mapi32.dll error. Help! My kid's xms gift is broken

[JWPluto]

I have a new pc with the trial edition of Office 2007. But I own a copy of
Office 2003 Basic. So I uninstalled 07 and installed 03. Now, as described in
another post, the dreaded mapi32.dll error. "Cannot start Microsoft Office
Outlook. MAPI32.DLL is corrupt or the wrong version. This could have been
caused by installing other messaging software. Please reinstall Outlook.

Reinstallation does not help. I also found instructions in the KB about
naming the existing c:\windows\mapi32.dll to .old but that doesn't work.
Other mapi32.dll files wo't permit changes. I have admin login on VISTA home
premium. Tried adjusting the security for the files and it won't work due to
access denied.

I'm really worried I can't fx this in time for Xmas.

An help is very much appreciated.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Office 2003 Basic Edition is an OEM version, which means it is only
licensed for installation on the computer that the software originally
came with. You cannot transfer the software to any other computer.

If you remove your illegal installation of Office 2003 from your new
computer, and purchase and install a legal copy of Office 2007 on your
new computer, then the mapi32.dll error message will likely go away.

 

[Shaun]

Hi,

I don't know how to resolve the error, but I've been in similar positions
and find that it's best with new PCs to reinstall the OS rather than patch
the problems as they come up. Usually, there's something that gets missed
or broken while trying ideas which can cause bigger problems down the road.

Just offering some friendly advice. If you haven't found the answer in time
and really need this fixed before Christmas try reinstalling Vista from the
manufacturer's CD to get it back to it's original state with the Office 2007
trial. If you need to, you can put Office 2003 after Christmas and save
yourself the headache of worrying about it right now.

Good luck,
Shaun

 

[JWPluto]

Point noted Garfield. Was not seeing it as illegal since the PC it was
running on is dead. Thought I could reuse the license.

However legal or illegal, the problem still exists with a new purchase of
Office 2003 SBE full version retail pk.

 

[JWPluto]

Thanks for your input Shaun! May well be the best way to complete.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

The error message is misleading, as it is not MAPI32.DLL that is the
incorrect version. You can't have more than one version of Outlook
installed at the same time. Assuming you already uninstalled Outlook
2007 (or all of Office 2007), then:

Close Outlook 2003 and all other Office applications. Start Windows
Explorer or My Computer, and use it to rename the "C:\Program
Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033\MSMAPI32.DLL" file to
MSMAPI32.OLD. When you start Outlook 2003 again, the program should
repair itself. You may be prompted to insert your Office 2003 CD to
complete the repair.

 

[crt98]

Okay, if anyone can help here...I'm getting the same error, but don't
have the folder MSMAPI under System as mentioned in Garfield's
post.
I bought a new PC with Windows Vista and what I thought was a shortcut
to a trial of Office 2007. Deleted the shortcut because I had my own
new version of 2007. New version of 2007 won't load - it can't find
the .cab file it needs, though it's on the CD when I explored, and is
pointed to the correct directory. I'm dealing with the group I got the
software from on that. However, decided to load my previous version
of Office 2003 Prof Edit. and found that 2007 was partially loaded.
Removed 2007 (from Control Panel), was able to configure Word, Excel,
Access, Ppoint, but not Outlook due to the above error. I tried
repairing, uninstalling and reinstalling 2003, but no luck-same
error.

I also tried to do a recovery from Recovery Center, but am not sure
which option to take when it gives me 4 options (can't remember the 4,
but was considering the one that says "restore to original factory
defaults". Was afraid this would strip the O/S completely.

Any suggestions?