You are correct it does not seem to be available online so here is the
article:
OLEXP: How to Manually Uninstall and Reinstall Outlook Express 5.x
ID: 256219.KB.EN-US CREATED: 2000-03-06 MODIFIED: 2003-05-02
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows Millennium Edition
- Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Windows Millennium Edition
- Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 for Windows 98
- Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Windows 98
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 for Windows 98
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 for Windows Millennium Edition
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For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook Express and
Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients, click the following article number to
view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
KBLink:257824.KB.EN-US: OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook
Express
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry.
Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that
you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For
information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
KBLink:256986.KB.EN-US: Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SUMMARY
=======
This article describes how to manually uninstall and reinstall Outlook
Express. Because Outlook Express is considered a component of Microsoft
Internet Explorer, you should first try to uninstall Outlook Express by
using the procedures that are described in the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base articles.
IMPORTANT: Uninstalling Outlook Express can be a complicated procedure that
involves deleting and renaming files, and editing the Microsoft Windows
registry. For these reasons, please do not try the steps that are described
in this article if you have not already tried the methods that are
described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
KBLink:171229.KB.EN-US: How to Add and Remove Internet Explorer Components
KBLink:186218.KB.EN-US: How to Remove and Reinstall Outlook Express in
Windows 98 and Windows Me
MORE INFORMATION
================
Use each of the following procedures in the order in which they are
presented.
- Back up the registry.
- Back up message (*.dbx) files and personal address book (*.wab) files.
- Back up e-mail and news account information.
- Uninstall Outlook Express.
- Delete any remaining files.
- Delete registry keys.
- Reinstall Outlook Express.
- Recreate e-mail and news accounts, and restore message and Address Book
files.
Back Up the Registry
--------------------
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using
Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Microsoft recommends that you back up the registry before you uninstall
Outlook Express. You can use a backup of the registry to restore your
computer to its original configuration if an unforeseen problem occurs. To
back up the registry:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks), and then
click OK.
3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.
4. In the "Save as type" list, click Registration Files (*.reg).
5. Under "Export range", click All.
6. In the "File name" box, type "Backup Registry" (without the quotation
marks).
7. In the "Save in" box, click Desktop.
8. In the upper-right corner of the Export Registry File dialog box, click
Create New Folder, and then type "My Backup Files" (without the quotation
marks).
9. Click Open, and then click Save. NOTE: You have just saved the Backup
Registry file to the My Backup Files folder on the desktop. In each of the
following backup procedures, you will be instructed to save your files to
the same folder.
10. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
11. Verify that the Registry Backup.reg file is located in the My Backup
Files folder. To do this, double-click the My Backup Files folder on the
desktop and note the contents. If the file is there, close the My Backup
Files folder. If the file is not there, repeat steps 1 through 9, but in
step 8, do not create a new folder; instead, select the My Backup Files
folder.
IMPORTANT: Do not double-click the Registry Backup.reg file on your desktop
unless you intend to undo the changes that you are making to the registry.
Back Up Your Message and Personal Address Book Files
----------------------------------------------------
Microsoft recommends that you back up your message and personal address
book files before you uninstall Outlook Express. The e-mail messages that
you have sent and received and want to keep and the contact information in
your personal address book are both saved on your computer. E-mail messages
are saved in files with a .dbx extension. Personal address book information
is saved in files with a .wab extension.
Back Up Your Messages
When you send or receive an e-mail message, a copy of the message may be
saved automatically on your computer. To back up the e-mail messages that
are currently in your Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, and any custom folders:
1. In Windows 98, click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or
Folders. In Windows Millennium Edition (ME), click Start, point to Search,
and then click "For Files or Folders".
2. In the "Look In" box, click My Computer.
3. In the Named box, type "*.dbx" (without the quotation marks), and then
click Find Now (in Windows ME, click Search Now). When the search is
completed, you should see a list of files with the .dbx file extension in
the Search Results window.
4. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
6. Close the Find All Files dialog box.
7. On your desktop, double-click the My Backup Files folder.
8. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
Note: If you have have setup multiple identies in Outlook Express, you may
have .dbx files on your computer with the same name that stored in
different folders. When you copy the .dbx files inthe My Backup Files
folder, you must create sub-folders in the My Backup Filesfolder to copy
the files in. You cannot copy two files with the same file name in the same
folder, or one file will be overwritten.
