Can't add data files when creating new Profile in Mail Control Panel

[Alpha John]

Neo,

After installing Outlook 2003 Security Updates, XP Service Pack 3, PowerPoint 2003, and other updates, I could no longer start Outlook--received this error message:

"Unable to open your default e-mail folders. An unexpected error has occurred. MAPI was unable to load the information service mspst.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and configured."

Also, when attempting to enter a new profile on Control> Mail, my system would lockup.

Googling my problem, I ran across this forum and this thread.

After following your suggestion: "start > run > outlook.exe /cleanpst > ok button", I was able to start Outlook and, like magic, all my problems were solved. I did not even have to create a new profile.

Many thanks,

Alpha Joh
-
Alpha John

 

[Chris Bedford]

I eralise this is an old thread, but hey - I found it. I think there are still a lot of people stumbling along on OL 2003!

For me the solution was deleting that .inf file. Went through the whole song and dance above with no discernible effect, until I zapped mapisvc.inf and restarted Outlook (after deleting the profile - but I did that so many times I could just about type all the account details in my sleep).

I suppose an educational exercise at this point would have been to keep copies of mapisvc.inf from before and after, and compare their contents... but at this stage who cares, it works.

Thanks to everyone who takes the trouble to reply and contribute their fund of knowledge on this and all other forums - without you guys & girls I wouldn't look like a miracle-worker! ;-)

I'm trying to keep this as short as possible without leaving out
important details. I am unable to SEND email on a newly installed
Outlook 2003.

I just got a new Lenovo ThinkPad T61, with Windows XP and Office 2007
installed, 30 day trial, to replace a four year old Dell that stopped
working. I didn't like Office 2007, certainly not enough to buy it,
so I uninstalled it and installed the Office 2003 that had been
installed on the old Dell system. (I'm sure this is legal, since the
Dell is not working and I'm not going to repair it.)

After I completed the 2003 install, I noticed that when I clicked on
the SEND button for a new email, the system seemed to stall. Then I
found that I no longer had a SEND button on email windows, and the
SEND/RECEIVE and RULES items were missing from the Tools menu.
However, I could still _receive_ emails by pressing F9.

I folllowed the instructions on the MS web site to first delete and
re-add the email account and when that didn't fix the problem, I
deleted the profile in the MAIL control panel. I was able to create
the new profile but when I clicked SHOW PROFILES, then PROPERTIES, and
then DATA FILES, I had a Data Files window with no PST files. When I
clicked on ADD to use my existing Outlook.PST file, I got an "Unknown
error occurred, error code 0x80070002.

What do I do now? Right now I am on a trip, so I don't have access to
the Office 2003 install CD?

Thanks

On Sunday, December 09, 2007 7:52 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Assuming you didn't select to remove the install files at the end of the
install, you can try this. Rename MSMAPI32.DLL found at \Program
Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<LANGID> to MSMAPI32.BAK. Perform a
detect/repair of Office 2003 via add/remove programs.

The reason I'm asking you to do the above is because it is a known issue
that this file doesn't get removed when uninstalling Office/Outlook 2007 and
isn't compatible with the previous versions of Outlook.

news:[email protected]...

52:35 -0800, "neo [mvp outlook]"


Bingo! Neo, I can't thank you enough. I'm on a trip for a week, and
the prospect of having to send and receive messages, including
attachments, through a web interface, uuh, it's enough to make me
shiver inside.

thank you. Whatever you did to earn the MVP title, you deserve it. I
can't begin to thank you enough.

I guess I should be happy that when I did my Office 2003 install, I
did not delete the install files just to recover some disk space. I'm
a believer now!

-AH

On Wednesday, December 19, 2007 5:42 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Not sure if you have installed anything new that could break the MAPI
library chain, so for you I would suggest the following steps...

1) Run FIXMAPI.EXE (its in the windows\system32 directory assuming you are
using windows xp)
2) Now do the rename trick on MSMAPI32.DLL
3) Do the detect and repair via add/remove programs

Does Outlook start at this point? If no, then try this...

1) Go to the mail applet in the control panel
2) Select the Profiles button
3) Create a new mail profile (do not copy the old, just create a new one and
set it as the "always use this profile"

Does Outlook start at this point? If yes, then you have minor registry
corruption in regards to the old mail profile. Configure the new mail
profile with your old PST file and mail accounts. Delete the old mail
profile. (You can't copy it because if you do, you just copy the registry
corruption.)

If Outlook doesn't start at this point, create a new Windows logon ID and
see if Outlook will run under the new Windows logon id. This step will help
you isolate the problem as a machine wide problem or just isolated to your
current windows logon id. If it starts under the new ID, then something is
funky with your existing Windows ID. This is where I cut to the chase and
figure out what steps I need to take to backup the data for the messed up
\documents and settings\<userid> and the delete said corrupted set of
folders.

