Outlook 2007: Troubleshooting Outlook Crashes

This article provides a set of steps you can use to help you narrow down the cause of your Outlook 2007 crashes so that you can prevent them from occurring in the future. 

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista

To troubleshoot crashing issues Outlook there are several diagnostic steps and tools you can utilize to help you narrow down the problem. The ordering of the items below is intentional as it logically breaks down the main causes of crashes in Outlook; however, you will probably end up skipping some steps as they may not be relevant to your issue. 

·        Is the problem a Reproducible issue? 

One of the first things to do in troubleshooting a crashing issue is to see if the problem can be reproduced using the same set of steps. For example, does Outlook crash every time you open up a specific meeting on your calendar or does Outlook crash when you first start it up? 

Identifying a set of steps that consistently crashes Outlook will make troubleshooting the problem much easier as you may be able to resolve the problem without implementing any of the remaining troubleshooting items in this article. For example, if Outlook crashes only when you open up a specific e-mail message, then you might take the following steps to remedy the problem: 

1.    Ask the sender of the e-mail message to resend you the message.

2.    If the message is not important, simply delete the message.

3.    If you have another e-mail client, try viewing the message with that client.
For example, if you can access your mailbox using Outlook Web Access (OWA), then see if you can read the message via this client. If you are able to read the message in OWA, try forwarding the message to yourself and then see if the forwarded message can be opened in Outlook. 

If you are not able to find a workaround to the problem, make sure you fully note the steps to reproduce the Outlook crashing problem. This way, you can more effectively utilize many of the remaining troubleshooting steps in this article. 

If you are not able to consistently repeat the problem using the same set of steps, don’t worry. The remaining steps in this article do not necessarily rely on your having this information. It certainly makes things easier if you do, but it’s not a strict requirement. 

·        Update your Outlook installation with the latest cumulative updates 

Cumulative updates include every available fix for Outlook. If there is a known crashing problem in Outlook it may be remedied via a code change available in the cumulative update. Making a connection between your crashing issue and the various fixes for crashing issues in a cumulative update can be difficult. Therefore, it is recommended you simply update your installation to the latest Outlook build and troubleshoot (if necessary) from that baseline.  

You can locate the latest update for all Office programs via the following article: 

953878  Cumulative updates are available from the Microsoft Office team to fix reported problems

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;953878 

Every time a new cumulative update becomes available (every two months) article 953878 is updated to point to the latest cumulative updates for the Office programs. 

If your crashing problem continues after installing the latest cumulative update, then you should continue with the remaining troubleshooting steps that follow. 

·        Try a symptom-appropriate command-line switch when you start Outlook 

Outlook has many command-line switches designed to help you quickly clean up certain application settings. If you understand the problem well enough, you may be able to locate an appropriate command-line switch to try. For example, if Outlook crashes on startup, you could try the /NoPreview switch. This switch disables the Reading Pane so the currently selected message in your Inbox is not displayed in the Reading Pane when Outlook starts. If this message is corrupted, Outlook can crash on launch because the corrupt message is the currently selected message and Outlook crashes while attempting to render the message in the reading pane. 

Here are some other useful command-line switches and information about the functions performed by the switch. Remember, only use a switch if it is clearly related to the cause of your crashing problem and you are comfortable with the changes that take place as a result of using the switch. 

If you need more information on Outlook command-line switches and how to use them, please see the following Help topic on the Microsoft Office Online site. 

Command-line switches for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP012185891033.aspx?pid=CH100788811033 

·        Try starting Outlook in Safe Mode. 

When you start Outlook in Safe mode, many of the customizations you have made to Outlook are not loaded. Instead, they are temporarily replaced with default settings. Also, COM add-ins and Exchange Client Extensions are not loaded so you significantly reduce the number of dlls that interact with Outlook and your data. 

To start Outlook in Safe mode, use the /Safe command-line switch. You can tell you are running in Safe mode because the Outlook title bar indicates you are in Safe mode. 

You may also see the following prompt when you start Outlook after a crash. 

