OL97: Outlook Stops Responding on Startup

• Microsoft Outlook 97

WARNING: The information in this article has not been confirmed or tested by Microsoft. Some or all of the information in this article has been taken from unconfirmed customer reports. ANY USE BY YOU OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this information "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Outlook 97, you may see an hourglass displayed for a few seconds but the program never opens and there is no Outlook button on the Windows taskbar. However, if you view the Close Program dialog box (press CTRL+ALT+DEL), Outlook is listed as a running program.

CAUSE

A corrupted Msvcrt40.dll file may cause this problem.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, replace the Msvcrt40.dll file with a fresh copy.

MORE INFORMATION

Rename the existing Msvcrt40.dll file (usually found in the Windows\System folder) to something else, for backup purposes.

Then, copy a new Msvcrt40.dll file from your Microsoft Office 97 Setup media. This file is normally in the root directory of the Microsoft Office 97 CD-ROM.

After replacing the file, set its Archive file attribute. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Use the right mouse button to click (right-click) the file and click Properties on the shortcut menu.

2. On the General tab, under Attributes, click to select the Archive check box. If necessary, click to clear all other attributes, and then click OK.

REFERENCES

For more information on why Outlook may not start, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162991
   TITLE     : OL97: Outlook Stops Responding Upon Starting

   ARTICLE-ID: Q178281
   TITLE     : OL97: Outlook Does Not Start After Hourglass Disappears

   ARTICLE-ID: Q179432
   TITLE     : OL97: Outlook Stops Responding on Startup