Microsoft Outlook Help

Error: Problems Due to A Recently Installed Program

The error message given below may be displayed on your screen when you try to launch Microsoft Outlook after installing some other program on your computer:

A recently installed program may cause Microsoft Office or other e-mail-enabled programs to function improperly. Outlook can resolve this conflict without affecting the program that originally caused the problem. Do you want Outlook to resolve this problem?

Cause of the Error

This error occurs due to file conflict between the Mapi32.dll file and the loadTOCNode(1, 'cause'); MAPI core files on your computer. On Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000 computer, the Mapi32.dll file is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.

Resolution Methods

You can resolve the error either by clicking loadTOCNode(1, 'resolution'); Yes or No when the error message is displayed.

Method 1: When you click “Yes”

Clicking Yes, launches the Fixmapi.exe utility. This utility attempts to install the correct version of the Mapi32.dll file and fix the file conflict with the MAPI core files.

However, the Fixmapi.exe utility may not be able to fix the error, if another program currently running on your system is using the Mapi32.dll file. If this happens, the following error message will be displayed on your screen:

Outlook was unable to resolve the conflict between a recently installed program and Microsoft Office or other e-mail-enabled programs. Outlook needs to modify a system component that another program is currently using. To fix this problem, please restart Windows.

Although, your computer will not restart when you click on the OK button in the error message dialog box, an entry to run the Fixmapi.exe utility whenever the system is restarted is added to the RunOnce registry key. So, next time you restart your Windows system, the Fixmapi.exe utility again attempts to resolve the Mapi32.dll file conflict problem.

Method 2: When you click “No”

Clicking No when the error message is displayed no change is made to the MAPI core files. Doing this does not affects the working of our Outlook program because Outlook uses the Mapi32.dll file that is located in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\SYSTEM\MSMapi\1033 folder and not the one that is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.

Work-Around Method

If the Fixmapi.exe utility fails to resolve the conflict, perform the following steps:

1. Close all programs running on your computer.
2. Open the Windows Explorer window, navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder, and locate the Mapi32.dll file.
3. Right-click on the file, select Rename and then change the name to Mapi32.bak.
4. Next, in the C:\Windows\System32 folder, locate the Fixmapi.exe file and then double-click on it to run the program.
5. Finally, restart your computer.