All OK when the computer was switched off last night, today Outlook Express has the message 'Unable to open Address Book. The Address Book may not be installed properly'. I also cannot now send messages.I have tried reinstalling from IE8 home page with no success.Help please.1 person got this answerI do too

IE8 has no effect on OE.Is Microsoft Outlook also on this machine? If yes, see the reference by PA Bear in this threadhttp://help.wugnet.com/windows2/open-mail-address-book-ftopict489733.htmlIf Outlook is not installed, see these links.Courtesy of Michael Santovec:http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htmAll of those have the same cause. Something is screwed up with your address book.It could be any of several specific problems, which include: - corrupted WAB file - corrupted or mismatched DLL files for the address book - having OE set to use the Outlook98/2000+ contacts instead of the WABfile and there is something wrong at the Outlook endFor specifics, take a look at:Err Msg: The Message Could Not Be Sent. Some recipients not valid(Outlook Express: There was an error opening this message)(The Address Book failed to load. OE is incorrectly configured)(Corrupted or mismatched WAB32.DLL file)http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239135OLEXP: Error Message: Address Book Failed to Load(There was an error opening this message)http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=269777http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310873OLEXP: MSIMN Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module Wab32.dllhttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=247706Err Msg: Address Book Failed To Load, Outlook Express Is...http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=191946Err Msg: Unable to Open Address Book, a Component Is Missinghttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=192321The Windows Address Book (WAB)http://www.insideoe.com/files/wab.htmTo share Contacts between Outlook and Outlook Expresshttp://www.slipstick.com/contacts/oeshare.htm Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi BruceNo Contacts and not able to send e.mails.Outlook is not installed.OS is Windows XP Professional.WAP files for all users are empty.Registry copied.None of the above links worked / were relevant.Any suggestions?

None of the above links worked / were relevant.Any suggestions?Don't let the version of OE in the articles influence you. OE5 worked the same way.Start by creating a new identity and see if you can send from there.File | Identity | Add New Identity. Create a new one and test it.Note: Do not use the word Main in the name of the new identity.How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Expresshttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169An Outlook Express basic repair kit:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/oerepair.mspx#EHH Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Created a new identity (using same e.mail a/c details). Logged off Windows, restarted and opened OE in new identity, still could not 'Create a new mail message' - 'There was a problem opening this message. An error has occured'. 'Unable to open the address book - The address book may not be installed properly'.

Now I cannot open OE without logging off Windows and restarting.

Created a new identity (using same e.mail a/c details). Logged off Windows, restarted and opened OE in new identity, still could not 'Create a new mail message' - 'There was a problem opening this message. An error has occured'. 'Unable to open the address book - The address book may not be installed properly'.Now I cannot open OE without logging off Windows and restarting.I am running out of ideas. First, revert to your old identity and delete the new one. I have no idea why a new identity created in OE cause you to have to log off and in your Windows profile. You did create the new identity in the same Windows profile as the original? Yes?Without Office Outlook installed, this makes no sense. All I can suggest right now is to check for Malware, although that shouldn't cause what you see either.Download and run the free versions of these two programs.Malwarebytes Anti-Malwarehttp://malwarebytes.org/SpywareBlasterhttp://download.cnet.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10196637.htmlBruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi BruceI ran malware which found 2 issues in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft|Security Center\AntiVirusDisableNotify and \FirewallDisableNotify.I also ran Spyware which found 3 'threats': Application.TrackingCookies, Trackware.TrackingCookies!rem and Adware.Advertising with 120 'infections'. Would buying the software to remove these cure the OE problem?I also ran Advanced Registry Optimiser free download that found 1403 'faults'. Is it necessary to buy this software (as well as Spyware?) to cure the OE problem?OR would uninstalling OE and reinstalling the right way to go? If so, how do I do this?John

Both of those tools have a free version and they will remove the Malware with the free version. Don't let that Purchase button on Malwarebytes fool you. It is there on the free version, but the free version is fully functional.OE is a part of your operating system. The only way to reinstall it is to reinstall Windows. Creating a new identity is akin to installing a fresh OE.In my past experience, either one of the links I posted would fix this issue unless OE was sharing contacts with Outlook.See these two links. Perhaps you can rebuild the Address Book.How OE stores your Contactshttp://www.insideoe.com/files/wab.htm#wabfileSharing the Contacts folder in Outlookhttp://www.insideoe.com/files/wab.htm#shareBruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi BruceI have searched for *.wa?. - nothing found. When I click on Addresses in OE I get the message 'Unable to open address Book. The Address book may not be installed properly' so I cannot get to the Help\About Address Book. When I click on About OE I note that there are references to wab32.dll and wab32res.dll but again nothing found when I search for these (N.B. I have checked 'Search for hidden files and folders'). Start/Run/wab/a and Start/Runwab/? results in 'unable to find..........' Shift-Cntrl-b results in 'unable to open Address Book'. Can I / should I create a new WAB file? If so, how? John

I have searched for *.wa?. - nothing found. You either have to do an advanced search and include Hidden Files and Folders, or better yet, unhide them first.In WinXP, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View. Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hooray - have found 3 files: system.wab and administrator.wab which appear to be empty and oldadministrator.wab which appears to have all the contacts in there. Now what?

One of those should look exactly like the one you are using. Can you use one of the others? If you can, export it to the Desktop and then import it into the new identity. If that looks good, delete the other WABs that you just found.In one of the ABs you found: File | Export | Address Book (wab) to the Desktop. Then, open the Address Book in the new identity and File | Import | Address Book (wab) and point to where you saved it. Reboot.Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:39:35 +0000, SharpJ wrote:I ran malware which found 2 issues in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft|Security Center\AntiVirusDisableNotify and \FirewallDisableNotify."Malware"? "Malware" is short for "malicious software." I assume youdidn't purposely run any malicious software. Exactly what did you run?I also ran Spyware which found 3 'threats': Application.TrackingCookies, Trackware.TrackingCookies!rem and Adware.Advertising with 120 'infections'. Would buying the software to remove these cure the OE problem?And similarly, "Spyware" is something you should not purposely run. Sohere too, exactly what did you run?Decent anti-spyware programs, which are free, should remove most, ifnot all, of this stuff. I highly recommend MalwareBytes AntiMalwareand SuperAntiSpyware. If those are what you meant, sorry, but Icouldn't tell that from your message.I also ran Advanced Registry Optimiser free download that found 1403 'faults'. Is it necessary to buy this software (as well as Spyware?) to cure the OE problem?Ugh! Stay far away from software like this, even if it's free.Registry cleaning programs are all snake oil. Cleaning of theregistry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone anddon't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, andwhat vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you. The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneouslyremoving an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefitit may have. Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.htmland http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099And alsohttp://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/02/registry-junk-a-windows-fact-of-life.aspxLet me point out that neither I nor anyone else who warns against theuse of registry cleaners has ever said that they always causeproblems. If they always caused problems, they would disappear fromthe market almost immediately. Many people have used a registrycleaner and never had a problem with it.Rather, the problem with a registry cleaner is that it carries with itthe substantial risk of having a problem. And since there is nobenefit to using a registry cleaner, running that risk is a very badbargain.Ken Blake