itiaff
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Outlook 2003 - Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook, Unable to open Outlook Window, ECF file error
I'm unable to open Outlook 2003 even after an uninstall and reinstall of Office 2003 Professional. When I open Outlook a window in the background reads Configuring Outlook with Migrating Account Settings, an error appears which reads:
"The extension configuration file: "C:Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\ADDINS\dum
Similar errors occur afterwards with the files MSSPC.ecf, OUTEX.ecf and DUMPSTER.ecf again. I have rebuilt the mail profile and attempted to open with files removed from Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. I've renamed the .ECF files to .OLD files with no luck. I've renamed extend.dat to extend.old as per MSKB #204951.
"The extension configuration file: "C:Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\ADDINS\dum
Similar errors occur afterwards with the files MSSPC.ecf, OUTEX.ecf and DUMPSTER.ecf again. I have rebuilt the mail profile and attempted to open with files removed from Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. I've renamed the .ECF files to .OLD files with no luck. I've renamed extend.dat to extend.old as per MSKB #204951.
ASKER
War1,
Thanks for the effort. Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. I did eventually find the solution after removing all items from the Office11\Addins folder and uninstalling Schedule+. The error message that remained was "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window". It turns out Outlook.exe was running in Windows 95 compatibility mode for some reason. Here is the Microsoft KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252304/en-us
Thanks again.
IAFFIT
Thanks for the effort. Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. I did eventually find the solution after removing all items from the Office11\Addins folder and uninstalling Schedule+. The error message that remained was "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window". It turns out Outlook.exe was running in Windows 95 compatibility mode for some reason. Here is the Microsoft KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252304/en-us
Thanks again.
IAFFIT
IAFFIT, glad the problem is solved. That is an interesting solution. Right click on Outlook.exe and disable running in Windows 95 mode should change the option.
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1. Reset the Outlook toolbar template. With Outlook close, do a search for and rename outcmd.dat file. Do the same for frmcache.dat and outlprnt files. Restart Outlook.
Outcmd.dat is located in C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Applicatio
2. If no joy, register two important Outlook files. Go to Start > Run and type regsvr32 OLE32.DLL
Do the same for INETCOMM.DLL
3. If no joy, an addin could be interfering. Disable Outlook Addins. Do a search for and rename extend.dat file. Restart Outlook.
4. Check if an external program running in the background is interfering with Outlook. Check Firewall, antivirus, antispyware, antispam, and all Norton programs. Disable these programs one at a time.
5. If no joy, create a new Outlook profile.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/profile.htm
6. Repair Outlook. With Outlook open, go to Help > Detect and Repair.
7. If no joy, reinstall Outlook. Go to Add/Remove Programs and highlight Microsoft Office. Click on Install/Uninstall. A menu will pop allowing you to choose repair or reinstall.
Hope this helps!
war1