Emails don't display. Outlook closes. "Can't find gdiplus.dll"

[Clobster]

After working OK for years, Outlook 2007(running on Vista) misbehaves most of
the time. Message headers display OK, but not the body of the emails. At
times I get an error message saying that Outlook couldn’t find gdiplus.dll
and I should re-install Outlook, but reinstalling didn’t fix a thing. I ran
Office diagnostics—no help. A consultant suggested that I enter the
command-line message “outlook.exe /reset navpane—no help either. I'm more or
less a perpetual computer novice, and I'm totally out of ideas.

 

[VanguardLH]

After working OK for years, Outlook 2007(running on Vista) misbehaves most of
the time. Message headers display OK, but not the body of the emails. At
times I get an error message saying that Outlook couldn¡¦t find gdiplus.dll
and I should re-install Outlook, but reinstalling didn¡¦t fix a thing. I ran
Office diagnostics¡Xno help. A consultant suggested that I enter the
command-line message ¡§outlook.exe /reset navpane¡Xno help either. I'm more or
less a perpetual computer novice, and I'm totally out of ideas.

gdiplus.dll: Used by many programs for an API to a library of graphics
functions. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Device_Interface
and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd145203(VS.85).aspx.

Many programs include this file in their installation file set; however,
they should not install their copy if a newer version is already
installed yet some installers are dumb and simply dump their install
files on the host and stop atop new versioned files. To prevent the
problem of DLL Hell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dll_hell), different
versions of the same DLL are supposed to get installed under different
subfolder under C:\Windows\WinSxS (Windows Side-by-Side component
sharing; http://tinyurl.com/ycy32ch). The worst place that I've seen an
installer dump gdiplus.dll is in the root folder of the Windows boot
partition (usually C:\). For example, on my host, there are the
following versions of the gdiplus.dll file:

6.0.3264.0 (under PDF-Xchange program folder)
5.1.3102.1360 (under twain32 folder)
and under the WinSxS folder:
5.1.3097.0
5.1.3102.2180
5.1.3102.3352
5.1.3102.5512
5.1.3102.5581

Each install stored its particular version of gdiplus.dll (that it is
sure to work with) under a different path to prevent stepping atop a
version needed by a different program and avoid another install stepping
atop the version of gdiplus.dll that the first program needs.

So what did you install after which the gdi error cropped up? Maybe it
didn't properly locate where to store its version of gdiplus.dll.

GDI+ is part of Windows. Something you do in Outlook is calling
something else to use the GDI (graphics device interface) DLL (dynamic
link library). What add-ons did you install to Outlook? Have you yet
tried running Outlook in its safe mode ("outlook.exe /safe") which does
not load any enabled add-ons?

There have been reports of random gdi errors in OL2007 after applying
the Service Pack 1 for MS Office 2007. Have you yet updated to SP-2 for
Office 2007 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953195)? When was the last
time you visited the Windows Update site (hint hint)?

 

[Clobster]

Thank you, VanguardLH, but I'm still in bad shape. As you suggested, I
switched to safe mode and I was already updated to SP3.

About half of the time my emails open normally. The other half of the time I
see my inbox where the email message should be (I get the header info). Plus,
Outlook periodically closes.

 

[VanguardLH]

As you suggested, I switched to safe mode and I was already updated to
SP3.

About half of the time my emails open normally. The other half of the time I
see my inbox where the email message should be (I get the header info). Plus,
Outlook periodically closes.

SP-3? I thought the latest service pack for Office 2007 was SP-2.
There is a SP-3 for Office 2003 but you said that you have Office 2007.

I don't use either Windows Vista (has nothing I need or want) or Office
2007 (no bang for the buck to upgrade). So I can't provide direct
support (as a user of those product). I'm wondering how long you tested
with Outlook 2007 running in its safe mode. Did you actually see the
gdiplus error/crash while OL2007 was still running in its safe mode?

Since you said OL2007 was behaved for years (well, a couple years) but
now started to misbehave, and since it is unlikely that users leave
stagnant their software configuration on their hosts, I'm wondering what
you installed after which the error started.

Does the gdiplus error/crash happen when reading plain-text e-mails? Or
does it only occur when reading HTML-formatted e-mails (which will
specify fonts that you may or may not have on your own host)?

How many fonts do you have installed (Control Panel -> Fonts, look at
status bar)? A corrupted font can cause the problem you describe. In
Outlook's Tools -> Options -> Mail Format -> Fonts, which ones did you
select there (composing new msg, reply/forwarding, compose/read in plain
text mode)? Try changing to different fonts for all of those. If the
problem goes away, reset one at a time back to the original font
selection and retest to see if and when the problem reappears.

Did the error message actually say that gdiplus.dll couldn't be found?
Or did it say that it was incompatible? Just what was the exact error
message?

 

[Clobster]

OK, you gave me a good hint regarding gdiplus.dll and graphics. I went into
Tools-->Trust Center-->Security and changed my incoming emails to plain text.
It's not great, but Outlook is working.

Thanks

 

[Spike9458]

SP-3?  I thought the latest service pack for Office2007was SP-2.
There is a SP-3 for Office 2003 but you said that you have Office2007.

I don't use either Windows Vista (has nothing I need or want) or Office2007(no bang for the buck to upgrade).  So I can't provide direct
support (as a user of those product).  I'm wondering how long you tested
withOutlook2007running in its safe mode.  Did you actually see the
gdiplus error/crash while OL2007 was still running in its safe mode?

Since you said OL2007 was behaved for years (well, a couple years) but
now started to misbehave, and since it is unlikely that users leave
stagnant their software configuration on their hosts, I'm wondering what
you installed after which the error started.

Does the gdiplus error/crash happen when reading plain-text e-mails?  Or
does it only occur when reading HTML-formatted e-mails (which will
specify fonts that you may or may not have on your own host)?

How many fonts do you have installed (Control Panel -> Fonts, look at
status bar)?  A corrupted font can cause the problem you describe.  InOutlook'sTools -> Options -> Mail Format -> Fonts, which ones did you
select there (composing new msg, reply/forwarding, compose/read in plain
text mode)?  Try changing to different fonts for all of those.  If the
problem goes away, reset one at a time back to the original font
selection and retest to see if and when the problem reappears.

Did the error message actually say thatgdiplus.dllcouldn't be found?
Or did it say that it was incompatible?  Just what was the exact error
message?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm not the OP, but had this error pop-up this morning that
gdiplus.ddl is not compatible with outlook 2007 (on a Vista 32 sp2
platform). The last programs I installed or uninstalled is uninstall
AVG, and install Microsoft Security Essentials. That MSE might be the
problem, as other things are going on too. I intalled it last week,
today is the first day of te gdiplus.dll error.

What do you think?