Fix for Outlk/BusContMgr problem caused by Windows XP updates?

[RSW]

I’m new to newsgroups and posting. If this is in the wrong place, tell me
where it should go.

Have XPP w/SP 2 (all critical updates installed), Office Pro 2003 (says “no
updates availâ€). Versions I’m running:
MS Office Pro Vers: 11.0.7969.0
BCM for Outlook 2003 Vers: 1.0.2002.7

On 1/25, downloaded/inst SynchToy (but have not used)
On 1/27, downloaded/inst 4 NON-crit SW updates for XPP incl a .NET Framework
2.0 update

Now, cannot open Outlook. Get msg in a box headed: “Business Contact Managerâ€
Msg: “Business Contact Manager has encountered a problem and needs to close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.†A checkbox within this error msg is
checked “Restart Business Contact Managerâ€. Neither “Send Error Report†nor
“Don’t Send†appear to complete properly …

Leaving the checkbox checked means I keep getting this msg even though I am
not attempting to open Outlook. If I uncheck the checkbox, the msg does not
re-occur.

Uninstalled SynchToy just to make sure it was not causing the problem. No
help.

Still could not start Outlook. Attempted Detect and Repair several times.
Each time D&R said it was successful.

Still could not start Outlook. Same msg about “BCM has encountered a
problem and needs to close …†with “Restart BCM†box (automatically) checked.
Checking or unchecking didn’t help.

I Backup everyday. Attempted to Restore my system back to days before I
downloaded SynchToy. Four or five attempts to Restore (using different days)
resulted in “Restore Incomplete†msgs (i.e., Restore did not work).

It seems the non-crit XPP software updates I installed are causing me this
problem AND preventing me from being able to Restore my system back to a time
when it was operating well enough.

I need help. I am not technical.

 

[Luther]

Why not update to BCM v2?

 

[RSW]

Luther, thanks.

I've tried 3 times to install v2. Everything seems to go fine till near the
end when I get a "Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MICROSOFT..." msg box
that says "Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft SQL Server Desktop
Engine. Time remaining 9 seconds." (or 23 seconds, etc.)

This process never ends. I cannot cancel it either. Have to power off
machine, restart, try again, etc.

No success. Any other suggestions? I haven't been able to use Outlook for
5 days. Haven't tried to bring it up since incurring the infinite loop with
v1 that said "BCM has encountered a problem and needs to close" (which meant
I could not open Outlook).

Would appreciate any further suggestion from you (or another expert). Thx.

 

[RSW]

The new news is that I had to get (no charge) help from a Microsoftie in
Bangalore who was well qualified, helpful and patient. The first thing he
had me do was uninstall the .NET Framework 2.0 update. Then, we again
downloaded BCM v2, and - after three tries - finally got the MSDE install to
complete successfully.

BCM v2 came up fine. With only limited experience with and need for BCM, he
helped me get all BCM contact info into my (regular) Outlk Contacts file (a
very easy, one-step, drag-and-drop), AND then helped me wipe BCM (and MSDE)
off my machine.

Things are up and running fine now. Time lost, 5 days. Mips lost, tons.
But now that BCM is gone and I'm working off my backlog, I'm feeling great!