If you are running Windows Vista (possibly XP also) then you may have come across an error after installing Microsoft Office when you try to load up Outlook. The error will say “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.”. If you have tried uninstalling, re installing and what seems to be everything else then there is a way to get around this error message.
The general procedure to get rid of the Outlook error message is to go to c:\windows\system32\ and simply rename or delete mapi32.dll. What that process does is allows Outlook, when started, to recreate the file correctly. However, if you are running Windows Vista then you will possibly find that you do not have sufficient permissions to do so, even if you are an admin user on the PC.
To get around this problem you need to reboot your PC and press F8 right on the first boot up screen. After a few moments a menu will appear with options such as starting your PC in safe mode. Select the menu option to restore your PC (you will not actually need to restore anything and no damage will be done unless you do not follow these instruction).
After a few seconds you will be presented with a log in box. Enter your password (needs to be the username/password of an admin) and then a menu will appear. Click Open a Command Prompt Window.
Once opened you can use the command prompt just like you would in Windows. Use the following commands…
c:
cd\windows\system32
erase mapi32.dll
exit
Now reboot your PC, fire up Outlook and you should find it now works succesfully.
As always, please post any questions or comments below.
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