Now if it doesn't start after creating a new Windows ID, then this is where
I ask you... What happens when you try starting Outlook? (e.g. do you get
an error message because the application crashed? you click on the outlook
icon to start the application and nothing. In this case, is Outlook listed
as a running process in task manager?)

Other than that and the only other key DLL that gets involved in managing
PST files is the MSPST32.DLL file. You could try doing the rename/repair
trick just like we did on MSMAPI32.

/neo

PS - I can't say this strongly enough. If anything has happened to the
Local Installation Source (MSOCache) folder on the hard drive, then after a
detect/repair you may have to reinstall Office 2003 Service Packs and
security updates to ensure that you have the right binary (EXE/DLL) files.
When things get this ugly, it just easier to uninstall/reinstall Office 2003
and then service pack/patch. This is an excellent troubleshooting step when
you have you installation media in hand and a fat broadband connection to
the internet.


news:[email protected]...

On Sunday, December 30, 2007 12:16 PM db273 wrote:
I am having the same problems as Todd Kri so I tried to run FIXMAPI.EXE and
could not get it to run. I have got XP Pro. Thanks, db2734

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Monday, December 31, 2007 8:34 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
So you did all of the below and what happened? (e.g. no error messages and
outlook does not start.)

On Monday, December 31, 2007 10:56 AM db273 wrote:
I found FIXMAPI.EXE in the system32 directory and used the browse button to
put it in the run box so Windows would open it. I couldn't get to open. I
also copied and pasted the file and this didn't work either. Can you tell me
what I'm doing wrong to get it to run. Thanks

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Monday, December 31, 2007 6:51 PM Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:
Simply double click fixmapi.exe to run it.

--=81
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading. =20

After furious head scratching, db2734 asked:

On Tuesday, January 01, 2008 11:46 AM db273 wrote:
I tried that first along with right click and open. It won't open. Another
thing I'm wondering about is when I renamed the files MSMAPI32.DLL &
MSPST32.DLL to MSMAPI32.BAK & MSPST32.BAK and ran the Office 2003 repair it
put the original files back in. Now I have both sets of files (.DLL and .BAK)
in the system/MSMAPI/1033 folder. I checked the size of
each file and they are the same. If we get this FIXMAPI repair tool to work
do I delete the .BAK files out and then change the extensions on the .DLL
files again before running my Office repair?

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 7:50 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
You can delete the .bak files after the repair because you verified that
repair process brought in new copies of each.

Lets try this... does Outlook open in safe mode? How to:
Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe > OK button


news:[email protected]...

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:08 AM rolecgrou wrote:
I'd like to join in with this if i may.

Am having the same problems. Have followed all your instruction and still
get the following in both safe and standard mode, and regardless of User:

"Unable to open your default email folders. Outlook could not start because
a data file to send and receive mail could not be found. To add a data file,
such as a personal folder file, double-click the Mail icons in Windows
Control Panel."

If i go to create a data folder in Mail i get :-

"An unknown error occured, error code: 0x80070002"

Like everyone else i removed a 30day 2007 trial and installed 2003
Professional

TIA



Dean.



"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:44 AM db273 wrote:
It tries to open,but as it does a window comes up and says Outlook cannot open
because theres no data file.

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 6:33 PM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Does Outlook start with either of these command line switches?

start > run > outlook.exe /cleanpst > ok button

or

start > run > outlook.exe /cleanprofile > ok button

/neo

PS - please use the /cleanpst switch first. This will try to associate a
new PST file to your mail profile. /cleanprofile tries to remove bogus
registry keys and/or recreate default registry keys that deal with your
e-mail profile

news:[email protected]...

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 8:50 PM db273 wrote:
I tried both commands and no luck with making a new data file folder. After I
ran the first command (outlook.exe /cleanpst) a window came up to use the old
profile or make a new profile so I selected the old profile and it said I
didn't have a data folder to send mail. I then ran the second
command(outlook.exe /cleanprofile) and it said the same thing. I then made a
new profile and the Outlook Wizard started up. I re-entered all my e-mail
setup information and I thought it was going to work,but when I open Outlook
it still says I have no data file folder to send mail and it won't let me
make one. I deleted the old profile out in the control panel/mail setup to
make the Outlook Wizard activate,but maybe didn't have to.


"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Thursday, January 03, 2008 3:02 AM rolecgrou wrote:
Didnt work for me

Both ask you to select a profile - if i select the existing one i.e. Outlook
- i get

"Unable to open your default email folders. Outlook could not start because
a data file to send and receive mail could not be found. To add a data file,
such as a personal folder file, double-click the Mail icons in Windows
Control Panel."

