"Cannot start"

[rallenr]

My 64-bit HP Vista machine froze today, requiring a hard boot (power
down/up). Restarting caused a chkdsk and many files were fixed.

I run Office 2003, so in starting Outlook I'm getting 'Cannot start MS
Office Outlook. The set of folders could not be opened..."

outlook.pst and archive.pst are where they belong and tested OK with a 3rd
party file checker. I repaired Office from the CD, but problem remained. I
uninstalled and reinstalled Office, but same problem occurs.

Any help appreciated!

 

[Roady [MVP]]

When you scan your pst-files with scanpst.exe, does it indicate any errors?

Also see http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/outlookdoesntstart.htm

 

[rallenr]

Thanks. I've not done that and errors were found and repaired in
outlook.pst. Archive.pst tested OK, but Outlook will still not start and
gives the same error as yesterday.

I'm really trying not to go to one old .pst as I need current work. Any
other ideas certainly appreciated.

 

[rallenr]

Robert, fyi, from another Q&A string on 2007 (not 2003) with a similar
problem, I tried:

Click Start and in the Search bar enter

outlook.exe /resetnavpane

but received the same "Cannot stat..." msg box.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Try running scanpst.exe again against your pst-file. Sometimes it takes
several runs before all issues can be fixed.
If that fails as well, create a new pst-file via Control Panel-> Mail and
set it as your default delivery folder. This will at least get you back in
Outlook.

You can try a 3rd party pst-file recovery tool then to see if there is
anything salvageable from the original pst-file.
Some tools are listed here;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/tag/data-recovery



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[rallenr]

Thanks again. There is no MAIL option in the Vista Control Panel -- now I'm
wondering how serious this little crash was. I"ve dealt with it on XP
machines. Do you think I'm looking at the need for a system recovery?

Fyi, I was able to import a .pst into Thunderbird -- as it doesn't allow a
selection and just says it's dealing with Mail Folders, I'm wondering if it
grabbed archive.pst as there isn't anything in there newer than February.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Thanks again. There is no MAIL option in the Vista Control Panel

Are you using the 64 bit version? If so, yo must enable the 32 bit Control
Panel to see it.

 

[rallenr]

Thanks to all...I've cobbled this together after finding the Mail setup. Six
months of mail lost unless I find a backup. Thanks again.