OFF97: Remove All Removes Mail Options from Internet Explorer

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

If you run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program in maintenance mode and choose to remove all of Microsoft Office 97 from your computer, the Mail button on the toolbar in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 may no longer be displayed.

-or-

You may notice that some menu items (Read Mail or New Message, for example) are no longer available when you click the Mail button.

CAUSE

These problems occur because of the way in which Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 determines whether or not to display the Mail button, and what menu items to display when you click the button.

RESOLUTION

If you need the Mail button and all of its menu items to appear on the toolbar in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0, you must reinstall either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Microsoft Office 97.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

When you install Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0, if you elect to install either Internet Mail or Internet Mail And News, the following keys are added to the registry on your computer:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\news

When you install Microsoft Office 97 on the same computer, the setup program changes the Mail key's value to "Microsoft Outlook". Even though the value of the key has been changed, the Mail button will still appear on the toolbar in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

However, if you remove Microsoft Office 97 from the computer, the Setup program completely removes the Mail key from the registry. Because the key is no longer available when you start Microsoft Internet Explorer, either of the following problems may occur:

• The Mail button is not displayed at all.

  -or-

• Some of the menu items are not displayed when you click the Mail button.