If i select new i provide a new profile name and then get

"There was an error locating one of the items needed to complete this
operation. It may have been deleted"

Hope this helps.



Dean.


"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:19 PM db273 wrote:
neo, Are you still looking for a solution to this problem for us?

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

 

[Chris Bedford]

I eralise this is an old thread, but hey - I found it. I think there are still a lot of people stumbling along on OL 2003!

For me the solution was deleting that .inf file. Went through the whole song and dance above with no discernible effect, until I zapped mapisvc.inf and restarted Outlook (after deleting the profile - but I did that so many times I could just about type all the account details in my sleep).

I suppose an educational exercise at this point would have been to keep copies of mapisvc.inf from before and after, and compare their contents... but at this stage who cares, it works.

Thanks to everyone who takes the trouble to reply and contribute their fund of knowledge on this and all other forums - without you guys & girls I wouldn't look like a miracle-worker! ;-)

I'm trying to keep this as short as possible without leaving out
important details. I am unable to SEND email on a newly installed
Outlook 2003.

I just got a new Lenovo ThinkPad T61, with Windows XP and Office 2007
installed, 30 day trial, to replace a four year old Dell that stopped
working. I didn't like Office 2007, certainly not enough to buy it,
so I uninstalled it and installed the Office 2003 that had been
installed on the old Dell system. (I'm sure this is legal, since the
Dell is not working and I'm not going to repair it.)

After I completed the 2003 install, I noticed that when I clicked on
the SEND button for a new email, the system seemed to stall. Then I
found that I no longer had a SEND button on email windows, and the
SEND/RECEIVE and RULES items were missing from the Tools menu.
However, I could still _receive_ emails by pressing F9.

I folllowed the instructions on the MS web site to first delete and
re-add the email account and when that didn't fix the problem, I
deleted the profile in the MAIL control panel. I was able to create
the new profile but when I clicked SHOW PROFILES, then PROPERTIES, and
then DATA FILES, I had a Data Files window with no PST files. When I
clicked on ADD to use my existing Outlook.PST file, I got an "Unknown
error occurred, error code 0x80070002.

What do I do now? Right now I am on a trip, so I don't have access to
the Office 2003 install CD?

Thanks

On Sunday, December 09, 2007 7:52 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Assuming you didn't select to remove the install files at the end of the
install, you can try this. Rename MSMAPI32.DLL found at \Program
Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<LANGID> to MSMAPI32.BAK. Perform a
detect/repair of Office 2003 via add/remove programs.

The reason I'm asking you to do the above is because it is a known issue
that this file doesn't get removed when uninstalling Office/Outlook 2007 and
isn't compatible with the previous versions of Outlook.

news:[email protected]...

52:35 -0800, "neo [mvp outlook]"


Bingo! Neo, I can't thank you enough. I'm on a trip for a week, and
the prospect of having to send and receive messages, including
attachments, through a web interface, uuh, it's enough to make me
shiver inside.

thank you. Whatever you did to earn the MVP title, you deserve it. I
can't begin to thank you enough.

I guess I should be happy that when I did my Office 2003 install, I
did not delete the install files just to recover some disk space. I'm
a believer now!

-AH

On Wednesday, December 19, 2007 5:42 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Not sure if you have installed anything new that could break the MAPI
library chain, so for you I would suggest the following steps...

1) Run FIXMAPI.EXE (its in the windows\system32 directory assuming you are
using windows xp)
2) Now do the rename trick on MSMAPI32.DLL
3) Do the detect and repair via add/remove programs

Does Outlook start at this point? If no, then try this...

1) Go to the mail applet in the control panel
2) Select the Profiles button
3) Create a new mail profile (do not copy the old, just create a new one and
set it as the "always use this profile"

Does Outlook start at this point? If yes, then you have minor registry
corruption in regards to the old mail profile. Configure the new mail
profile with your old PST file and mail accounts. Delete the old mail
profile. (You can't copy it because if you do, you just copy the registry
corruption.)

If Outlook doesn't start at this point, create a new Windows logon ID and
see if Outlook will run under the new Windows logon id. This step will help
you isolate the problem as a machine wide problem or just isolated to your
current windows logon id. If it starts under the new ID, then something is
funky with your existing Windows ID. This is where I cut to the chase and
figure out what steps I need to take to backup the data for the messed up
\documents and settings\<userid> and the delete said corrupted set of
folders.

Now if it doesn't start after creating a new Windows ID, then this is where
I ask you... What happens when you try starting Outlook? (e.g. do you get
an error message because the application crashed? you click on the outlook
icon to start the application and nothing. In this case, is Outlook listed
as a running process in task manager?)