Back Up Your Personal Address Book
Your personal address book is where your contact information (names,
addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses) is stored. To back up your
personal address book:
1. In Windows 98, click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or
Folders. In Windows Millennium Edition (ME), click Start, point to Search,
and then click "For Files or Folders".
2. In the "Look in" box, click My Computer.
3. In the Named box, type "*.wab" (without the quotation marks), and then
click Find Now (in Windows ME, click Search Now). When the search is
completed, you should see a list of files with the .wab file extension in
the Search Results window.
4. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
6. Close the Find All Files dialog box.
7. On your desktop, double-click the My Backup Files folder.
8. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
NOTE: If more than one person uses your computer, you may have Profiles set
up. If this is the case, you need to back up the files for each Profile.
Back Up E-mail and News Account Information
-------------------------------------------
Microsoft recommends that you back up your e-mail and news account
information before you uninstall Outlook Express. If Outlook Express is not
uninstalled properly, you may not be able to recreate your accounts when
you reinstall Outlook Express.
Back Up Your E-Mail Accounts
1. Start Outlook Express.
2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
3. On the Mail tab, click the mail account that you want to back up, and
then click Export.
4. In the Export Internet Account dialog box, click Save. NOTE: Be sure to
export the e-mail account to the My Backup Files folder on the desktop. If
you do not select this folder manually, Outlook Express may save the mail
account to another folder by default. If that happens, you may have a
difficult time locating this account when you want to restore it.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each mail account that you want to
export.
6. In the Internet Accounts dialog box, click Close.
Back Up Your News Accounts
1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts, and then click the News tab.
2. On the News tab, click the news account that you want to back up, and
then click Export.
3. In the Export Internet Account dialog box, click Save. NOTE: Be sure to
export the news account to the My Backup Files folder on the desktop. If
you do not select this folder manually, Outlook Express may save the news
account to another folder by default. If that happens, you may have a
difficult time locating this account when you want to restore it.
4. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each news account that you want to export.
5. In the Internet Accounts dialog box, click Close.
After the registry, e-mail messages, personal address books, and e-mail
and news account information are safely backed up, you can uninstall
Outlook Express.
Uninstall Outlook Express
-------------------------
To uninstall Outlook Express:
1. Close Outlook Express.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
4. Click Microsoft Outlook Express, and then click Add/Remove.
5. If you are prompted to confirm the removal of Outlook Express from your
computer, click Yes.
6. Click Yes to restart your computer.
Delete Remaining Outlook Express Files
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Before you delete any remaining files, make sure that the Show ll Files
option is turned on in Windows Explorer. To do this, use the appropriate
method for your operating system.
Windows 98
1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. On the View menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
3. Under the "Hidden files" branch, click "Show all files".
4. Click Apply, and then click OK.
5. Leave Windows Explorer open.
Windows ME
1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click
Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
3. Click to select the "Show hidden files and folders" check box.
4. Click to clear the "Hide File Extensions for known file types" check box.
5. Click to clear the "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"
check box. Click Yes to the warning confirming your choice.
6. Click Apply, and then click OK.
7. Leave Windows Explorer open.
To finish removing Outlook Express, delete any files that remain in the
following folders:
- C:\Program Files\Outlook Express
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationary
- C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities
- C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book
- C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express
NOTE: You may or may not see the C:\Windows\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express folder on your computer. If you do not see
the folder, it was removed when you uninstalled Outlook Express, and no
files remain in it.
CAUTION: Do not delete the actual C:\Program Files\Outlook Express folder.
If you delete this folder, Outlook Express may not function or may function
incorrectly when you reinstall it.
1. In the left pane of Windows Explorer, click the PLUS SIGN (+) that is
next to Program Files to expand the branch.
2. Click the Outlook Express folder.
3. If the Outlook Express folder contains any files, they are displayed in
the right pane. If not, the right pane is empty, and you can start this
procedure over again with one of the remaining four folders that are listed
earlier in this section. If the folder contains files, click to select one
of the files.
4. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
6. In the "Confirm Multiple File Delete" dialog box, click Yes.
7. If the Confirm File Delete dialog box appears, click Yes to All.
8. Repeat this procedure to delete any files that may be present in each
of the five folders that are listed in this section.
