[accesscomp] FW: How to fix "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Unable to open Outlook window" error, Dan's tip for Thursday September 25 2014, (sorry if you already got this, my email ws out of service temporarly.
- From: "Robert Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "access comp" <accesscomp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 18:20:07 -0700
Robert Acosta, President
Helping Hands for the Blind
(818) 998-0044
www.helpinghands4theblind.org
From: dan Thompson [mailto:dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2014 2:53 PM
To: dan Thompson
Subject: How to fix "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Unable to open Outlook
window" error, Dan's tip for Thursday September 25 2014, (sorry if you
already got this, my email ws out of service temporarly.
This email is late because Mediacom said my email password was being used
and the account was suspended. Owever, all is fixed.
Sorry for the delay
A few days ago a friend was unable to use Outlook 2010 because of an invalid
xml file. I found this simple fix along with some additional issues and
remedies.
The solution I used is first followed by an endepth explanation of other
Outlook issues nd their solutions.
1. If you use Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, press the start button or click
the Start button. On Windows XP, press start button, (windows key) plus the
letter r or click Start > Run.
2. Type the following command in the search field:
outlook.exe /resetnavpane
Note: Be sure to enter a space between outlook.exe and /resetnavpane.
3. Press Enter or click on the file in order to reset the Navigation Pane
settings.
4. Restart Outlook and things are back to normal.
Complete article
How to fix "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Unable to open Outlook window"
error
by Svetlana CheushevaOutlook, Outlook tips79 Comments
https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/2013/12/06/cannot-start-microsof
t-outlook-solutions/
Cannot open your Outlook 2013 or 2010? In this article you will find really
working solutions for "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook" problem that will
help you have your Outlook up and running again with no errors. The fixes
work in all versions of Outlook 2013, 2010, 2007 and lower and on all
systems.
A few articles ago we discussed how to rescue Microsoft Outlook when it is
freezing and not responding. Today, let's see how you can fix and prevent an
even worse scenario when your Outlook does not open at all.
Causes and symptoms of "Unable to start Microsoft Outlook" problem
Universal solutions for "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Unable to open
Outlook window" - these solutions address the most common causes and work in
most cases.
Solutions for specific Outlook start up errors - these tips cover less
frequent scenarios and address more specific errors.
"Unable to start Microsoft Outlook" error - causes and symptoms
The main symptom of this problem is very obvious and easily recognizable:
you click Outlook's icon, an hourglass appears and is hanging for a while,
and then you get the "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook" error.
According to Microsoft, the major cause of this issue is a corrupted
Navigation Pane settings file - profilename.xml, where "profilename" is the
name of your Outlook profile. A good indication that the file is corrupted
is when its size is 0 KB. No one knows the exact reason why this happens,
but all versions of Microsoft Outlook from 2003 to the newest Outlook 2013
may be affected.
Other reasons may be when you run Outlook in the compatibility mode, or if
you are using a profile created in an older Outlook version, or if the
Outlook data file (.pst or .ost) was deleted or damaged as the result of
incorrect uninstallation or reinstallation of Outlook.
Anyway, whatever the reason is, the outcome is the same - you cannot open
the Outlook window because of this error: "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook.
Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened."
Error: Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook
window.
There may be a few variations of this message depending on which Outlook
version you use.
Outlook 2010: "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to
close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Outlook 2007: "Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The information
store could not be opened."
Outlook 2003: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the
Outlook window. Invalid XML, the view cannot be loaded."
How to fix "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook" issue - universal solutions
Now that you know what causes problems on Outlook start up, let's see how we
can get them fixed. Below you will find the troubleshooting steps for 4 most
common problems that prevent Outlook from starting correctly, listed in
order of frequency and efficiency:
Recover Navigation Pane configuration file
Repair your Outlook PST file using Inbox Repair tool
Create a new Outlook profil and import data from the old PST file
Turn off Compatibility Mode
Start Outlook in Safe Mode
Fix Outlook hanging on Loading Profile
Recover the Navigation Pane configuration file
In most cases it is the corrupted Navigation Pane settings file that
prevents Outlook from starting successfully, so the first thing you need to
do is to mend it. Here's how you can do this on different operating systems:
1. If you use Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click the Start button. On
Windows XP, click Start > Run.
2. Type the following command in the search field:
outlook.exe /resetnavpane
Note: Be sure to enter a space between outlook.exe and /resetnavpane.
3. Press Enter or click on the file in order to reset the Navigation Pane
settings and then open Outlook.
Use the outlook.exe /resetnavpane command to reset the Navigation Pane
settings and restart Outlook.
If you prefer to work with the Run dialog on Windows 7 or Windows 8, then
follow this way.
1. On the Start menu, click All Programs > Accessories > Run.
2. Type the outlook.exe /resetnavpane command and click OK.
Type the outlook.exe /resetnavpane command and click OK.
