Outlook blows up after latest Windows Update
Immediately rebooting after the latest Microsoft Windows Update pushed to me (even though it isn’t patch Tuesday) seemed to have nuked Outlook 2007 with the dreaded message:
“Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.”
My first reaction was to do a system restore to before the update was applied which was a mistake as it didn’t fix the problem. A quick search on the support forums indicates that the correct solution is to run an “outlook.exe /resetnavpane” command from the Windows Run prompt. Then after I applied the Windows Update again, Outlook broke again with the same error message. Running the same resetnavpane command fixed the problem again so I would have saved myself a lot of trouble had I not performed a system restore.
FWIW, I’m running the same config and had no problems with Outlook after the update.
Vista?
no problems here.
Yeah, I’m running Vista for now. Will switch to Win7 RTM soon I hope.
Justin also says he had no problems. I don’t know why I’m always the special one to get these nasty MS bugs.
No problems on the prehistoric Win XP…
No problems with Lotus Notes… FTW
All systems are operational and performing normally (HAL9000, 2001 Space Odyssey).
.
I had the same problem and followed the instructions. However when I try the run outlook.exe/resetnavpane command, i get a message telling me the command is not found.
@jim Doornek
Jim,
First of all, I’m glad I’m not the only one though I’m sure you’re not. Misery loves company I guess.
Anyhow, did you type a space between .exe and the /? Hit start, type outlook.exe /resetnavpane, and then enter again.
Thanks very much. I’m back in business. I missed the space after the .exe
I’m amazed that microsoft would send an automatic “fix” that causes problems with their own software!
Now I’m worried about it happening again. Do you know if there is a way that I can prevent these automatic updates, or at least have some control over whether they happen?
I’m also surprised that restoring my system back to a date prior to Microsoft’s “fix”, did not resolve the problem.
Thanks again for your help.
Jim
I have Windows 7, a recent upgrade from Vista. An important update installed on my computer over night and Outlook 2007 would not start with the error “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.”
I uninstalled the update with no success. Fortunately, before I got too far in weeds, I found this article. I ran the outlook.exe/resetnavpane I successfully started Outlook.
I searched the Windows site and didn’t find this solution.
Thanks for posting…saved me many hours of agony I’m sure.
Jan
Win 7, same problem.
resetnavpane worked, Thanks!
Vista same problem worked thanx!
resetnavpane saved me a lot of time and efforts. Thanks a lot!