Error "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Outlook cann (Page 1 of 3)

Hi Penina,

Method1:

         Try to open Outlook in safe mode. Follow thses steps to do it.

         1.Click on start button (for Vista it will be Windows button ) and click on Run.
         2.Type outlook.exe /safe  and press enter.
         3.If outlook is not starting then we have to do a detect and repair. Follow these steps to do that.

         Detect and repair.

         1.Click on Start button (for Vista it will be Windows button ) and click on Run.
         2.Type outlook.exe /safe  and press enter.
         3.Go to Help tab in Outlook and select office diagnostics, click on continue and click on Run Diagnostics.

Method2:

        Try to open Outlook without addins.

        1.Click on start button and click on Run.
        2.Type  outlook.exe /a  and press enter.

        If he can open Outlook in this way, then the third party addins are causing the issue. This can be resolved by     
        removing the third party addins. Follow these steps to remove third party addins.

        1.Open Outlok and click On the Tools menu, click Trust Center, and then click Add-ins.(for Office 2007).
        2.In the Add-ins box, identify the add-in that you want to disable and note the Add-in type located in the Type 
        column.
        3.Select the Add-in type in the Manage box and then click Go.
        4.clear the check box for the Add-in that you want to disable and then click OK.

Method3:

        WE have to use Inbox repair tool for scanning the pst files. Follow the below steps.

        For Windows Vista generally pst file wiil be located  at this location: disk

        disk drive(normally Cdrive):\users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

        Windows XP and Windows 2000: disk drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application  Data\Microsoft\Outlook

         For runnung Inbox repair tools, follow these steps.

               1.Exit Outlook.
               2.Open My computer and click on Tools and select Folder options. Click on View and select "show Hidden files and folders."
               3.Click Start, and then click Find or Search, depending on which version of Windows that you are running.
               4.In the search box, type Scanpst.exe.
               5.Double-click the Scanpst.exe file to open the program.
               6.Click Browse to locate the .pst file. Normalyy it will be in this location.

                     *Windows 98 or Windows Me: disk drive\Windows\ Local Settings\Application Data
                     *Windows NT 4.0: disk drive\WINNT\Profiles\username\Local Settings\Application Data
                     *Windows XP or Windows Server 2003: disk drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application *Data\Microsoft\Outlook
                     *Windows Vista: disk disk drive:\users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

               7.Click Start. The Inbox Repair Tool scans the file and reports whether it found any errors.
               8.Click OK.

Method4:
           
           Press Cntrl+Alt+Delete to open task manager and click on processes. click on outlook.exe and click on End process.
           If there is multiple outlook.exe running end all of them. Try to open outlook after ending all outlook.exe processes.

Method5:

          Outlook express wil not start if there is missing or corrupted information in the Outlook Express Identities   registry key.  WE have to
          modify the registry. Before editing bthe registry we have to take the backup of registry file. Follow these steps to take a backup of registry.
          This is somewhat long and complex process.

           For Vista:

                    *Click Start, type  systempropertiesprotection  in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
                    *If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
                    *Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. In the System Properties dialog box,
                      on the System Protection tab, click Create.
                    *Type a name for the restore point and then click Create.
                    *After the restore point has been created successfully, click OK two times.

           NOW WE HAVE TO Rename the "Main Identity" Subkey, fOLLOW THESE STEPS.

                    1.Click Start, and then click Run.
                    2.In the Open box, type regedit.
                    3.Locate the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Identities
                    4.To do so, in the left pane, click the plus sign (+) that is next to each registry key or subkey in the path to expand each branch until you
                       locate the subkey that you want to delete. For example, in the following registry subkey path, the subkey is Identities:
                       HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities
                    5.In the left pane, click the plus sign (+) that is next to the Identities subkey to expand that branch. Note the globally unique identifier 
                        (GUID) subkeys; each is named with a unique ID number, such as the following: {AFE1AA0D-D202-4C52-AC8D-F68DE06421C1}
                    6.In the left pane, click each GUID until you find the Username data value Main Identity.
                    7.In the right pane, double-click Username.
                    8.In the Edit String dialog box, type Main Backup in the Value data box, and then click OK.

          Back up Individual Identity Subkeys:

                    1.In the left pane of Registry Editor, click the Main identity subkey.
                    2.On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.
                    3.In the File name box, type the user name for the identity. For example, if you export the Main identity subkey, type Main.
                    4.In the Save as type box, click Registration Files.
                    5.Under Export range, click Selected branch, and then clicK Save.
                    6.Repeat steps 1 through 5 for each identity subkey

          Delete the "Identities" Subkey:

                In the right pane, click the Identities subkey.
                On the Edit menu, click Delete.
                In the Confirm Key Delete dialog box, click Yes.
                Quit Registry Editor, and then restart your computer.

          Re-Create Your Identities Subkeys:
                 
                Start Outlook Express.
                When the Internet Connection Wizard dialog box is displayed, click Cancel, and then click Yes.
                In the Outlook Express Import dialog box, click Cancel, and then click Yes.
                Quit Outlook Express.
                On the desktop, double-click the My Documents folder.
                Double-click one of the exported identity subkeys, click Yes in the Registry Editor dialog box, and then click OK.
                When you double-click the subkey, the data is imported back into the registry, and the corresponding identity is re-created.
                Repeat this step until you have re-created all of the Identities subkeys.

           After doing all these steps you have to reconfigure your mail account.

Method6:

           Take a back up of pst files and reinstall Outlook . follow these steps to take a backup of pst files.

                      1.Close any messaging programs such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Windows Messaging.
                      2.Click on start button and go to setting and open control panel.
                      3.Double-click the Mail icon.
                      4.Click Show Profiles.
                      5.Click the appropriate profile, and then click Properties.
                      6.Click Data Files.
                      7.Under Name, click the Personal Folders Service that you want to back up. By default, this service is called Personal 8.Folders. However,
                         it may be named something else
                      9.Click Settings, and then note the path and file name that appears.
                    10.Close all the Properties windows.
                    11.Open the file through the path and copy it to a new folder as backup.

            Again click on start button and go to settings and open control panel.

            Click on your office suite and click on change. Select Repair and click continue.

             http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287070

STANLEY AT OMNITECHSUPPORT WAS REALLY HELPFUL !!! HE FIXED MY ISSUE.. THANKS

That did the trick for me too. Had a hard crash/BSOD from AVG 8.5 Free....somehow, that hoarked up outlook.xml and I started getting the "cannot start microsoft office outlook. cannot open the outlook window." error. Killing outlks.xml and Outlook 2007 is opening and appears to be working fine now...hope this helps someone else...

Posting above on Cannot etc. I just did a search for Outlook.xml file... I do not have one to delete. Again using [explitive deleted] VISTA. I tried to reinstall outlook today and that didn't help

THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM........I ALMOST LOST MY EMAILS AND ADDRESSES....KEVIN KNEW HOW TO FIX MY PROBLEM.... HE FIXED THE ISSUE REMOTELY.. WORTH THE TIME AND MONEY SPENT OR I WOULD HAVE SPENT HUNDREDS IN DATA RECOVERY....

CHEERS KEVIN !!!

outlook.xml - this is a stupid error..i have been getting this outlook.xml  error for past two hours.. microsoft should come up with a fix .... outlook.xml outlook.xml outlook.xml outlook.xml outlook.xml  grrrrrrrrrr... i am so frustrated..