Outlook failed to start correctly last time. Starting Outlook in safe mode
will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to successfully start
the program. Some functionality may be disabled in this mode. 

Do you want to start Outlook in safe mode? 

If you click Yes to this prompt Outlook will launch in Safe mode. 

Here is a listing of the major temporary changes that occur when you start Outlook in Safe mode: 

a.     The Reading Pane is not displayed.

b.    No Exchange Client Extensions or COM Add-ins are loaded

c.     Customized toolbars are not displayed. 

Customized toolbars are stored in the Outcmd.dat file which is located in the following folder: 

Windows XP: 

%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook 

Windows Vista: 

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook 

d.    Navigation Pane customizations are not loaded.

e.     The AutoCorrect list is not loaded.

f.     The NormalEmail.dotm template (on which new email messages are based) is not
loaded.

g.    Form Regions are not available.

h.    Any RSS registry settings are not utilized. 

For example, if you have the "Sync RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List" option
enabled it is disabled in Safe Mode. 

i.      Any registry settings under the following non-policy keys are NOT loaded (all
keys are under the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook key): 

\Options\Wss
\Options\General
\Options\RSS
\Options\Pubcal
\Options\Calendar 

j.     To-Do Bar customizations are not loaded

k.     Daily Task list (in the Calendar module) customizations are not loaded.

l.      All Instant Search (provided by WDS) functionality in Outlook and customization
is disabled.

m.   Ribbon customizations are not loaded.

n.    Quick Access Toolbar customizations are not loaded.

o.    The registry settings under the following key are not loaded:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\MailSettings 

The settings stored under this key can be configured via Tools - Options -
Mail Format tab - "HTML format" section (3 checkboxes) 

p.    Macros may not load

This is because the Macro Security setting is configured to the default
setting ("Warnings for signed macros; all unsigned macros are disabled") 

q.    Smart Tags are not loaded

r.     Default colors and fonts are not loaded.

For example, any color/font customizations you made to calendar options, task
options or Notes options are not used. 

s.     Multilingual User Interface (MUI) settings are not loaded.

For example: 

                                    i.        Install a US English version of Office

                                   ii.        Install the French language pack

                                  iii.        start the Microsoft Office Language Settings tool

                                  iv.        Configure the “Display Microsoft Office menus and dialog boxes” option for
French

When you start Outlook in Safe mode your menus and dialog boxes are in English
(not French) 

What to do if Outlook stops crashing in Safe mode? 

1.    If the problem no longer occurs in Safe mode, then you need to look through the above list of disabled items to see if they are related to the steps you take to cause a crash. For example, if Outlook crashes when you click a menu or toolbar button in the main Outlook window (not an e-mail message that uses the Ribbon), the Outcmd.dat file may be causing the problem. Since this file does not load in Safe mode, it makes sense to rename this file to Outcmd.old and then start Outlook in normal mode. A new Outcmd.dat file will be created with a default configuration. 

2.    Because Safe mode does not load COM add-ins or Exchange Client Extensions, you should definitely see if you have any third-party add-ins or extensions loaded in Outlook if the problem goes away in Safe mode. Please use the following steps to check for third-party COM add-ins and Exchange Client Extensions and to disable them if installed in Outlook. 

·        Disable COM add-ins 

a.     On the Tools menu click Trust Center.

b.    In the Trust Center click Add-ins.

c.     Select COM Add-ins in the Manage drop-down and then click Go.

d.    Clear the checkbox for any add-in you want to disable.

e.     Exit and restart Outlook. 

NOTE: If you are unable to start Outlook to disable COM add-ins using the Outlook interface, please instead disable them using the following steps in the registry editor. If you are able to use the Outlook interface to disable COM add-ins, please skip these steps and proceed to the steps under “Disable Exchange Client Extensions”. 

a.     Start Regedit.exe.

b.    Locate the following registry key: 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins 

c.     Rename every subkey under the \Addins key by appending –disabled to the key name. For example, if a subkey is called AccessAddin.DC you would rename it to AccessAddin.DC-disabled.

d.    Locate the following registry key: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins 

e.    Rename every subkey under the \Addins key by appending –disabled to the key name. For example, if a subkey is called OneNote.OutlookAddin.12 you would rename it to OneNote.OutlookAddin.12-disabled.

f.     Start Outlook. 

·        Disable Exchange Client Extensions 

a.     On the Tools menu click Trust Center.

b.    In the Trust Center click Add-ins.

c.     Select Exchange Client Extensions in the Manage drop-down and then click Go.

d.    Clear the checkbox for any extension you want to disable.

e.     Exit and restart Outlook. 

·        Confirm all third-party dlls have been removed from the Outlook process 

To make sure there are no third-party dlls running under the Outlook.exe process, run Process Explorer and analyze the dlls running under Outlook.exe. The following article provides detailed steps on how you can use Process Explorer for this purpose: 

970920       Using Process Explorer to List dlls Running Under the Outlook.exe Process

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;970920  

If you find there are third-party dlls running under the Outlook.exe process after disabling all COM add-ins and Exchange Client Extensions you may have to uninstall the parent software for these dlls via the Add/Remove Programs control panel. As long as there are third-party dlls running under the Outlook.exe process you cannot definitively rule out these dlls as the cause of the crashing problem. Please see your third-party software documentation for details on how to either remove Outlook integration or to uninstall the software. 

If Outlook continues to crash even when there are no third-party dlls running under the Outlook.exe process, then re-enable all of the COM add-ins and Exchange Client Extensions you disabled, skip the next section called “Identifying the add-in or extension causing the crash”, and continue troubleshooting with item #3. 

If Outlook stops crashing after you disable all COM add-ins and Exchange Client Extensions, please continue with the steps in the the next section called “Identifying the add-in or extension causing the crash.” 

·        Identifying the add-in or extension causing the crash 

If Outlook stops crashing when you have no third-party dlls running under the Outlook.exe process, then you can use the following process to isolate and identify the software causing the problem. 

Re-enable disabled Exchange Client Extensions 

a.     In the Trust Center, re-enable one Exchange Client Extension.

b.    Exit and restart Outlook.

c.     If the crashing problem still does not occur, repeat steps a & b for another extension.

d.    Repeat step c until Outlook starts to crash again.

e.     Contact the vendor of the most recently added extension (the one that started the crashes again) to see if they have an update. 

Re-enable disabled COM Add-ins using the Trust Center 

NOTE: If you did not use the Trust Center to disable COM add-ins and you had to rename the different subkeys under the \Addins registry key in the steps under “Disable COM add-ins”, please skip these next steps. Instead, use the steps under “Re-enable disabled COM Add-ins using the registry editor.” 

a.     In the Trust Center, re-enable one COM add-in.

b.    Exit and restart Outlook.

c.     If the crashing problem still does not occur, repeat steps a & b for another add-in.

d.    Repeat step c until Outlook starts to crash again.

e.     Contact the vendor of the most recently added add-in (the one that started the crashes again) to see if they have an update. 

Re-enable disabled COM Add-ins using the registry editor 

NOTE: Please only use these steps if you had to rename the subkeys under the \Addins registry key in the steps under “Disable COM add-ins”. 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Start Regedit.exe.

c.     Locate the following registry key: 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins 

d.    Rename the first subkey with “-disabled” in its name under the \Addins key by removing “-disabled” from the key name.

e.     Start Outlook.

f.     If Outlook does not crash, repeat steps a-e until Outlook starts to crash again.

g.    If Outlook still does not crash after renaming all subkeys under the registry path listed in step “c’, continue with step “h”.

h.    Exit Outlook.

i.      Locate the following registry key: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins 

j.     Rename the first subkey with “-disabled” in its name under the \Addins key by removing “-disabled” from the key name.

k.     Start Outlook.

l.      If Outlook does not crash, repeat steps h-k until Outlook starts to crash again.

m.   Contact the vendor of the most recently added add-in (the one that started the crashes again) to see if they have an update. 

3.    Because many of the above items (disabled in Safe mode) are features that store their settings in the registry, you should also consider doing the following steps if Outlook stops crashing when you use Safe mode. 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Start Regedit.exe.

c.     Navigate to the following registry location:                                                

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook 

d.    Rename the \Outlook key to \Outlook-1

e.     Start Outlook. 

On launch, Outlook will create a new \Outlook registry key in this location with default settings. 

If the crashing problem does not occur when you are running in this configuration then one or more settings under the original \Outlook key are causing the problem. Because there are many settings stored under the \Outlook key it is recommended you continue to use Outlook in this configuration.  

If the crashing problem continues when you are running in this configuration, you can either move on to the next troubleshooting steps with the registry as-is, or you can revert back to your original registry settings using the following steps: 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Start Regedit.exe.

c.     Navigate to the following registry location: 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook 

d.    Rename the \Outlook key to \Outlook-2

e.     Rename the \Outlook-1 key to \Outlook

f.     Start Outlook. 

·        Scope the problem 

Scoping the problem means you are narrowing down possible sources of the crash. The following lists of steps are commonly used by Microsoft product support engineers to help customers scope many different Outlook problems, including crashes. 

1.    Try an Outlook profile that does not contain any e-mail accounts 

Outlook can be launched with a profile that contains no e-mail accounts. This is a great test to see if Outlook is crashing due to functions typically performed while sending and receiving e-mail or synchronizing with your Exchange mailbox. 

Use the following steps to create an Outlook profile without any e-mail accounts. 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Open the Mail control panel and click Show Profiles.

c.     Click Add in the Mail dialog box.

d.    Enter “PIM” for the name of your profile and click OK.

e.     In the Add New E-mail Accounts dialog box click Cancel.

f.     Click OK when prompted to create a profile with no e-mail accounts.

g.    Configure the “PIM” profile to be your default profile (enable “Always use this profile” and then select “PIM”).

h.    Click OK to close the Mail control panel.

i.      Start Outlook.

j.     In the Outlook 2007 Startup dialog box click Next.

k.     In the E-mail Accounts dialog box select the No option and then click Next.

l.      In the Create Data File dialog box select “Continue with no e-mail support.” And then click Finish. 

At this point, Outlook is running without any e-mail accounts. So, you cannot send or receive e-mail. However, you can add any existing .pst files you may have to the PIM profile to see if they may be causing your crash. 

If the crashing problem goes away with your PIM profile, you should probably continue troubleshooting by creating a new Outlook profile (with your e-mail accounts included this time). The next section in this document discusses this troubleshooting step. 

If the crashing problem continues with the PIM profile, you should skip over the “Try a new Outlook profile” and “Try a different mailbox” sections and continue on with the “Try a new Windows profile” section. 

2.    Try a new Outlook profile. 

Use the Mail control panel to create a new Outlook profile with all of your regular e-mail accounts. However, please do the following when you create the new profile: 

a.     Do NOT delete your original profile.

b.    Do not create your new profile using a copy of your original profile. 

Essentially, you are keeping your original profile as-is because the profile may not be the source of the problem. Creating a new Outlook profile from scratch is simply a test to help you see if something within the original profile is causing Outlook to crash.  

NOTE: In the situation where you have more than one e-mail account in your profile, you may consider testing Outlook by adding in only one e-mail account at a time. By adding and testing one e-mail account at a time, you can try to isolate a problem e-mail account using steps similar to those for isolating possible problematic add-ins and extensions. 

The following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base provides guidance on creating a new Outlook profile.

829918       How to create and configure an e-mail profile in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;829918 

Outlook no longer crashes with a new Outlook profile 

If Outlook no longer crashes after you create a new profile your best bet is to continue using your new profile. If you have .pst files associated with your original profile, you can modify your new Outlook profile with the Mail control panel to reference these .pst files. 

Please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base for additional information on managing .pst files in Outlook. 

287070 How to manage .pst files in Outlook 2007, in Outlook 2003, and in Outlook 2002

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;287070 

Outlook continues to crash with a new Outlook profile 

If the problem continues with a new Outlook profile then you have eliminated several profile-specific items that can potentially cause crashes. In this case, the problem may simply be related to the data, visible or hidden, in your mailbox. To determine if this is the cause of your crashing problem, please try a different  mailbox using the following steps: 

a.     Stay logged into your current Windows profile.

b.    Use the Mail control panel to create a new Outlook profile for another user’s mailbox.

c.     If this is an Exchange mailbox, configure this profile to always prompt for credentials.

                                                   i.        On the E-mail Accounts tab in the Account Settings dialog box select the Exchange mailbox and click Change

                                                  ii.        Click More Settings in the Change E-mail Account dialog box.

                                                 iii.        On the Security tab of the Microsoft Exchange dialog box select “Always prompt for logon credentials”

d.    Start Outlook with this new profile.

e.     Test Outlook to confirm if the crashing problems still occurs. 

If the problem no longer continues when you use Outlook against a different mailbox, then you should consult with your system administrator to see if they can assist with mailbox corruption. 

If the problem continues when you use Outlook against a different mailbox, then please continue with the troubleshooting steps in the next section. 

3.    Try a new Windows profile 

Outlook uses data in several different registry hives under HKEY_Current_User and data files in your local Windows profile. Therefore, you can eliminate many of these settings and files by testing Outlook with a new Windows profile. 

NOTE: As with the above test to use a new Outlook profile, do not delete your current Windows profile for this test. Simply create a new Windows profile and test Outlook under this new profile. 

Please use the following steps to test Outlook with a new Windows profile: 

a.     Log out of Windows.

b.    Log into Windows using a different account (you may have to create a new local account for testing purposes). 

NOTE: As there are different ways to create a Windows profile, please refer to your Windows Help documentation for information if you need assistance creating a new profile. 

c.     Using the Mail control panel, create an Outlook profile for your mailbox.

d.    Start Outlook and verify if the program continues to crash. 

Outlook continues to crash with a new Windows profile 

If Outlook continues to crash while using the new Windows account, continue with these steps. At this point, you have essentially determined the problem is not caused by user data in the original Windows profile. 

a.     Exit Outlook.

b.    Log out of this new Windows account and log back into your original Windows account.

c.     Proceed with the troubleshooting steps in the “Testing to see if the problem is machine related” section of this document. 

Outlook stops crashing with a new Windows profile 

If Outlook stops crashing with a new Windows profile you have the following options: 

·        Decide to continue using the new Windows profile 

If you want to continue using the new Windows profile you will probably want to retrieve your personal documents from the original profile. By default, your personal documents are stored under the \My Documents folder in the profile path of the Windows account. For example, on Windows XP this path may be C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents. 

If you are unable to access this folder location while you are logged into the new Windows account, you might want to use the following steps to recover your documents from the original Windows profile: 

a.     Log out of the new Windows account.

b.    Log into Windows using your original Windows account.

c.     Locate all of your documents you want to transfer to the new Windows account.

d.    Copy all of the files from the drive onto a separate drive (like a USB drive) or a folder path on the drive that is accessible to all Windows accounts (for example, C:\Backup, which you may have to create).

e.     Once all of your data is copied to a location or drive that can be accessed from any Windows account on the machine, log out of Windows.

f.     Log into Windows using your new Windows account.

g.    Copy your data from its current location to the \My Documents folder of your new Windows profile. 

·        Continue troubleshooting the problem with your original Windows profile 

If you decide you do not want to use the new Windows profile, you can use the following steps to see if you can find the problematic user data in your Windows profile. 

a.     Log out of the new Windows profile.

b.    Log into your original Windows profile.    

Check to see if the problem is caused by data files in your Windows profile. 

c.     Locate the following files in your Windows profile and rename them by appending “.old” to the filename. 

NOTE: There may be more than one Outlook file with a .qat extension in the above location. 

d.    Start Outlook. 

Outlook stops crashing after renaming the above four files 

If Outlook no longer crashes then it is recommended you leave everything as-is with respect to the above files. Outlook will generate new default copies of these files except for the .qat files which only get created when you customize the Ribbon. 

