OL97: ErrMsg: Nmexchex.dll Could Not be Installed or Loaded

• Microsoft Outlook 97
• Microsoft NetMeeting version 2.1 for Windows 95
• Microsoft NetMeeting version 2.1 for Windows NT 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When starting Microsoft Outlook 97, you may receive the following message:

   The add-in "<path>\NetMeeting\nmexchex.dll" could not be installed
   or loaded. Unable to load "<path>\Netmeeting\nmexchex.dll". You may
   be out of memory, out of system resources, or missing a .dll file.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if you remove NetMeeting and then reinstall NetMeeting to a folder other than where you originally installed it.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Exit and Logoff.

2. Click the Start button, point to Find and click Files or Folders.

3. In the Named box, type "extend.dat" (without quotation marks) and ensure that the Look in box is set to the drive where Windows is installed and click Find Now.

4. In the list of files, right-click extend.dat and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Rename the file to extend.dat.old and press ENTER.

5. Restart Outlook.

MORE INFORMATION

The extend.dat file is a binary cache of the Outlook extension settings. It is not updated during reinstallation of NetMeeting if the extension is not manually removed from within Outlook prior to reinstallation.

By renaming extend.dat, Outlook will check the location of all the Add-In extensions, cache this information, and rebuild the extend.dat file.