Other than that and the only other key DLL that gets involved in managing
PST files is the MSPST32.DLL file. You could try doing the rename/repair
trick just like we did on MSMAPI32.

/neo

PS - I can't say this strongly enough. If anything has happened to the
Local Installation Source (MSOCache) folder on the hard drive, then after a
detect/repair you may have to reinstall Office 2003 Service Packs and
security updates to ensure that you have the right binary (EXE/DLL) files.
When things get this ugly, it just easier to uninstall/reinstall Office 2003
and then service pack/patch. This is an excellent troubleshooting step when
you have you installation media in hand and a fat broadband connection to
the internet.


news:[email protected]...

On Sunday, December 30, 2007 12:16 PM db273 wrote:
I am having the same problems as Todd Kri so I tried to run FIXMAPI.EXE and
could not get it to run. I have got XP Pro. Thanks, db2734

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Monday, December 31, 2007 8:34 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
So you did all of the below and what happened? (e.g. no error messages and
outlook does not start.)

On Monday, December 31, 2007 10:56 AM db273 wrote:
I found FIXMAPI.EXE in the system32 directory and used the browse button to
put it in the run box so Windows would open it. I couldn't get to open. I
also copied and pasted the file and this didn't work either. Can you tell me
what I'm doing wrong to get it to run. Thanks

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Monday, December 31, 2007 6:51 PM Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:
Simply double click fixmapi.exe to run it.

--=81
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading. =20

After furious head scratching, db2734 asked:

On Tuesday, January 01, 2008 11:46 AM db273 wrote:
I tried that first along with right click and open. It won't open. Another
thing I'm wondering about is when I renamed the files MSMAPI32.DLL &
MSPST32.DLL to MSMAPI32.BAK & MSPST32.BAK and ran the Office 2003 repair it
put the original files back in. Now I have both sets of files (.DLL and .BAK)
in the system/MSMAPI/1033 folder. I checked the size of
each file and they are the same. If we get this FIXMAPI repair tool to work
do I delete the .BAK files out and then change the extensions on the .DLL
files again before running my Office repair?

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 7:50 AM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
You can delete the .bak files after the repair because you verified that
repair process brought in new copies of each.

Lets try this... does Outlook open in safe mode? How to:
Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe > OK button


news:[email protected]...

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:08 AM rolecgrou wrote:
I'd like to join in with this if i may.

Am having the same problems. Have followed all your instruction and still
get the following in both safe and standard mode, and regardless of User:

"Unable to open your default email folders. Outlook could not start because
a data file to send and receive mail could not be found. To add a data file,
such as a personal folder file, double-click the Mail icons in Windows
Control Panel."

If i go to create a data folder in Mail i get :-

"An unknown error occured, error code: 0x80070002"

Like everyone else i removed a 30day 2007 trial and installed 2003
Professional

TIA



Dean.



"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:44 AM db273 wrote:
It tries to open,but as it does a window comes up and says Outlook cannot open
because theres no data file.

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 6:33 PM neo [mvp outlook] wrote:
Does Outlook start with either of these command line switches?

start > run > outlook.exe /cleanpst > ok button

or

start > run > outlook.exe /cleanprofile > ok button

/neo

PS - please use the /cleanpst switch first. This will try to associate a
new PST file to your mail profile. /cleanprofile tries to remove bogus
registry keys and/or recreate default registry keys that deal with your
e-mail profile

news:[email protected]...

On Wednesday, January 02, 2008 8:50 PM db273 wrote:
I tried both commands and no luck with making a new data file folder. After I
ran the first command (outlook.exe /cleanpst) a window came up to use the old
profile or make a new profile so I selected the old profile and it said I
didn't have a data folder to send mail. I then ran the second
command(outlook.exe /cleanprofile) and it said the same thing. I then made a
new profile and the Outlook Wizard started up. I re-entered all my e-mail
setup information and I thought it was going to work,but when I open Outlook
it still says I have no data file folder to send mail and it won't let me
make one. I deleted the old profile out in the control panel/mail setup to
make the Outlook Wizard activate,but maybe didn't have to.


"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Thursday, January 03, 2008 3:02 AM rolecgrou wrote:
Didnt work for me

Both ask you to select a profile - if i select the existing one i.e. Outlook
- i get

"Unable to open your default email folders. Outlook could not start because
a data file to send and receive mail could not be found. To add a data file,
such as a personal folder file, double-click the Mail icons in Windows
Control Panel."

If i select new i provide a new profile name and then get

"There was an error locating one of the items needed to complete this
operation. It may have been deleted"

Hope this helps.



Dean.


"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

On Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:19 PM db273 wrote:
neo, Are you still looking for a solution to this problem for us?

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote: