Cannot Specify Mail Program in Internet Explorer

When you view the Mail and News settings for Internet Explorer, you may not be able to specify your mail program. Also, when you try to make Outlook Express your default Internet mail client, you may be unable to do so.

This behavior can occur when you uninstall Microsoft Outlook 97.

To resolve this problem, reinstall Microsoft Outlook Express or reinstall Internet Explorer. To do so, see the appropriate section:

Install Outlook Express

Outlook Express is an Internet Explorer component that you can install after Internet Explorer is installed by using the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel.

For information about how to add or remove Internet Explorer components, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Install Internet Explorer

Reinstalling Internet Explorer restores Windows Messaging as a mail service option. For information about Windows Messaging and installing Internet Explorer, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

For additional information about this issue, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: