Hi again Brian,

The Repair install from Add/Remove programs (in Control Panel) was my first
step, before I starting posting my problem. Sorry, but I didn't mention
that in my earlier posts.

I'm loath to uninstall all of Office completely (not least because of the
abominable MS activation process which I suspect will be triggered if I do
so), but if that's what it takes, then maybe that's where I'll be forced to
go. Also, most of my Office apps have appreciable customisation from the
original installation (for menus, toolbars, templates, etc), so that's
another pain to save/restore.

I'm about to head off for a week-long break, so I think I'll postpone a
final decision on that until I get back.. Perhaps by then there might be
some other suggestion that will save the agony ;-)

And I'm not fussed about losing the .pst file - there's nothing in it. As
I said in my original post, I use OE as my regular email client.

Thanks again,

Rob


"Brian Tillman" wrote in message
...
Rob Parker wrote:

3. Tried opening Outlook in safe mode. This opens a Windows Installer
dialog, and reconfigures Office 2002 and Publisher 2002, prompting for
original CDs during the process. After the install/configuration,
Outlook tries to start, but fails as I reviously reported. I
therefore cannot access Help - Detect and Repair within Outlook.

You can, however, do a repair install from Add or Remove Programs.

Problem still not solved. Any further suggestions? Also, is it
normal that opening Outlook with the /safe switch will cause the
Windows Installer to run, re-configuring all Office 2002 (including
Publisher) - that seems a bit odd to me?

Seems a bit odd to me as well. It's indicative of missing pieces. If the
repair install doesn't help, uninstall Office completely, remove its
registry key, delete the files in
%AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook and in %UserProfile%\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook (except for your PST, of
course), and reinstall.
--
Brian Tillman