Outlook Express

This section describes some of the problems you may encounter when you use Microsoft Outlook™ Express. Troubleshooting topics include:

• You cannot import an address book in Outlook Express.
• The preview pane does not display news messages.
• You receive the following error message:

  The command failed to execute.

• Windows Address Book files are changed.

You cannot import an address book in Outlook Express

When you try to import an address book in Outlook Express, the address book may not be imported, and you may not see an error message. This problem occurs when the Wabmig.exe file is missing or damaged.

If the Wabmig.exe file is damaged, rename the file, and then reinstall Outlook Express.

To rename the Wabmig.exe file

1. On the Start menu, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type Wabmig.exe, and then click Find Now.
3. Right-click the file, and then click Rename.
4. Rename the file to Wabmig.xxx.
5. 5.Reinstall Outlook Express.

The preview pane does not display news messages

While you are reading news messages in Outlook Express, you may receive the following message in the preview pane:

Press <Space> to display the selected message. You can also choose to automatically show messages in the preview pane from the Options command.

To redisplay the message, press the SPACEBAR. If you double-click the news message to open it, you receive the following error message:

There was an error opening the message.

This problem occurs when there is not enough free space on your hard disk to open the news message. To resolve this problem, increase the amount of free space on your hard disk by using one or more of the following methods:

• Remove any unnecessary files from the hard disk.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Delete unnecessary files from the Internet Explorer 5 Setup folder. Deleting this entire folder is not recommended. While it does not affect the performance of Internet Explorer, you will not be able to reinstall or uninstall Internet Explorer or its components from the hard disk; you would have to download another copy from the Microsoft Web site.

Warning The Setup folder contains important backup files that are necessary for reinstalling and uninstalling Internet Explorer. The following files are critical: IE5bak.dat, IE5bak.ini, and, if Windows Desktop Update is installed, Integrated Browser.dat and Integrated Browser.ini. It is recommended that you not delete these files. If you need to free up more disk space, it is recommended that you delete other files in the folder.

You receive the following error message: The command failed to execute

When you try to save a mail attachment to your hard disk in Outlook Express, you may receive the following error message:

The command failed to execute.

This problem occurs when there is not enough free disk space on your hard disk to save the attachment. To resolve this problem, increase the amount of free space on your hard disk by using one or more of the following methods:

• Remove any unnecessary files from the hard disk.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Delete unnecessary files from the Internet Explorer 5 Setup folder. Deleting this entire folder is not recommended. While it does not affect the performance of Internet Explorer, you will not be able to reinstall or uninstall Internet Explorer or its components from the hard disk; you would have to download another copy from the Microsoft Web site.

Warning The Setup folder contains important backup files that are necessary for reinstalling and uninstalling Internet Explorer. The following files are critical: IE5bak.dat, IE5bak.ini and, if Windows Desktop Update is installed, Integrated Browser.dat and Integrated Browser.ini. It is recommended that you not delete these files. If you need to free up more disk space, it is recommended that you delete other files in the folder.

After you free up some hard disk space, try to save the attachment again.

Windows Address Book files are changed

When you install the Windows Address Book, files used by earlier versions are backed up and removed, and new versions of the files are installed. Note that Windows Address Book files are shared with other applications in addition to Outlook Express.

The following table identifies the files, previously located in the Windows\System or Winnt\System32 folder and their new directory locations.

The following table identifies the files, previously in the Windows folder, and their new directory locations.