Outlook continues crashing after renaming the above four files 

If the Outlook crashing problem occurs even after renaming the above four files, then continue with the following steps. 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Start Regedit.exe.

c.     Navigate to the following registry location:                                                      

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0 

d.    Rename the \12.0 key to \12.0-old

e.     Start Outlook. 

Outlook will start a new first-run launch as it is the first Office application to run after renaming the \12.0 registry key. For example, you should be prompted for your username and initials again. 

Outlook stops crashing after renaming the \12.0 registry key

At this point, it is recommended you keep the registry as-is. Even though you will have to reconfigure some customizations you previously made to your Office programs, tracking down the registry data that was causing your crashes would be very difficult to do without using advanced debugging tools. 

Outlook continues to crash after renaming the \12.0 registry key  

If Outlook continues to crash after renaming the \12.0 registry key, then it is recommended to restore the registry using the following steps. 

a.     Exit Outlook if running.

b.    Start Regedit.exe.

c.     Navigate to the following registry location:                                                      

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0 

d.    Rename the \12.0 key to \12.0-new

e.     Rename the \12.0-old key to \12.0. 

At this point, it is recommended you go back to using your new Windows profile. Please refer to the steps under the “Decide to continue using the new Windows profile” bullet-point provided above to help you migrate your data to the new Windows profile. 

4.    Testing to see if the problem is machine related 

At this point in the troubleshooting process you should consider checking to see if your Outlook crashing problem is machine related. This could be due to bad RAM, conflicting software, corrupted files, incorrect registry data under the HKEY_Local_Machine hive, or even a problem with your Windows installation. To see if the problem is a “machine” problem, you can use the following tests to analyze and narrow down the problem. 

·        Use Outlook on a different machine

If you have access to another computer running Outlook, please try logging into this machine and use Outlook with your mailbox. 

Outlook does not crash on a different machine 

If Outlook stops crashing when you use a different machine you can use the following tools to help diagnose the problem further on your original machine. 

·        Office Diagnostics 

To use the Office Diagnostics tool to troubleshoot a crashing problem, please use the following steps on your original machine. 

a.     Close as many running programs as you can.

b.    Check to see if the Update Diagnostics test is enabled.

                                                              i.    Start any Office 2007 program other than Outlook.

                                                             ii.    Click the Microsoft Office Button (upper left corner of the window) and then click Program Name Options, where Program Name is the name of the program you are in, for example, Word Options.

                                                            iii.    Click Trust Center, click Trust Center Settings, and then click Privacy Options.

                                                            iv.    Examine the Download a file periodically that helps determine system problems check box.

o    If the check box is enabled, close the Trust Center without making any changes and exit the Office program. Then, continue with step c.

o    If the check box is not enabled, please enable the check box, close the Trust Center and then exit the Office program. Wait about a week to allow the file to be downloaded, and then continue with step c.

c.     On the All Programs menu click Microsoft Office, click Microsoft Office Tools and then click Microsoft Office Diagnostics.

d.    Click Continue when prompted to run Office Diagnostics.

e.     Click Run Diagnostics in the Start Diagnostics dialog box.

f.     After all the diagnostics are finished, please examine the results summary to see if you have any problems with your hardware or installation.

g.    Regardless of the Office Diagnostics results, please start Outlook to see if your crashing problem continues. 

For additional information on Office Diagnostics, please read the information in the following article on Office Online: 

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA012340761033.aspx  

·        Windows Clean Boot 

If Outlook continues to crash after completing Office Diagnostics, please try the steps in the following article using the System Configuration utility. Make sure to use the article that matches your version of Windows. 

310560 How to troubleshoot configuration errors by using the System Configuration utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310560 

950093 How to use the System Configuration utility to troubleshoot configuration errors  in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;950093 

Outlook continues to crash on a different machine 

If Outlook continues to crash even after performing all of the above troubleshooting steps, it is recommended you contact Microsoft Product Support to help diagnose the problem. The crashes may be caused by a yet-to-be fixed problem and your support engineer can help make that determination.  

NOTE: If you do contact the Outlook support team at Microsoft, please provide them with the results and data for all of the above tests.