Follow-up:

I've managed to get Outlook to work without removing and re-installing
Office completely. I chose the Change option for Office (from Control Panel
| Add or Remove Programs); selected Add or Remove Features, then chose "Not
Available" for Outlook, then clicked the Update button. Exited from Control
Panel | Add/Remove, and Outlook was gone. Repeated the process, but
selected "Run from my computer", to re-install Outlook. And now it works.
I didn't even need to create a new profile; previous profiles were still
available, and email account details were correct.

Maybe this will help someone else sometime. It was certainly a frustrating
experience for me.

Rob

"Rob Parker" wrote in message
...
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