Re: OE 6 Opens, then shuts down immediately

Do a file search for files ending with the extension of DBX (you may find them in several folders if you used more than one identity) and note the location (DBX files are marked hidden by the operation system in WindowsXP, so you'll need to add the Search for hidden files). Then right click on each folder where you found DBX files and rename the folder to something easy to remember such as Mail1, Mail2, etc.

Now see if Outlook Express will open without error. If it does, you can try importing the old messages (File/Import/Messages, selecting From a Message Store) and point to the Mail1, Mail2 folders that you renamed. Don't be surprised if the import fails since the error suggests some corruption has taken place in the old store folders. In that case, you may need a 3rd party utility to recover them, but the main emphasis now is on getting Outlook Express to open correctly. Post back with info about your success or lack thereof.

One other thing to do since you have installed some updates for Office is to re-register Outlook Express as your default mail client. Go to Start/Run and type:
msimn /reg
and hit the OK key. Note the space between msimn and the slash [/] for reg.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=F9F51EF1-4AE3-4D23-B2D8-1171988A62D6


"Dave" <Dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:3849ACB8-374B-4A4A-A4D2-6DC8ECF14E0D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks, Jim and Frank.

WinXP Professional - I just finished downloading 49 critical updates reading
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Format Runtime
KB388667; 885836; 887742; 888239; 890175; 885835; 873339; 896423; 896424;
896428; 898461; 899587; 899589; 899591; 8900725; 8901017; 896358; 902400;
904706; 905414; 905749; 908519; 910437; 911564; 911927; 912919; 892130;
894391; 893756; 891781; 887472; 886185; 890859; 890046; 888302; 901214; 888113
And now another 17(19) High Priority Updates (Including Office 2003 Service
Pack 2):
905474; 917734; 914389; 917344; 918439; 911280; 916281; 913580; 911567;
890830; 917953; 917149; 918439; 908531; 900485; 911562; 911567; 886903

I recovered the OS, but it did leave all the old data files in place, even
though it's making me reinstall all the apps.

When the problem first started, there was no error message - just a few
seconds of OE opening splash screen, the app would open and I could see
messages, but then it would close after about one second.

Now, with the critical updates, the splash screen comes up then an new box
with an error message reads: "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library" in the
blue top part of the box, with a big red X below and the message: "Runtime
Error! Program: C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe This application
has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact
the application's support team for more information." and an OK button.

Now, with the HighPriority updates, the splash screen comes up, then freezes
in place. Task manager doesn't show the OE app as running, and it just won't
go away for a long time. Then it asked me if I wanted OE to be my default
e-mail client, I clicked yes, then the same error message mentioned in the
paragraph above popped up.

I've got 290 GB of disk space free, plenty of memory (1.5 GB) plenty of
virtual memory. cleaned out all the junk and temp files.

I'm at wits end. Any guidance or help would be greatly appreciated.

"Jim Pickering" wrote:

To begin to help, we need the complete and exact error message. Without
more info such as that and the operating system involved (suspect WinXP, but
to what level of patches?), no one can really be of much help.

Any error in msimn.exe is most likely caused by a corrupt message store, but
if you reinstalled using a Recovery Disk, that usually implies a format with
a loss of stored data. So the details are really important to getting help.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=F9F51EF1-4AE3-4D23-B2D8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.

"Dave" <Dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4CAE1958-5427-4D30-A86C-7E2D85EEEE83@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Yesterday, my system did something that seemed odd, downloading a whole
> host
> (9) automatic updates. After installing them, my OE 6 shut down. When I
> tried
> to reopen it, it would visibly appear for just a second, then > disappear.
> It
> does that every time now, with no error messages.
>
> This morning, I finally used the recovery function (HP OEM) to reload > the
> OS. OE still opens briefly and closes, but now I get an error message > box
> about the msimn.exe file causing a problem with a C++ program (I'm at > work
> and can't remember the exact wording).
>
> Any suggestions for how I might go about fixing this? I've already got > to
> reload all my apps, so I'm open to anything.



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