Note: An automatic fix for "Outlook unable to start" problem is available of
Microsoft's site for Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Simply click "Fix this problem" link on this page.
Delete the Navigation pane settings file
If for some reason you were not able to recover the Navigation pane
configuration file, nor did the automatic fix provided by Microsoft work,
try to delete the XML file that stores the navigation pane settings. To do
this, proceed with the following steps:
1. Enter the below command in the Start > Search field on Windows 7 and
Windows 8 (or Start > Run on Windows XP) and press Enter:
%appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
2. This will open the folder where Microsoft Outlook configuration files are
stored. Find and delete the Outlook.xml file.
Find and delete the Outlook.xml file.
Warning! Do try to recover the Navigation pane settings file first. Consider
deleting as the last resort, if nothing else works.
Repair your Outlook data files (.pst and .ost) using the Inbox Repair tool
If you have reinstalled Outlook recently and something went wrong during
uninstallation of the previous version, the default Outlook data file (.pst
/ .ost) might have been deleted or damaged, which is why Outlook won't open.
In this case you are likely to get this error: "Cannot start Microsoft
Office Outlook. The file Outlook.pst is not a personal folders file."
Let's try to repair your outlook.pst file using Scanpst.exe, aka Inbox
Repair tool.
1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\{Office version}. If you have 64-bit Windows with 32-bit Office
installed, go to C:\Program Files x86\Microsoft Office\{Office version}.
2. Find Scanpst.exe in the list and double click on it.
Alternatively, you can click Start and type scanpst.exe in the Search box.
Find Scanpst.exe on your computer and double click on it.
3. Click the Browse button to select your default Outlook.pst file.
In Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013, the PST file resides in the
Documents\Outlook Files folder. If you upgraded to Outlook 2010 on a
computer that already had data files created in previous versions, you will
find the outlook.pst file in a hidden folder in these locations:
On Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8" -
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
On Windows XP, you will find it here C:\ Documents and Settings\user\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Click the Start button to start scanning your PST file for errors.
You can find more details about repairing the Outlook PST file on
Microsoft's web-site: Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost).
Try to open Outlook and if it starts without errors, congratulations! You do
not need the remainder of this article : ) Or maybe, it's worth to bookmark
it for the future.
Turn off Compatibility mode in Outlook
When it comes to using compatibility mode in Outlook, let me quote a wisdom
that Outlook's guru Diane Poremsky shared on her blog: "If you enabled
compatibility mode, disable it. If you haven't, don't even consider it."
You can turn off compatibility mode in the following way:
1. Click the Start button (or Start > Run on Windows XP) and type
outlook.exe in the search field.
Click the Start button and type outlook.exe in the search field.
Alternatively, you can find outlook.exe in the default installation folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\{Office version}. Where {Office version}
is Office15 if you are using Office 2013, Office14 for Office 2010 and so
on.
2. Right-click on OUTLOOK.EXE, and then click Properties.
Right-click outlook.exe, and then click Properties.
3. Switch to the Compatibility tab and be sure to clear the "Run this
program in compatibility mode for" check box.
Clear the Compatibility mode check box.
4. Click OK and try to start Outlook.
If you still cannot open the Outlook window and the same "Cannot start
Microsoft Office Outlook" error persists, try to restore the previous
version of the PST file. Of course, in this case some of your recent emails
and appointments will be lost, but it seems to be a better alternative than
no Outlook at all. So, right click on the Outlook.pst file and select
Restore Previous Versions.
Right click on the Outlook.pst file and select Restore Previous Versions.
Create a new Outlook profile
If neither repairing nor restoring the Outlook.pst file worked, you can
create a new mail profile in order to see if it solves the problem. If it
does, then you can copy your current Outlook data file (.pst or .ost) from
the broken mail profile to the newly created one.
1.Create a new profile by going to Control Panel > Mail > Data Files >
Add...
Use Control Panel to create a new Outlook profile.
For full details, see Microsoft's step-by-step guidance on creating a new
Outlook profile.
2.Set the new profile as the default one. On the "Account Setting" dialog >
Data files tab, select the new profile and click the Set as Default button
on the toolbar.
After you do this, a tick will appear to the left of the newly created
profile, as you see in the screenshot below.
Set the new profile as the default one.
3.Try to open Outlook and if it starts normally with the newly created
profile, copy the data from your old .pst file as explained in the next
step, and continue working with it.
4.Import data from the old Outlook PST file. Hopefully, now you can finally
open Outlook but your PST file is new and therefore empty. Don't panic, this
is not a problem at all compared to the one you've just solved : ) Perform
the following steps to copy emails, calendar appointments and other items
from your old .pst file.
Go to File > Open > Import.
Select "Import from another program of file" and click Next.
Choose "Outlook DataFile (.pst)" and click Next.
