Outlook 2003 Not Working after Microsoft Upgrade

Did you try running the troubleshooter in Windows 10? Click on the notification tab bottom right of screen.Click all settings and type in troubleshoot in search.On the right side of the next screen scroll down to Program compatibility and run troubleshooter.

I searched for troubleshoot and got a number of results, but no Program Compatibility.

I would try to install MSO 2007 and it should see the older version and upgrade the existing 2003 version to 2007. That should preserve the existing folders. I had done this years ago when I still used Outlook.

It is under find and fix other programs when you bring up the troubleshoot program. I have my windows also set up like the old windows setup. If you have the classic shell start tab you can also find in under settings,control panel and then troubleshooting.

Edit. You can also right click the Outlook Icon and select properties and click on the compatibility tab .

If you're not using Outlook now, I'm curious to know if you're using something better.

My wife and I have separate computers & laptops.
We both use Thunderbird, she has one account on hers and I have multiple on mine. So the problem that your wife would have with multiple accounts is not a problem here. I really don't think the multiple accounts would be a big impact on her after a bit of training. Each account would have a separate inbox, etc, so if she only has her account displayed then there should not be a big confusion.

Technology is not my wife's friend.

I don't even want to try to train her. LOL

Husbands cannot train wives. Not in their genes!

But in this case it's hardly worth calling it training - it's so simple. Might need sticky notes all around the monitor for the first couple of years.

It might be worth the risk.

I'll give it some thought. LOL

Don't know if it will help, but take a look at this (second reply): https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_...

Incidentally, the Fall Creators UPdate (Win 10 1709 build) completely trashed my mail client, which was Windows Mail (the Windows Vista version of Outlook Express). With some tweaks, Windows Mail had been working fine on Windows 7 and Windows 10 up through build 1703, but 1709 killed it permanently. I switched to a third party mail client called "OE Classic". It looks and operates pretty much identical to the original Outlook Express and I was able to transfer all my contacts and saved messages from Windows Mail (Outlook Express).

I have found that an uninstall of any Version of MS Office is not a complete removal of software. MS leaves behind your Office settings files and the .pst files (the files that actually keep your email, rules, etc.). You probably won't even have to do the mail server setup.

BUT, the same as Garmin, DO A BACKUP. Just in case.

All the important files are located in:

C:/Users/{userid}/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Outlook

The only bad thing is sitting through all the updates it will want to do after installing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's alive.

Quick & easy.

I agree with metricman that uninstall and reinstall would be best. However, uninstalling any program, including Microsoft, many times does not go cleanly and successfully. In this case I have used the Microsoft install and uninstall repair tool, a free download at the Microsoft site:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-...

Back up all data and server settings first. Try to export the data.

dobs108

The trend is away from POP server email and to web-based systems like gmail. The big advantage is full sync with all your PCs and devices.

I was pushed into gmail because Verizon went out of the email server business. Up until May 2017 I had been running Eudora (ancient history in computer years) to access the POP and SMTP Verizon servers. One disadvantage was that this only worked in the US. When in Canada, it didn't work.

So I was pushed into gmail. Perhaps your failed Outlook install will be your push?

How to do it? Make Google Chrome your browser, then create a Google account. You need a Google account for your Android phone anyway.

You can use your new email addresses at gmail.com, or gmail can act as a POP server client (replacing what Outlook was doing) to access your old email addresses.

dobs108

http://scruss.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/WEUDO...

Your outlook content is stored in personal folder (.PST) files. Search for files with extension PST and that's what you should backup to an external storage device. Outlook must not be running while you're copying/backing up PST files.

If you want to use Outlook 2007, remove Outlook 2003. Outlook 2007 can read or open Outlook 2003 personal folder (PST) files. I would ditch 2003 because MS stopped supporting it in early 2014. Outlook 2007 end of life was in Oct 2017, a bit newer than 2003. No more updates for both versions.

PST files are considered content (or user generated files). Uninstalling any software will not remove content. That's normal. It's like when you uninstall MS Word or Excel, your Word or Excel documents are left intact. Users will be extremely angry if MS deletes their documents after software removal.

Mail server settings in Outlook aren't stored in PST files. They're in the registry.

I had windows live mail, Hotmail, and Gmail since the updates MS has done a fine job of screwing them up. I got them all working for a while changing imap smtp port numbers but now I think I'm going to end up with just my gmail account