Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot display the selected folder

  • Thread starter Greg Kirkpatrick [SBSC,MCTS-Vista,MCITP]
  • Start date
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Greg Kirkpatrick [SBSC,MCTS-Vista,MCITP]

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot display the selected folder or item.

After creating a new email account, and adding it to Outlook 2007's
Accounts, then deleting the old email account there, Outlook 2007 will not
open, and the error message above appears.

I have tried deleting the Outlook profile and moving all of the .PST and
other files from the Documents and Settings\user2\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder, forcing Outlook 2007 to create a new profile
as it opens, and ask for email info again, but even so, after all of that is
entered, the same error message appears.

This is only on USER2. USER1's Outlook is unaffected, and opens normally.

This is on Windows XP Professional SP3 with all security patches and updates
installed. The antivirus has been (temporarily) uninstalled, pending a
resolution of this problem (so it would not be a factor).
 
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Greg Kirkpatrick [SBSC,MCTS-Vista,MCITP]

Update:

Error message is "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot display the
selected folder or item."

If I hold the CTRL key down while clicking the Outlook shortcut on the
desktop, I get a message that says "do you want to start Outlook in Safe
mode?" -- I click Yes, and the same error message appears.

If I go to the run box and enter "outlook /safe" -- Outlook does open
successfully.

I have gone to the list of add-ins in Outlook, via Trust Center, and I have
disabled all of the COM add-ins (three were enabled at startup, including
Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging, Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server
Colleague Import Add-In, and Microsoft Office Mobile Service).

When I then try to start Outlook normally, I get the same error message.

At this point, Outlook 2007 can only be started in safe mode from the Run box.
 
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Greg Kirkpatrick [SBSC,MCTS-Vista,MCITP]

Update:

The problem was in the shortcut on USER2's desktop.

It had been encoded to go directly to the old email's inbox, thusly:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\OUTLOOK.EXE" /select
"outlook:\\[email protected]\Inbox"

When I clicked on the Outlook item in the start menu, and when it worked, I
realized that the shortcut was the problem.

Resolved.
 

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