Delete Registry Subkeys
-----------------------
To complete the removal of Outlook Express, you must delete any remaining
Outlook Express subkeys that are left in the registry. You can do this by
using either of the following methods.
Method 1: Download and Install the Outlook Express 5 RegClean Utility
NOTE: This tool will work for Outlook Express 5.x and 6.0.
The Outlook Express 5 RegClean (OE5RegClean.exe) utility automatically
removes
all remaining Outlook Express registry subkeys. Editing the registry
can be
involved, and may result in unforeseen problems. Therefore, Microsoft
recommends that you use this method to remove remaining Outlook Express
registry subkeys.
To download and save the Outlook Express 5 RegClean utility:
1. Click the following link to the OE5RegClean.exe utility:
Download OE5RegClean.exe now
http://download.microsoft.com/download/outlookexp/utility/5/w98/en-us/OE5Reg
Clean.exe
The OE5RegClean.exe file contains the following files:
Readme.doc
Readme.txt
Ula.doc
Ula.txt
2. In the File Download dialog box, click Save to Disk.
3. In the Save As dialog box, click My Documents, and then click Open.
4. In the Save As dialog box, click Save to save the file.
For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files,
click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
KBLink:119591.Article.EN-US: How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from
Online Services
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current
virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was
posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to
prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.
To install the utility:
1. Double-click the My Documents folder on your desktop, and then
double-click the OE5RegClean.exe file.
2. In the "Outlook Express 5 RegClean Utility" dialog box, click Yes.
3. Click Yes to accept the license agreement.
4. In the "Outlook Express 5 RegClean Utility Setup" dialog box, click
Continue.
5. Click the button with the computer icon to begin the installation.
6. When the installation is complete, click OK.
To use the utility:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Outlook Express 5 RegClean, and
then click Outlook Express 5 RegClean.
2. In the Outlook Express 5 RegClean dialog box, click Yes.
3. Click OK.
4. Restart your computer.
Method 2: Manually Delete the Registry Subkeys
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using
Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To finish manually uninstalling Outlook Express, you must delete the
following registry subkeys:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express
NOTE: The default value for the following key is Address Book5:
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WAB
NOTE: The default value (in the right pane) for the following key is
Address Book5:
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\WAB
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed
Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed
Components\{7790769C- 0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed
Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}.restore
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed
Components\{7790769C- 0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}.restore
NOTE: If system policies are set up on your computer, delete the following
registry subkey:
HKEY_USERS\<user_name>\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express
To manually delete the registry subkeys:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type "regedit.exe" (without the quotation marks), and
then click OK.
3. In the left pane, click the PLUS SIGN (+) that is next to each registry
key to expand the branch, until you locate the subkey that you want to
delete. For example, in the following registry subkey path
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express the subkey is Outlook
Express.
4. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
5. If you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each subkey that you want to delete.
7. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
8. Restart your computer.
Rename Outlook Express Files
-----------------------------
1. Click "Start", point to "Search or Find", and then click "For Files and
Folders".
2. Find and rename the following files:
Msoeacct.dll
Msoert2.dll
Msoe.dll
Msoeres.dll
Oeimport.dll
Csapi3t1.dll
Directdb.dll
Wab32.dll
Wab32res.dll
Reinstall Outlook Express 5
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1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, click Internet Explorer 5.5 and
Internet Tools.
4. Click Add/Remove.
5. Click "Add a component", and then click OK.
6. Under Communication Components on the "Windows Update: Internet Explorer
and Internet Tools" dialog box, click Outlook Express.
7. Click Next.
8. When the installation is complete, click Finish to restart your computer.
NOTE: If these steps do not work, visit the following Web site to download
the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/ie
Recreate E-mail and News Accounts, and Restore Message and Address Book
Files
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The first time that you start Outlook Express after you re-install it,
the Internet Connection Wizard automatically begins, to help you recreate
your e-mail and news accounts and import your message and personal address
book files from the backups that you made.
For additional information about how to recreate accounts and restore
files, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
KBLink:270670.KB.EN-US: OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook
Express Data
KBLink:171164.KB.EN-US: OLEXP: How to Configure Outlook Express for
Internet News
Robert Findlay
Partner Technical Lead -- Outlook/Office Setup
Microsoft Technical Support for Platforms and Business Applications
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