Why does Outlook crash when I customize or enter a phone number?

Outlook "encounters a problem" and crashes whenever I try to add a phone
number to a contact. It does the same when I go to the Customize menu. I've
uninstalled and reinstalled my Office XP, and made sure I have all the right
updates. The problem persists. Any ideas?

Have you tried a new mail profile? Have you run scanpst.exe?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Stusilver asked:

| Outlook "encounters a problem" and crashes whenever I try to add a
| phone number to a contact. It does the same when I go to the
| Customize menu. I've uninstalled and reinstalled my Office XP, and
| made sure I have all the right updates. The problem persists. Any
| ideas?

try deleting outcmd.dat -
paste this line in the address bar of windows explorer:
%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
then delete outcmd.dat.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:


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"Stusilver" wrote in message
...
Outlook "encounters a problem" and crashes whenever I try to add a phone
number to a contact. It does the same when I go to the Customize menu.
I've
uninstalled and reinstalled my Office XP, and made sure I have all the
right
updates. The problem persists. Any ideas?

Thanks for your reply.

I had created a new mail profile when I connected my Outlook account to my
Gmail account. I ran the scanpst.exe on my outlook.pst file. There were
some "minor erros" reported. I repaired them and still have the same
problem. Is there another file I should run the scanpst.exe on?

Thanks again for your help.

Thank you for your help Diane. Unfortunately, that did not solve the
problem. If I do so much as try to enter anything or even double click
within the four phone/fax fields (within contacts) I get the error message
and crash "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience." I get the same crash if I'm on any
Outlook screen and try to access "tools/customize" screen.

Thanks again for your help.

that file holds toolbar customizations so it shoulda fixed at least the
toolbar crash.

Have you tried Detect and Repair (Office Diagnostics in 2007)? Do that
first. Then try removing the area code config (control panel, modem and
phone) and reentering it. If that fails try stopping the Windows Telephony
Service. (admin tools, services). Note that if you stop the telephony
service, the numbers wont format.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:


EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:


Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...s/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


"Stusilver" wrote in message
...

Thank you for your help Diane. Unfortunately, that did not solve the
problem. If I do so much as try to enter anything or even double click
within the four phone/fax fields (within contacts) I get the error message
and crash "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience." I get the same crash if I'm on any
Outlook screen and try to access "tools/customize" screen.

Thanks again for your help.

Correction: You'll pause the telephony service, not stop it.

"Diane Poremsky [MVP]" wrote in message
...
that file holds toolbar customizations so it shoulda fixed at least the
toolbar crash.

Have you tried Detect and Repair (Office Diagnostics in 2007)? Do that
first. Then try removing the area code config (control panel, modem and
phone) and reentering it. If that fails try stopping the Windows Telephony
Service. (admin tools, services). Note that if you stop the telephony
service, the numbers wont format.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:


EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:


Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...s/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


"Stusilver" wrote in message
...

Thank you for your help Diane. Unfortunately, that did not solve the
problem. If I do so much as try to enter anything or even double click
within the four phone/fax fields (within contacts) I get the error
message
and crash "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to
close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience." I get the same crash if I'm on any
Outlook screen and try to access "tools/customize" screen.

Thanks again for your help.

FYI: The Customize command still crashes the program. It seems to be the
only menu bar function that causes crashes with the following info from the
error report:
AppName: outlook.exe AppVer: 10.0.6838.0 ModName: unknown
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 0237c838

I have tried detect and repair a lot, to no avail.
I tried the area code config idea, no change.
I got an error 1053 when I tried stopping windows/telephony service. It
said it couldn't stop the service. The computer didn't "respond to the start
or control request in a timely fashion."

Thanks anyhow. Any other ideas are certainly welcome.

Stuart

Following your problem with interest, as I have the identical one, have tried
everything you have tried and also what has been suggested, OPsys XP, MSOff03

"Stusilver" wrote:

Outlook "encounters a problem" and crashes whenever I try to add a phone
number to a contact. It does the same when I go to the Customize menu. I've
uninstalled and reinstalled my Office XP, and made sure I have all the right
updates. The problem persists. Any ideas?

Well, it's somewhat reassuring to know I'm not the only one who has this
problem. It occurred relatively recently. Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint
what set it off. It had been working flawlessly for years. Go figure...

Stuart