An access violation occurs in Outlook Express if you click Cancel when you are choosing a message store

When you first start Outlook Express, you may be prompted to choose a location for the message store. If you click Cancel, an access violation may occur in Outlook Express. This issue can occur if the following conditions exist:

• You start Outlook Express for the first time.
• You are logged on with an account that was created by using Input Method Editor.
• Your account was created in a right-to-left language such as Thai or Arabic.
• You are using the English-language version of Windows XP.

Outlook Express does not support bidirectional characters. When you start Outlook Express the first time, it attempts to create the message store in a location that is based on the account that is in use. If the folder for your account is created with bidirectional characters, Outlook Express cannot set the message store location and prompts you to pick another location for the message store. The OK button is not available until you choose a non-bidirectional folder for the message store; only the Cancel button is available.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Internet Explorer 6. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

To work around this problem, choose a non-bidirectional folder for the message store when you are prompted to choose a message store.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1.

Note that the hotfix that is described in this article only prevents the access violation from occurring. This hotfix does not add support for bidirectional characters.