Screwy Outlook XP + Activation Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bloated Elvis
  • Start date Start date
B

Bloated Elvis

Today, I installed a new hard drive on my system. I used Western
Digital's own utility to transfer data from the old C:\ drive to the new
C:\ drive. Somewhere along the line, there was data corruption. All
files in Windows\Installer were gone, and the registry experienced some
corruption as well.

I was able to restore most of the Windows\Installer data from a
month-old Drive Image image on my backup drive. I used Norton WinDoctor
and the Registry Fixer from Ontrack Fix-it to painstakingly, item by
item, restore the registry to about 95 percent (or more) of it's
original structure.

My biggest issue right now is that Outlook XP can't seem to decide if
it's been activated or not. When I launch Outlook, the Office Activation
Wiz comes up. It looks for SBERET.MSI. Doesn't present a phone number or
anything. When it finds SBERET.MSI, the wizard closes and Outlook opens,
but doesn't let me reply to any emails, as some toolbar items are grayed
out.

I went to Control Panel and tried using the Change button to fix
Outlook, but when i do that, it complains that a "patch package" could
not be found. That's where I hit the brick wall. I need help.

Can someone please advise?


Thanks,

BE

(cross posted to m.public.outlook... unsure which group was more
appropriate)
 
Bloated said:
Today, I installed a new hard drive on my system. I used Western
Digital's own utility to transfer data from the old C:\ drive to the
new C:\ drive. Somewhere along the line, there was data corruption.
All files in Windows\Installer were gone, and the registry
experienced some corruption as well.

I was able to restore most of the Windows\Installer data from a
month-old Drive Image image on my backup drive. I used Norton
WinDoctor and the Registry Fixer from Ontrack Fix-it to
painstakingly, item by item, restore the registry to about 95 percent
(or more) of it's original structure.

My biggest issue right now is that Outlook XP can't seem to decide if
it's been activated or not. When I launch Outlook, the Office
Activation Wiz comes up. It looks for SBERET.MSI. Doesn't present a
phone number or anything. When it finds SBERET.MSI, the wizard closes
and Outlook opens, but doesn't let me reply to any emails, as some
toolbar items are grayed out.

I went to Control Panel and tried using the Change button to fix
Outlook, but when i do that, it complains that a "patch package" could
not be found. That's where I hit the brick wall. I need help.

Can someone please advise?


Thanks,

BE

(cross posted to m.public.outlook... unsure which group was more
appropriate)
Click to expand...

See if renaming or deleting the outcmd.dat file gets the toolbars fixed.
That's where the toolbar configuration is saved, so you'll end up with
the standard toolbars on the next start of Outlook. Looks like you have
more corruption than you thought.

Since you have Powerquest's Drive Image, why couldn't you just use that
instead of WD's [unnamed] utility to copy the entire old drive to the
new drive? Drive Image has a "Copy Drives" feature.
 
Bloated said:
Today, I installed a new hard drive on my system. I used Western
Digital's own utility to transfer data from the old C:\ drive to the
new C:\ drive. Somewhere along the line, there was data corruption.
All files in Windows\Installer were gone, and the registry
experienced some corruption as well.

I was able to restore most of the Windows\Installer data from a
month-old Drive Image image on my backup drive. I used Norton
WinDoctor and the Registry Fixer from Ontrack Fix-it to
painstakingly, item by item, restore the registry to about 95
percent (or more) of it's original structure.

My biggest issue right now is that Outlook XP can't seem to decide if
it's been activated or not. When I launch Outlook, the Office
Activation Wiz comes up. It looks for SBERET.MSI. Doesn't present a
phone number or anything. When it finds SBERET.MSI, the wizard
closes
and Outlook opens, but doesn't let me reply to any emails, as some
toolbar items are grayed out.

I went to Control Panel and tried using the Change button to fix
Outlook, but when i do that, it complains that a "patch package"
could not be found. That's where I hit the brick wall. I need help.


BE

(cross posted to m.public.outlook... unsure which group was more
appropriate)
Click to expand...

See if renaming or deleting the outcmd.dat file gets the toolbars
fixed. That's where the toolbar configuration is saved, so you'll
end up with the standard toolbars on the next start of Outlook.
Looks like you have more corruption than you thought.

Since you have Powerquest's Drive Image, why couldn't you
just use that instead of WD's [unnamed] utility to copy the
entire old drive to the new drive? Drive Image has a "Copy
Drives" feature.
Click to expand...


Well, I thought, a WD program would work best with a WD
product. I made that mistake several years ago as well. I must have
forgotten.

Anyway, I found some info in the google usenet archives that recommend
renaming some registry keys, and that allowed me to properly re-activate
MS Office apps. Problem solved. Thanks for your response.


BE
 
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