Click the Browse button and select your old .pst file. If you've had just
one Outlook profile and never renamed the PST file, then most likely it will
be Outlook.pst.
5. Click Next and then Finish to complete the migration process.
Warning! If your old Outlook PST file was severely damaged and the repair
procedure was not successful, you may get "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook.
The set of folders cannot be opened" error again. If this case, the only way
is to create a new profile and use it without importing data from the old
.pst file.
If your old .pst file contains very important data that you absolutely
cannot live without, you can try some third-part tools to repair your PST
file, e.g. described in this article: Five reliable Outlook PST file repair
tools. I cannot recommend any particular tool because luckily have never had
to use any on my own machine.
Start Outlook in Safe Mode without any extensions
Starting Outlook in Safe Mode actually means that it will be run without any
add-ins that are currently installed on your machine. It is the fastest way
to determine if the problem on Outlook start up is caused by some of the
add-ins.
To open Outlook in safe mode, click on its icon holding the Ctrl key, or
click Start and enter outlook /safe in the search line and then press Enter.
Outlook will display a message asking you to confirm that you really want to
start it in safe mode, click Yes.
Starting Outlook in safe mode
An alternative way is to use the outlook.exe /noextensions command, which
basically means the same - start Outlook without any extensions.
If Outlook starts fine in safe mode, the problem is definitely with one of
your add-ins. Try to disable the add-ins one at a time to detect which one
is causing the problem. You can find the detailed information for Outlook
2013, 2010, 2007 and older versions here: How to disable Outlook add-ins.
Fix Outlook hanging on Loading Profile
This problem is most typical for Office 365/Office 2013 but it may occur in
Outlook 2010 and lower versions too. The main symptom is Outlook hanging on
the Loading Profile screen, and the main cause is a conflict between the
operating system and OEM video drivers.
To fix this issue, please do the following two things:
1. Set the display color depth to 16-bit.
Right click on an empty space on your desktop and then click on Screen
Resolution >Advanced settings. Then switch to the Monitor tab and change
Colors to 16-bit.
Set the display color depth to 16-bit.
2. Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration.
In Outlook 2010 and 2013, go to the File tab > Options > Advanced and select
the Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration checkbox under the Display
section near the bottom of the dialog.
Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration
The solutions above address the most frequent reasons of Outlook starting
problems and help in 99% of cases. If against all expectations your Outlook
still won't open, try the troubleshooting steps below. These tips cover
other, less frequent scenarios, and more specific errors.
Solutions for specific Outlook startup errors
These solutions address less common errors that may occur in certain
scenarios.
A fix for "Cannot start Outlook. MAPI32.DLL is corrupt" error
As the error description explains, this error happens if you have a
corrupted or outdated MAPI32.DLL installed on your machine. Usually this
happens when you'd installed a newer version of Microsoft Office and then
installed an older one.
The entire text of the error message is this: "Cannot start Microsoft Office
Outlook. MAPI32.DLL is corrupt or the wrong version. This could have been
caused by installing other messaging software. Please reinstall Outlook."
To fix the MAPI32.DLL error, perform the following steps:
Open C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Msmapi\1033
Delete MAPI32.DLL
Rename MSMAPI32.DLL to MAPI32.DLL
Start Outlook and the error should be gone.
A fix for Exchange Server errors
If you work in a corporate environment and your company uses an Outlook
Exchange server, then the "unable to open Outlook" problem may be caused by
something known as Cached Exchange Mode. When the Cached Exchange Mode is
enabled, it saves and regularly updates a copy of your Exchange mailbox on
your computer. If you don't need this option, then turn it off and you
should no longer get the error. Below are the links to turn off Cached
Exchange Mode in different Outlook versions:
Turn off Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2013
Turn off Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2010
Turn off Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2007
Turn off Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2003
Another error that may occur in the Exchange server environment is related
to a missing default gateway setup. I'm not really sure what it actually
means, but fortunately for us Microsoft has an explanation and automatic fix
for Outlook 2007 and 2010. You can download it from this page.
One more cause of errors when starting Outlook is disabling the Encrypt data
between Outlook and Microsoft Exchange setting. If it is the case, you will
see the errors like these:
"Unable to open your default e-mail folders. The Microsoft Exchange Server
computer is not available" or "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook".
And again, Microsoft has provided the detailed information on how to cope
with this problem, you can find it on this page.
A fix for Outlook Connector errors
If you cannot start Outlook because of an error message similar to this one:
"Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. MAPI was unable to load the information
service msncon.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and
configured", know that it is the Microsoft Hotmail Connector add-in to
blame.
"Without the Way there is no going; without the Truth there is no knowing;
without the Life there is no living."
-Thomas A Kempis
To subscribe to Dan's tips or dedaily devotions, send an email to
dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx with either "subscribe dan's tips" or "subscribe daily
devotion" in the subject.
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