core files from that location. In Outlook 2003, the key MAPI core files are stored in a common location.

Simple MAPI programs, such as Microsoft Outlook Express, Qualcomm Eudora, Netscape, and other third-party programs, install and access the Mapi32.dll file from the following location:

C:\Windows\System32

You can click Send To on the File menu to send documents in the programs that support simple MAPI programs.

Note This problem may affect the Microsoft Exchange System Manager, even if the Microsoft Exchange server is not on the same computer as the Exchange System Manager. The Exchange System Manager does not work if you select to replace the MAPI core files with the Outlook MAPI files after you run the Fixmapi.exe utility. Additionally, if you select not to replace the MAPI core files with the Outlook MAPI files, Outlook 2003 may not work as expected. You will receive the error message that is listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article each time that you start Outlook 2003 until you replace the MAPI core files with the Outlook MAPI files.

Microsoft recommends that you do not have Microsoft Outlook 2002 or earlier on the same computer as the Exchange System Manager or Exchange server. If you are using Outlook 2002 or earlier, use Microsoft Outlook Web Access or a Terminal Server session to access e-mail messages to avoid this problem.

RESOLUTION

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/6/2006
Keywords:kbprb kbstartprogram kberrmsg kbsetup KB820865 kbAudEndUser kbAudITPRO
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