Your Address Book may be one of two problems.

Lost mail after upgrade to XP. (applies to SP2 upgrade also):
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313055

Or:

Error message when you open the Windows Address Book or you open Outlook
Express after you install cumulative security update 911567 (MS06-016):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917288/en-us

And:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#14

For your Spell Check:

Spell Checking does not work in OE:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/spellcheck.htm

And: An error occurred while the spelling was being checked or: Spell Check
was halted:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=224176
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

wrote in message
oups.com...
I recently upgraded to a new computer. My old one ran Windows 98,
second edition. My new one has Windows XP Pro. The reason for the
upgrade was that, after downloading "Cumulative Security Update for
Internet Explorer 6 Service pack 1 (KB912812) onto my old machine, I
got the "illegal operation" window during startup. I could not get to
my desktop. But, that is another bucket of worms and not the reason
for this posting.

Problem #1; Address book visibility

I was able to salvage my original wab.exe from my old machine and copy
it to my new one. I have it stored at: C:\Documents and Settings\(my
folder name)\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book
Now, when I try to select the recipient (as I am creating a new e-mail
message) nothing comes up when I click on the TO: button. But, when I
do a FIND..., then I can see all the e-mail addresses that I have saved
and can select the intended recipient.
How can I get the address book info to show when I click on the TO:
button and eliminate the FIND... step?

Problem #2; Can't check spelling

After I have composed a new message and click the SEND: button, I get a
window that says that ". . . spell check on this document has been
halted. . ."
How can I get spell check to work for me again?